Boston Daily Wants to Save You Money

Taking a cab isn’t the best experience tourists or residents will have in Boston. Not only because of surly cabbies or a labor feud, but also because it’s expensive. While we get cranky enough paying for a short ride home after a night out, we really feel sore after losing a fortune when we can’t get a friend to drive us to and from the airport.

An article in today’s Globe bemoans the rising cost of cab fare from Logan. Not because cabbies are taking them on a scenic tour of all five terminals to run up the fare, but because of the increased tolls and fees that are built in to the ride. With this week’s increase in tolls for the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels, your ride from Logan starts out at $9.75, up from $9 at the end of 2007.

But we’ve found a way to save some money for the those beleaguered fares. The $2.25 taxi pool fee is completely useless.

Massport collected $3.9 million in cab fees last year, using the money to hire employees that organize 5,500 to 6,000 taxicabs a day, said spokesman Richard Walsh. He said the agency spent $900,000 more than it took in from fees on the taxi pool program.

There you go. Organizing taxis is as pointless as herding cats. Eliminate the taxi pool fee and the price drops to a somewhat reasonable $7.50, and cuts spending in a state agency. Don’t you worry, Massachusetts—we’re going to have that whole $1.45 billion budget deficit whittled away any time now. You can thank us later.