27 October 2010 - Mixing Business with Non-Pleasure

A couple weeks ago I went to a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany. It was only my second such event as most of the presentations are, somewhat surprisingly given "American" in the organization's name, in German. But the topics are generally interesting and this evening was no exception, featuring the chief economist of Bank of New York Mellon speaking about the economic condition and fiscal policy in the United States.

But while his presentation was very good, it wasn't quite so memorable as the conversation around my table. I was seated next to a guy (we'll call him Klaus) who had worked for Deutsche Bank for 20 some years and then for some time for Deutsche Telekom before what I assume must be retirement and starting a consulting company. In both corporate capacities, he had been posted in New York. He's married and his wife runs an art gallery near our offices. So we started talking about art, New York, the U.S., real estate, being expats and the talk turned to my experience in Germany and in which he asked whether I had come alone to Germany or.....? Awkward. After I answered that I had only brought my cats as company, he pulled in the guy (does "Karl" work for you?) seated next to him into the conversation. Karl was a nice enough but somewhat unkempt attorney who was quite pleased that he would be getting notary status soon (which is more meaningful here than in the U.S.).

When he heard about Karl's upcoming success, Klaus felt compelled to mention that would indicate Karl's income potential and then (Oh no he didn't! Oh yes he did!) asked whether Karl was married? Seeing someone? Turns out Karl is single and lives in Sachsenhausen and the neighborhood restaurant he mentioned as his favorite is, uh, also my favorite and is located less than a block from my house. So Klaus was thinking "love connection," but I'm pretty sure neither Karl nor I were feeling anything except really, really awkward. It gets a little more awkward because as we were getting ready to leave, Klaus made a big deal about ensuring we all exchange business cards -- yes, thus ensuring that Karl had at least my work number. He also made it convenient for Karl to (I am not lying) walk me to my car.

The next few days I lived in perpetual fear that I would see Karl in my neighborhood or that he would actually call me up. Fortunately, it seems I was correct that neither of us felt the love connection. But it did make for an interesting evening. Not sure whether I'm up for another AmCham event in the near future, though!

12 October 2010 - Frankfurt taxis

{"Get Out of My Car" - Toby Keith}

The firm has a taxi/car service company that provides flat rates between the airport and the office and also operates as a taxi for other destinations. So when traveling on business, I often have them pick me up at home rather than hoping that there is a taxi waiting a few blocks away at the Südbahnhof. So when I flew back into Frankfurt tonight, they were waiting for me. But not apparently looking for me.

I knocked on the window of the driver and he looked up in surprise and slight embarrassment. He said he would explain once we were en route, which indeed he did, and much more. Fascinating. So here's what I learned about Frankfurt and surrounding area taxis. I should note that this is based entirely on his representations and has not been independently verified by me. (You knew there would be a caveat, didn't you?)

For starters, there are apparently too many taxis (something like 1,700) in Frankfurt for the fares available. So there has, at least in the past, been fierce competition for fares. The government (not clear whether it is the federal government, the state (Hessen) government, or the Frankfurt municipality) has passed laws in response to promote consistency, ensure access to taxis and protect consumers.

What he had seen was, a few cars ahead, a rather heated (okay, angry) discussion between two taxi drivers. Apparently, one must pay a specific fee to pick up individuals at the airport, perhaps not unlike how the taxis in some U.S. cities charge you an additional fee for the airport which is a pass-through of such costs. Anyway, this driver apparently had not bought this item yet nevertheless was soliciting passengers at the airport, which was turning the cranks of the other taxi drivers who had paid their fees. Now, if this guy is caught by the authorities, he could lose his medallion (or whatever the equivalent is in Germany) and would not be able to pick up anyone in Frankfurt or surrounding areas. That, of course, was of little consolation to the taxi drivers from whom he was stealing fares that very minute.

Another law/regulation that was passed requires taxi drivers to deliver passengers within a certain zone at agreed upon meter rates. The purpose of this seems two-fold. First, it protects consumers (particularly tourists) from a taxi driver who tries to bargain for a fee and requires just the meter. The issue of the taxi driver taking a longer route to rack up a higher fare remains, of course. Second, it protects developing neighborhoods (okay, those living in the ghetto) from being denied access to taxi services.

Another law says that I can choose any taxi in the queue that I want; I don't have to choose the first one. Apparently a lot of taxi drivers take a bit of offense at this, but the law was designed so that the passenger has meaningful choice and can select a cabbie s/he feels comfortable with.

There is cooperation but mutual respect for the different municipalities. So, essentially a cabbie is free to pick up and deliver anyone in his/her home area (it is unclear whether this relates directly to the license place location or something else). But if you are going into a zone that's not your own, you can drop off anyone, of course, but a pick-up is only possible if someone has scheduled the pick-up. So using the example of the firm's car/taxi service, they are based in the Taunus area, not Frankfurt. They can deliver me to the Frankfurt airport, which is in the Frankfurt area. However, they can't pick me up at the airport unless I schedule/request a pick-up. (So you can imagine the ruckus that would break out if a Taunus driver showed up at the Frankfurt airport without the right medallion and soliciting fares directly!)

Outside of the zone in which the cabbie must deliver passengers at the agreed upon meter, cabbies can negotiate a fare. So, if you think of the volcanic ash issues a few months ago, if you were stuck in Frankfurt and wanted a cabbie to drive you to, say, Amsterdam you'd need to bargain with him/her.

Interestingly enough, a recent survey performed by a motor club (think AAA) indicated that the taxi service in Frankfurt did not rate very highly. Cabbies were often trying to bargain with tourists to take them to their destination at a flat rate. They also tended to take the longer rate to drive up the meter and corresponding fare. They also ranked low for their ability to speak German as well as English. It's unclear to me from the conversation whether the current laws/regulations were passed in response to this survey, or if the survey is evidence that the regulations don't work.

So there you have it. When you come to Frankfurt to visit, I'll try to pick you up myself. ;-)