Cab Drivers are a Rare Breed
My gig at TODO Monthly allowed me meet, write and draw these unique characters.
If you rode in a San Francisco cab about twenty years ago you’d find TODO Monthly, the pocket-sized and powerful, urban action guide available for free. It featured the city's best dining, shopping, entertainment, and nightlife options. The magazine was the brainchild of Publisher Kiri Henderson and Editor-in-Chief Michael Phillips Moskowitz and was beautifully designed by Rhonda Rubinstein.
TODO was, in fact, the city's second-largest magazine in circulation from 2005 until 2007. During its run I contributed my own monthly panel…a portrait and narrative about a San Francisco cab driver that I found interesting. I was allowed free reign to write about and illustrate whomever I wanted. I usually found them down at the SF Taxi Cab Company Depot in the Bayview section of the city. I called my feature Drawn and Dispatched.
Cab drivers are often the first point of contact for tourists, with memorable stories and recommendations to share. It just requires asking and listening.
They are a resilient bunch. They face serious risks every day. Recent statistics show that cab drivers are 30 times more likely to be murdered than other professionals.
Uber and other ride-hailing businesses now dominate the market space bringing on the near extinction of the private cab ride. Despite these threats to lives and livelihoods, most of the cab drivers I've met remain optimistic.
So, next time you hail a taxi, keep in mind the perils that these drivers face. And to all the cab drivers out there, keep the meter running with pride and passion for your work.
Take a look at some of the cab drivers I've met.
Find more of my drawings of cab drivers here. I drove a cab for a time and wrote some tales of my cab driving experiences here and here.
Great sketches and profiles of the essential cabbies! When I lived in Paris, I loved chatting with the cab drivers, or else just gazed out of the window and enjoyed the - usually speedy - ride. The occasional one would be bitter and grumpy as hell, of course.
Love this. So positive and heart warming. Connecting rather than dividing and "othering". The world needs more of this right now, and always. Jo 🙏