The Passenger

Someone came to the door of the taxi and asked for a chance to compete for the fare. Isn't that a bit odd? What I mean is that usually you compete for the taxi not for the fare. Two taxis might compete for a fare on a quiet day. The thing is, and it is not a small matter, that once I have secured the fare, I can request a business card from the taxi driver and also begin to rely on a particular driver or licenced vehicle for the service I use a) frequently, b) infrequently, c) occasionally, d) almost never. 

I should say I am competing for a share rather than a fare but I am shy to ask the taxi driver if the business is in such a state that I am required, virtually necessary, to ensure the business day run smoothly and within sound monetary understanding.

We are now ride-sharing sitting uncomfortably in the back seat of a beautifully kept taxi.  Our destinations are far apart. Convention says I will pay the fare up to the point I exit first, and the second passenger will pay the remainder up to the second exit stop. Although I have accepted the convention, my mind is going all over the place to understand metered services. We should be able to dual carriage the metre thereby dividing the first section of the fare into two even bits and he carries the remainder. But as the taxi driver cruelly points out as he drives the taxi, the first half is not the shorted route to the final destination. The detour so to speak extends the fare considerably. My mind is going all over the place. Which first passenger will quietly acknowledge that his fare has been subsidised, and this would be incredibly lucky. What a massive financial saving. Is this called windfall? My fare costs, as it usually does, twenty-five dollars. His fare cost twenty-five dollars but he has not paid it and is staring very hard out of the window. His fare will be twenty-five dollars and then but only ten dollars over an extended period of time though of about fifteen minutes. 

The fare to the taxi driver is thirty-five dollars, and two people arrive somewhere safely. The total sum is divided as one and a half fares to calculate the fuel subsidy based on number of passengers to kilometres travelled over the working week in hours. For being able to captain those in need of public vehicle services the 1.5 aspect to the fare attracts a gift of 20 additional points accumulating towards a set of valuable occupation related perks. It is a secret list of perks.  

We learn about fuel, cities and passengers in this way.  

https://youtu.be/I54N3YdBy1Q?si=M7ex-sMouHHT9UcI