Cabbie

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Cabbie/21″/dt1st/mark2nd

By JENNIFER NETHERBY

Staff Reporter

City Cab driver Jimmy McGee hits a button on the computer to clock in and pulls his yellow Crown Victoria taxi into a Chevron station on Riverside Drive in Burbank.

And then he waits.

The nights usually start out slow, especially in the early evening. Four or five other cabbies wait in cars parked nearby; the station is centrally located for the Burbank territory, and many cab drivers choose to hang out here. McGee turns on the radio and walks inside the store for a Diet Coke.

Most of the day-shift drivers are still working, and there are few calls coming in. The real action won’t start until 8:30 or later, McGee says. That’s when fewer drivers are out and there’s plenty of business. “Earlier in the night, (customers are) mostly business people,” he says. “Friday, you get a lot of people flying out to Vegas.”

McGee’s territory is Burbank. His shift typically runs from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., though he’s started early today. He carries a Thomas Guide up front and little else.

“I like the night shift. You never know what you’re getting,” McGee says. “After midnight, oh my God sometimes people who get in, they’re so drunk they don’t know where they live.”

When patrons are especially loaded, McGee often has to check their driver’s licenses to find out where to take them and then make sure they make it inside their apartments or houses.

“What else are you going to do? Leave them on the street?” he asks.

McGee has been a nighttime cab driver for the last four years. He got into the business after a stint in the Navy and 10 years on the road as a stand-up comedian. He says his comedy helps him loosen customers up.

But nothing, not even dealing with rowdy nightclub crowds on the comedy circuit, could have prepared him for his first week on the night shift.

“I had an attempted theft, and I should’ve quit then,” McGee says.

Three men were standing outside his cab one night. He got suspicious because they didn’t get in right away and then noticed that one had a gun in his waistband. He immediately hit the door-lock button. The man with the gun ordered him to open the door; instead, he sped away.

McGee called the police, who caught the would-be robbers. Since then, he has gotten better at reading people and deciding whether they pose a threat. He watches to see if they stand outside the cab for too long, and once in, his eyes flit frequently to the rear-view mirror to see what they’re doing.

He still gets nervous on some calls. But since the robbery, the biggest problems he encounters are drunks and people who jump out without paying.

McGee’s first call comes soon after he pulls into the Chevron. A screen inside his cab that displays messages from the dispatcher tells him that a block away, a woman is waiting in front of an office building for a cab.

Standing in front of the Disney Channel offices, the woman directs McGee to Burbank Airport. McGee pulls a tie out of the glove compartment, which is required for drivers.

“They’re the fashion police,” he jokes about the airport tie rule. Five minutes and $9.60 later, McGee stops at the Southwest Airlines baggage drop-off.

“She was nice enough. Did her makeup and didn’t talk, and that’s fine,” says McGee while pulling away.

He checks his standing in the cab computer. It tells him there are 15 City Cab drivers working who will take calls from clients in order. He is No. 15 in line. He stops off for some Chinese food down the street to pass the half-hour wait.

McGee started driving a cab to support himself while playing comedy clubs. “I love being able to go to work when I’m ready and come home when I’m ready,” he says.

But the cost of owning a cab is rising. The fleet’s drivers buy or lease their own taxis and pay a franchise fee to City Cab, which provides insurance, dispatch services and equipment. In addition to higher costs, more drivers are added every day making for slower nights, longer hours and less money. This is a particularly slow night, with just two calls in a three-hour period.

“Cab driving isn’t what it used to be,” he says. “I won’t be doing it much longer.”

McGee gets his second call soon after eating. It’s another Burbank Airport ride from the Lakeside Golf Club. McGee heads to the club and waits out front for 30 minutes for the person who called. After dropping off the passenger at the Alaska Airlines gate, he takes his cab fare and tip and heads off.

And it’s back to waiting.

The real rush will come later, after people start venturing out to bars and other nightspots.

“It’s a totally different type of customer. A lot of characters at night,” McGee says. “They’re partying. They tip better.

“I like the night. It has that edge.”

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