Gambetta et al - Streetwise

Tags: books

Gambetta, Diego, and Heather Hamill. Streetwise: How Taxi Drivers Establish Customer’s Trustworthiness, 2005. http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/product/openreader?id=none&isbn=9781610442350.
Talks about how taxi drivers must adopt a very quick rate of understanding their clients
- Signaling theory
  - how does a hailer signal they are trustworthy? How does a mimic attempting to rob a taxi driver signal they are trustworthy?
  - Age, race, gender, dress, etc
- “Gut feeling”
  - Taxi drivers develop some amount of gut feelings
- Most taxi drivers acknowledge that they are not in a position of power
  - If mimics really want to decieve, they can
  - Average take in a livery cab robbery is 75 dollars
- Signs:
  - older over younger
  - women over men
  - “white” over “black:
  - Spanish over other ethnic groups (iff driver is Spanish)
  - Individuals over multiple passengers
    - Groups with one female is safer
  - Wealthier over poorer
  - Known passengers over strangers
    - Most important!!
  - Callers over hailers
  - Catholic over Protestant if the driver is Catholic (and vice versa)
  - Self-absorbed over inquisitive
  - Candid over shifty
  - Friendly and calm over aggressive/agitated

Belfast

Belfast drivers are split between protestant and sectarian
- Have strong community ties, often ex or related to armed groups in some way
Often take a hawkish approach to being robbed
Protestant taxi drivers won’t go to Catholic areas, and etc