Women Cab Drivers Making Their Mark
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For some female cab drivers, the hardest part of the job is not the 12-hour shifts, the safety risk, or unwanted sexual advances. "The worst part of the job is finding a bathroom in Manhattan," said Elissaveta Grubelich, who drives the night shift most days a week. Taxi and livery car driving is one of the last almost exclusively male domains in New York. But the city's female drivers are saying there is no reason for this barrier, leasing companies are saying they need women to fill empty cabs, and the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers is planning an initiative to attract more women to the trade. Nationally, female taxi and livery drivers have increased to 13% of the field, according to the 2000 census. But in New York, the level of women drivers has been stagnant at about 2.5% since 1970, Schaller Consulting found in a forthcoming report on taxi drivers in America. Although women drivers are more common in smaller metropolitan areas, other big cities like Boston have 11% female drivers, according to Schaller. "If you know of any women wanting to drive, send them over. I would love to see more and more coming over because we're in darn need of drivers, that's the bottom line," said the general manager of Team Systems, a taxi leasing company in Queens, Joseph Hennessy. "We don't look at the gender, we just look at the driving." Mr. Hennessy said his fleet employs roughly five women out of more than 1,000 drivers and is currently short 45 to 80 drivers. "We welcome all of the women in New York," said Rami Nebel, manager of Tel Aviv Car and Limousine Service in Manhattan. "They're much more relaxed and they treat customers better probably than men." Mr. Nebel said that while female drivers at his company remain a handful, interest is intensifying. "We always had women on and off, but right now, more women are asking to drive limo." A spokesman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, Allan Fromberg, said safety problems - what he sees as the most common reason given for women to stay away from the industry - are decreasing. "Well over a decade ago," Mr. Fromberg said, "crime was a greater concern in the medallion taxi industry, which, thankfully, is no longer the case. There has not been a homicide of a medallion driver since January 1997. There has not been a homicide of a livery driver in over a year." Male taxi drivers give other reasons for women to stay away. "Invariably they're hit on like 50 times a night," said Michael Higgins, the publisher of Taxi Talk, a trade newspaper for the New York taxi industry that carries, between the "drivers wanted" ads, full-page photos of scantily clad women billed as "Ms. Taxi Talk." "We had a few girls in the late '80s and '90s and every male passenger thought he would be getting a lap dance for $1.50," Mr. Higgins said. "They don't stay that long in this business because it's very rough for a woman," said Luis Aijas, who has been driving a cab since 1970. "There is no toilet, no taxi stand, and people try to make love to them." But female drivers contend the benefits of flexibility, independence, and a decent wage outweigh the challenges. "Some people still think driving taxi is not a job for a woman," said Ms. Grubelich, who chose the job for the freedom it afforded her after working as a hospital assistant. "But anyone who needs extra money can drive taxi. Okay, it's not the best thing, but you're still making something." Ms. Grubelich, 40, said she wards off the frequent unwelcome approaches by simply closing the partition. So far, she has never been robbed. "Yes, I am afraid, but I feel safe in Queens," said Ms. Grubelich, a native of Bulgaria. "I'm scared if I go out of Queens, particularly if I have to go to the Bronx. But sometimes I have to go. I can't refuse a customer." And she enjoys the ability to break up the 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift with some quality time with her cab-driving husband. Sometimes they'll park their cars next to each other and enjoy a late-night snack. "He calls me and he buys me a sandwich, or I call him and he makes me a sandwich," she says. Elvia Lariof, 37, a widow and mother of three, said driving for a Brooklyn car service, where she has a more flexible schedule than if she were to lease a cab, has helped her spend more time with her children. "I had to take care of my children but I didn't have time because in the other job I had to be there all the time," said Ms. Lariof, who began driving three years ago after working in a factory and a restaurant. "But in this work I have time to go to their school, to go to the doctor. I can work and at the same time I can take care of my children." Initially Ms. Lariof, then the only female driver at her company, frequently got lost and was robbed. She still contends with men who try to kiss and touch her, but she said it's worth it to be self-sufficient and play a larger role in her children's life. "The only problem I had was my daughter, who said driving isn't for women. This is for men," Ms. Lariof said. The president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, Fernando Mateo, said his organization has observed the benefits of women playing a larger part in the industry and is working to promote a shift. "We're going to put together a program where we support and encourage women behind the wheel," Mr. Mateo said. "They can work enough hours to make a living and at the same time be able to get back home to take care of their kids and feed their children." And whether the women are driving taxi or livery cabs, Mr. Mateo, who said safety risks are minimal because of required partitions and cameras, foresees an increase in the future. "Women are more personable, they're more relaxed, they're more secure, and they treat passengers with more courtesy," Mr. Mateo said. "Having women in the industry is definitely a plus."
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