https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/san-diego-cabbies-cry-foul-061903665--finance.html
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Body odor is among 52 criteria that officials at
San Diego International Airport use to judge taxi drivers. Cabbies
say that smacks of prejudice and discrimination.
For years, inspectors with the San Diego Regional Airport Authority
have run down their checklist for each cabbie — proof of insurance,
functioning windshield wipers, adequate tire treads, good brakes.
Drivers are graded pass, fail or needs fixing.
Anyone who flunks the smell test is told to change before picking
up another customer.
Leaders of the United Taxi Workers of San Diego union say the
litmus perpetuates a stereotype that predominantly foreign-born
taxi drivers smell bad. A 2013 survey of 331 drivers by San Diego
State University and Center on Policy Initiatives found 94 percent
were immigrants and 65 percent were from East Africa.
Drivers wonder how inspectors determine who reeks. Driver Abel
Seifu, 36, from Ethiopia, suspects they sniff inconspicuously
during friendly conversations in the staging area. Airport
authority spokeswoman Rebecca Bloomfield said there is "no standard
process" to testing.
Others drivers question how inspectors distinguish between them and
their cars. The checklist has a separate item for a vehicle's "foul
interior odors," which Bloomfield says may include gasoline, vomit
or mildew.
"If they want to bring their smell detector, they can use it to
test the customers and the drivers," said driver Negus Gebrenarian,
39, from Ethiopia. He, like other drivers, said the stench is just
as likely to come from the back seat as it is from the front.
The airport authority says it is enforcing a policy of the San
Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which regulates taxis throughout
the region, that prohibits foul-smelling drivers and promotes
regular bathing. It also says the practice is about satisfying
customers.
"Taxi drivers are often the first impression that travelers receive
when arriving into San Diego, and we want to encourage a positive
experience," Bloomfield said. Only about three drivers fail to get
a passing grade each year, she said.
The Metropolitan Transit System doesn't have a checklist for
drivers outside the airport, which includes cabs in the city of San
Diego, spokesman Rob Schupp said. The agency enforces the body-odor
edict by responding to customer complaints — less than five a year,
Schupp estimates.
Airport inspectors have been smelling drivers for years. There was
no controversy until a union employee waded through a 568-page
airport board agenda and noticed the checklist, which had been
approved in July for revisions unrelated to the body odor test.
KPBS reported on the practice last week.
San Diego's policy appears to be unusually explicit about sniffing
out smelly cabbies. Chicago requires that drivers be "clean and
neat in their appearance." New York City's wording is similarly
broad.
Seattle long evaluated cabbies for body odor associated with
infrequent bathing and not washing clothes but dropped that test
last month for a more general requirement on cleanliness.
"The industry didn't like it, and they felt that we were kind of
overstepping: Why are we dictating to them? We don't tell city
employees that you've got to shower more often," said Denise
Movius, Seattle's deputy director of finance and administrative
services.
Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the 18,000-member New York
Taxi Workers Alliance, said her face reddened with anger and dismay
when she learned about the San Diego practice. She suggested the
airport leave it to customers to complain about body odor.
"What a dehumanizing way to treat your workers," she said.
Travelers arriving in San Diego on Wednesday were mixed.
Sue Beneventi, 70, thinks cabbies are getting picked on. "If you're
going to say cab drivers, shouldn't you also say waitresses and
anyone else who deals with the public?" she said after returning
from San Antonio.
Daniel Johnson, an 18-year-old Marine who came from Flint,
Michigan, said it's fair to grade on body odor, especially
considering the $70 fare to get to his base. He has felt trapped in
smelly cabs in other cities.
"The smell puts a sour expression on your face, and you're thinking
I just don't want to be in here," he said.