{image1}Sure, there are plenty of taxis zipping around Milwaukee's downtown, but would one actually stop if you hailed it? Or would it, like the rumor goes, just splatter your new outfit with street water and keep going?
Both Barb Miles, the general manager for the Yellow Cab Company, and Red Christianson, American United Taxi Cab's general manager, say it is possible to flag a cab in Milwaukee, but that it doesn't happen often and it's not the most reliable way to get a ride.
Christianson says safety is the number one reason why cab drivers are skeptical of spontaneously picking up patrons and that they prefer computer-dispatched calls.
"According to the U.S. Department of Labor, driving a cab is more dangerous that being a police officer," he says. "One of my drivers was shot two weeks ago. He was struck in the nose."
"Milwaukee just isn't a 'hail-cab town' like Chicago or New York, nor does it have a history of hailing cabs," says Miles. "Most people think it's easier and quicker just to call."
Christianson also says that it's common for riders to stiff the drivers. He claims it has happened as many as 20 times in one day and without a phone call to trace, the cabbies are left high and dry.
In Milwaukee, all cab prices are the same: $1.75 for the first one-eighth of a mile and 75 cents every mile after.
However, there is a lesser-known option besides hailing or calling a cab. Milwaukee has many taxi stands around the downtown area -- mostly outside of the major hotels -- and there is almost always a yellow limo or two waiting.
Christianson says that cabs are often headed to these posts and consequently don't respond to hailers, which furthers the perception that hailing isn't possible in Milwaukee.
Also, because American United, the largest cab company in the state, receives about 8,000 calls a day, most of their drivers are busy responding to the dispatched calls and don't have the time to squeeze in other riders.
Miles says that hailing a cab on a Friday or Saturday night after an evening out is possible, but club-goer Adam Frank, 27, is leery. "Before I had a cell phone I tried to hail cabs at bar time and never could get one to stop," he says.
Some citizens feel the city simply needs more cabs. Although neither American United nor Yellow Cab have expanded their fleets in many years, Miles thinks the future will indeed include more cabs and more "hail-able" cabs.
"I think the cab industry will grow," she says. "As more and more conventions come to Milwaukee, more business people will bring their habits from larger cities and will want to easily get a cab."
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
