Boston Cabbies Must Pay Bribes to Drive

If you hail a taxi in Boston, your wallet is going to take a hit, and now the Boston Globe explains part of the reason why: Drivers have to pay bribes and all kinds of other hidden expenses to fleet owners if they want the privilege of driving. No payout, no keys. The newspaper—its investigative team included a reporter who just got his taxi license—witnessed firsthand the exchanges, ranging from $5 to $20 at the start of the night to the dispatcher. Then there's the overpriced gas the drivers are forced to buy and the "phantom shortfalls" they must rectify after shifts.

"In short, a nine-month Globe Spotlight Team investigation has found, the cab industry in Boston is a world of serial indignities that drivers, a largely immigrant workforce, endure while many cab owners walk off with huge and remarkably easy profits," reads the piece. And all this occurs as the city looks the other way over abuses. Click for the full story, which is the first of three parts. (More Boston stories.)