A unique network of Block Island cab drivers are revving up
for another summer tourist season.
“Uncle” Lou Ritzinger sits in his cab near the ferry landing on Block Island
the day after Memorial Day. It’s cloudy and cold, and not many people sail away
to the island on the Tuesday following the holiday weekend, so getting one $5
fare would keep it from being a waste of time.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Another cab driver walks toward him, a paper bag and a soda in his hand. Like everyone else in the town of 1,000 year-round residents, he knows 75-year-old Ritzinger as Uncle Lou and stops by the cab to say hello.
“It’s probably the first time you’ve eaten in three days,” Ritzinger jokes with the driver, who said he “splurged” on a grilled cheese and a soda that day.
“Even days like this, you have to sit out here and wait, or else you won’t make anything,” Ritzinger said.
Most taxi drivers on Block Island are off duty about seven months out of the year, but over the next couple weeks, as the short peak season – from mid-June to early September – picks up and the population swells to about 10,000 people, cab drivers will start earning enough money to buy more than a grilled cheese and soda.
“Most of the drivers are retirees, or people who use this as a side business. It can be very lucrative,” Executive Director of Tourism on Block Island Susan Shea said. “The only way to get a license is if someone dies or moves away. There is a long waiting list.”
Ritzinger owns one of the 34 taxicabs allowed to operate on Block Island. There is a 10- to 12-year waiting list of more than 30 people.
The retired business owner and former harbormaster was finally granted his license 12 years ago after being on the waiting list for a number of years.
Unlike the rest of the state, where the Public Utilities Commission Division of Motor Carriers regulates taxis, the town of New Shoreham, located 12 ocean miles from Point Judith, makes its own rules.
The New Shoreham Town Council appoints a five-member advisory board, the Commission on Motor Vehicles for Hire, to draft regulations, decide on fares, keep a list of applicants and investigate complaints.
Only true locals can get a license. People have to prove five years consecutive
residency to apply for one. When a licensed driver dies, they can’t leave their
license to someone in their will – it automatically goes to the next person
on the waiting list. Selling a license to someone else or transferring it isn’t
allowed either, Shirlyne Gobern of the New Shoreham Town Hall clerk’s office
said, indicating that people have tried.
Laid-back island rules
The cabs, mostly minivans that are allowed to carry up to 12 passengers, appear clean and well-kept, but the vehicles would not necessarily pass the strict age and mileage rules cabs in the rest of the state have to meet.
The Division of Motor Carriers of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission started conducting its annual taxicab inspections the first week of June to make sure cabs are no older than eight years or have more than 200,000 miles, and are “clean” and well-kept – the seats aren’t stained or ripped, the body isn’t dented. The division can take cabs that don’t meet those standards off the road.
Terry Mercer, associate administrator of the motor carriers division, said he received two letters in the past three years from Block Islanders who feel the taxicab system on the island should be regulated the same way cabs in the rest of the state are. Block Island is exempt from PUC regulations by statute, he said.
“We set the rates for all the cabs in every town in the state, and you can be sure the drivers on the mainland have undergone thorough background checks,” Mercer said. “Right now we are doing our annual taxicab inspections, making sure the meters are calibrated correctly, the cars are in good shape, checking the age requirements. I’m not sure how they regulate cabs there or how they set fares, but we set the rules for every cab in every town.”
There are 34 taxi licenses allowed to operate on Block Island, two limousines and two charter buses. There is no such thing as a cab “company” on the island, because one person is not allowed to operate more than one cab, and licenses have to be renewed by the Town Council each year.
To get a license, an applicant must be of “good moral character,” must be a resident of the town for five consecutive years, and must hold a Rhode Island operator’s license, chauffeur’s license or a commercial driver’s license. A cab owner can hire up to four licensed drivers to run their cab, and traditionally, those drivers give between 40 percent and 60 percent of their earnings to the cab owner, driver Dennis “Den-Dog” Riordan said.
The town sets the fares. There aren’t any meters in the cabs, but a visitor can calculate how much they owe from a rate sheet the drivers have in their cabs.
The rates are based on a zone system – Zone 1, for instance, is made up of Old Harbor, New Harbor, Town Beach, airport, and all the ferry landings and major hotels.
Any cab ride within a zone costs $5 for the first passenger and $1 for each additional passenger. If a new zone is entered, a charge of $2 is added to the basic fare.
The fares go up to $7 between midnight and 6 a.m. There is a “surcharge” of up to $4 if the cab has to travel down a dirt road – there are some “bad” roads in New Shoreham – and drivers can charge $2 per bicycle, and a dollar or two for every piece of luggage and an extra dollar for nautical or mechanical equipment. If the driver has to wait for you while you run into a store for a quick purchase, they can charge 50 cents a minute.
“It’s really up to the driver’s discretion whether they charge the extras. If a person is a bit too jolly we might,” Ritzinger said, referring to intoxicated vacationers who sometime give drivers a hard time.
“Sometimes we charge the full amount, sometimes we don’t charge any extras. It all depends on the person. If someone is really nice, we might not charge them,” Riordan said.
Taxis also give tours of the island at a rate of $40 for two people and $10 for each additional person.
Though the cab drivers are reluctant to say how much they earn during the peak season, the variable estimate is between $6,000 and $10,000, depending on how busy the season is and how hard a driver works, Ritzinger said.
Only a few of the taxicabs operate on the island in the winter months, and those cabs are on call, often used to pick up people when bars close at 1 a.m., he said.
Many times, cab owners hire “subcontractors” to operate their cabs. Ritzinger is letting three other drivers use his taxi this summer. He splits the earnings 50-50 with them, but he also has to pay for the cab repairs, which can be costly when something goes wrong and the vehicle has to be sent back to the auto dealership via ferry.
Riordan got his license to drive for McGoverns Cab three years ago. He only drives at night – seven nights a week – and splits the fares with the cab owner. He pays for the gasoline he uses, which costs more than on the mainland.
“It gets boring, so you have to have a good book to do this job. There is a lot of waiting around,” he said. “The town doesn’t have any rules on how to dress or how to keep our cabs looking, but we represent the island, we interact with people, and we all pretty much know it’s important to be pleasant to people.”
