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October 1, 2006

US: Muslim Cabdrivers Choose Not to Carry Passengers With Alcohol

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, passengers arriving at Minneapolis-St Paul airport can hire taxis at booths at the Lindbergh and Humphrey Terminals. To ride the 16 miles to downtown Minneapolis costs between $28 and $38, while to get to St Pauls, a distance of 12 miles, the fare averages at $22 to $26. Fees are worked out at a rate of $1.90 per mile, plus an additional journey fee of $3.00.

The information on the airport website makes it appear that getting a taxi is a simple matter. Unfortunately, an article from Associated Press in the New York Times suggests that matters may be getting out of hand on account of Muslim cabdrivers' disapproval of alcohol.

The Muslims are not complaining about picking up people who are drunk, though they are sure not to approve. They are against a person carrying alcohol in their luggage. And now their intransigence is leading to a proposal which means that the Muslim cabdrivers must place a colored light atop their vehicles.

The plan is that with this light being shown, if a cabdriver refuses to take a passenger with alcohol in his possession, he does not have to go to the back of the line. But if he refuses a passenger and he does not have this light to advertise his alcoholophobic status, he must go to the back of the queue of taxis, which could make him have to wait for up to three hours to get to the front. The proposal is being considered for approval by the airport's taxicab advisory committee.

The issue of Muslims deciding to veto whom they carry in their cars is not so easily dismissed as a silly idiosyncrasy which can be ignored. Ten years ago, some of the Muslim cabdrivers began to refuse to carry alcohol-owning passengers. But since that time, three quarters of the 900 airport cabdrivers are Somali, the majority of whom are Muslim.

An airport spokesman, Pat Hogan, states that drunken passengers have not been prevented from riding. But if a potential traveler mentions that he or she is carrying alcohol, then they are told that they cannot ride with the cabdriver. Hogan says: "It's slowly grown over the years to the point that it's become a significant customer service issue for us."

One woman traveler said: "They're really kind of imparting their religious views on the public. I can understand if somebody's drunk; that's a whole different issue. But to just bring in a closed container, maybe you should look for other work."

One wonders if these drivers, being migrants, have passed a proficiency or "knowledge test" of the neighborhoods in both St Pauls, Minneapolis and thereabouts, or have sat-nav guidance on board. In London, a driver of a black cab (the original "Hackney Carriage") is only allowed to work if he has passed his "knowledge" test. This can take years to accomplish, as a driver has to know how to get to any street in the city. A black cab driver can be trusted, unlike so-called "minicabs", driven often by newly arrived immigrant students.

I once got a minicab in Forest Gate, London, to travel a distance of no more than two miles. The Senegalese driver had no clue of where I wanted to get to, had no map, took me in circles before returning to the office to get directions, which he then forgot, and then tried to charge me for his mileage and my wasted time.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 1, 2006 5:44 PM

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Posted by: Hungarian Crusader at October 4, 2006 3:43 PM

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