4-Oct-16 – Ask cab drivers in the city and they will tell you they used to look forward to working during the warm months in Chicago. Besides it being peak tourist season, there was always something going on at the lakefront, the Cubs and White Sox were in season, and concerts and theater productions were getting people off their couches to have fun.

Talk to Juan Ozuna, who made a good career for himself after moving from Costa Rica nine years ago, and he’ll tell you these are definitely different, more challenging times.

He finds himself frequenting more neighborhoods like Andersonville, Edgewater, Lincoln Square, and Uptown because of the increase in restaurants and watering holes in recent years – and those areas are a trek from where he lives.

Back in the day, he and his cab seldom had to leave the Loop and Near North Side.

“There are more options out there that are taking away from the cabbie’s dollar and we have to be more creative and flexible these days to make money,” said Ozuna, who shares an Uptown apartment with his cousin, Filipe Ozuna, also a taxi driver. “There was a time not too long ago that if you stayed pretty much downtown, went to the airport and some of the busier trendy neighborhoods with lots of restaurants and bars, you could make a killing during the summer, but…now it’s more challenging.”

(Left) Taxis parked in front of Merchandise Mart.

Divvy also takes a bite

Juan, Filipe, and other taxi drivers have tried existing with the explosion of shared car services, the taxi-like driving service that is sweeping the globe, and also the Divvy bike sharing program. More people have been using Uber and Lyft these days because of perceived convenience and user-friendly prices. Not to mention that some celebrities, both in Chicago and nationally, have used and lauded the service.

The same can be said about Divvy. Now that Divvy bikes are available more than ever around town, when time and attire allows, many people have decided to bike to work, downtown theaters, commercial buildings, restaurants, Wrigley Field, or U.S. Cellular Field from their downtown hotels or apartments.

It was announced earlier this year that the city provided $800,000 to expand Divvy to bordering suburbs Evanston and Oak Park. Annual membership in the Divvy program increased 32 percent recently, but then so did the cost of having a membership, a move Divvy said was needed to keep existing service levels operational and to expand the program.

“I know I’ve done the math and I have spent so much money on cabs the last two years since I got rid of my car,” said Sherrie Jacobs, a Chicago Public School elementary teacher who lives in Lake View. “I haven’t gotten around to purchasing my own bike and I know a lot of people who do the Divvy thing and the Uber thing and they love it. The thing I hate about the taxis is that you get charged for sitting in traffic and waiting.”

(Right) A Divvy bicycle station that was near the State Street Bridge in 2014.

Cabbies work longer hours to make the same money

Juan Ozuna said he has to work two to three hours more a day to make the same money he was making three years ago. He said since he’s been living in Chicago, the city has made it tough on cabbies with increased restrictions and regulations. The cost of gas has gone down in recent years, and more people are taxing cabs, but there is also more competition.

“There are more cabs and more competition than there used to be, but there is more business,” says Filipe. “I think because when the economy was bad, more…people were getting rid of their cars when they figured out they didn’t drive that much and it was more economical in the long run to either take a cab or public transportation.”

Ozuna said he has some regular customers that make up about 30 percent of his client base and without those standing appointments, he would be in trouble.

“I’ve actually given some thought to going to culinary school and getting into the restaurant business, something that has a little more predictable income.”