Ralph Napoleoni

Age:30

Company: Owns four cabs City: New York City

• Award: Emmy award for "Taxi Cab Confessions" on HBO
• Philosophy: "When in New York City, live each day as if it were your last. Because you just might get run over by a cab."
• How to avoid a bad cab ride: "If you want a nice tranquil ride, look at the car. It says everything about the driver."
• How to hail a cab at rush hour: "When you see a cab approaching somebody, you run across the street and push them out of the way. You scream at them, 'I've been waiting here for 20 minutes.' Then jump in. Or you could share with somebody."
• Best places to get a cab in New York: "In front of hotels or at taxi stands. Or the exit ramps off the FDR Drive at 49th Street or 53rd Street and 1st. You're more apt to catch a cab where traffic is coming into the city like at the 59th Street Bridge near 2nd Avenue."
• Common complaint: "Taxi drivers in New York City don't know how to communicate very well."
• Why cab drivers have bad reps: "They're a bunch of crabby people. You're in a stressful environment -- you have to deal with the public, and there's a lot of people constantly nagging. You have to be a chameleon."
• Benefits of riding in his cab: "I keep over 100 CDs in the cab. I have a cell-phone that takes every major credit card. And the driver speaks English and knows where he's going."
• Cost from airport to downtown: "To midtown Manhattan, the ride should not be over $30, including tolls. With no traffic it should be $16 to $17 with tolls."
• Policy on tips: "I never tip for bad service -- you only encourage it. If you get decent service coming into midtown, give the guy $3."
• One last tip: "Stand out there like the Statue of Liberty, with your hand way up in the air."

For Hire: Tales from the Front Seat

Joseph Smith

Age: "Older than dirt, three days younger than water"

City:Washington, DC

• Philosophy: "Try to help when you can, and try not to hurt anybody unnecessarily."
• How to avoid a bad cab ride: "Get in the car without an attitude. When the passenger has an attitude, the driver gets an attitude."
• Common complaint: "Being ripped off. We have a zone system and most people can't read the map, including some drivers."
• Why cab drivers have bad reps: "We're kind of like the last outlaws, the pirates of the Caribbean."
• Cost from airport to downtown: "Between $12 and $15 depending on where you're going."
• Policy on tips: "If you can, 10%."

Fred Kamm

Age: 55

City: Denver

• Philosophy: "I'm related to everybody. It's a Zen thing."
• How to hail a cab at rush hour: "Some cities you can hail a cab. Denver isn't one."
• If you don't want to talk to the driver: "Just tell the driver, 'Hey, I've got some business stuff to be thinking about, so I need a little peace and quiet.'"
• Cost from the airport to downtown: "Downtown runs $36."
• One last tip: "If you've never been to Denver before and the driver asks you if you have ever been to Denver before, the answer is, `Yes.' You don't want to announce to the driver that you just fell off a melon truck."

Don Mitchell

Age: 48

City: Los Angeles

• Philosophy: "I don't like to get spiritual with it, but my philosophy is the three Ds -- desire, determination, and dedication."
• Common complaint: "The driver is discourteous. The driver overcharges on the fare."
• Why cab drivers have bad reps: "They're discourteous and they overcharge."
• Benefits of riding in his cab: "It's a state-of-the-art vehicle. Clean inside and out."
• Cost from airport to downtown: "There's a flat rate posted on all cabs -- $24 from the airport and a $2.50 surcharge."
• Policy on tips: "To indicate your displeasure, give the driver a dime -- you'll be sending a message."

Andrew D. Walker

Age: 65

City: Detroit

• Philosophy: "Don't doubt yourself. You can do what you think you can do."
• How to avoid a bad cab ride: "The condition of the cab will reflect the cab driver and the company."
• Benefits of riding in his cab: "You can get where you want to get faithfully."
• Cost from airport to downtown: "It runs about $28."
• Policy on tips: "When you drive a while, you don't expect a tip. It's not like a restaurant."