NEW YORK—Tired of pumping his cash right back into his gas tank, New York City taxi driver Mohammed Kalair says he is considering quitting his job and going back to his native Pakistan.
Gasoline prices have doubled to more than $4 per gallon since he started driving a cab three years ago, making for some tough spending choices.
"I choose eating, not smoking," said Kalair, who gave up cigarettes in order to keep food on his table. "If you don't have it, you can't spend it," he said, standing outside a garage in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood as he waited to start his shift.
Nationwide, gasoline around $4 per gallon will cost taxi drivers 38 percent more per year—$3,825—than it did in two years ago, according to the Taxi Limousine & Paratransit Association.
To help cabbies, 11 U.S. cities have allowed taxis to charge a temporary fuel surcharge averaging $1.50 per trip and more municipalities are holding rate increase hearings.
But there has been no such relief for cab drivers in Manhattan.
New York drivers have not seen a rate hike since 2006 when gasoline averaged $2.56 per gallon. But the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) says drivers still can make a living wage of $12 an hour despite high gas prices.
"There is no compelling reason to consider a fuel surcharge and one has not been officially requested," TLC Chairman Matthew Daus said in a statement.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance estimates drivers now make closer to the state minimum wage $7.15 cents per hour and plans to submit a proposal to the TLC on Monday for a fuel surcharge of $1 per trip as long as gasoline prices remain above $3.50 per gallon.
Part of the problem is that most cabbies drive Ford Crown Victorias, which only get about 10 or 11 miles per gallon in the snarl of Manhattan's stop-and-go traffic, according to driver Roman Hladik.
"These Fords are horrible on the gas—worst possible car for such a business," said Hladik, a Czech set designer who has driven cabs here for 15 years to supplement his income.
New York plans to replace the city's yellow taxicabs with hybrid vehicles by 2012 but only a few are on the roads today.
Even when hybrid taxis are available, garages lease them to taxi drivers at a higher rate, eroding the benefits of the higher mileage.
So for many New York cabbies, paying the bills means cutting out nonessential items and spending more hours behind the wheel.
"At the moment, I don't have a life," cabbie Faheem Wahend said. "I don't have time for friends or family."
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