Risks, human stories and experiences of a taxi driver-noodist |El Salvador news

Trabajar de taxista por plataformas digitales tiene sus riesgos. Y los hay también para los usuarios. Se pasan momentos amenos con personas amables y momentos tristes cuando toca escuchar las cuitas de alguien que se desliza hacia la confidencia para contar por qué va llorando. Entonces toca hacer también de consejero.

For eleven months I have worked by transporting people occasionally.And I can say that it works as an alternative to generate extra income in free time or alleviate the absence of a fixed salary.

And thousands of people who daily use that transport modality are cheap and safe if compared to the hiring of traditional pirates or taxis.That is my perception.

But among the two applications in which I enrolled, I consider that one is safer than the other.Paradoxically, the application where you cannot negotiate the price of the service is safer than the other where, the driver can indicate the amount of money for which the trip would make, of three options he gives.

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In the platform that I consider safer, all drivers are required a series of personal documents, in addition to the criminal and police history solvency that have to be renewed every year.After one year from the date of broadcast, the platform does not allow driving.The other application is more flexible in that regard.

And it seems that it is also with users, who does not require a name and can use it with the name that is in social networks, for example.Suddenly there is a trip in which the user is OSIIita2456, with a photo of an egg.

With that application I did not make many trips.Only some in which common sense indicated that there was no risk.

One winter Sunday night I accepted a request in that application.The applicant said the trip was for a friend to a Soyapango colony.It seemed to me that the rate was not so bad.

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But when I approached where I indicated the Waze I noticed that the starting point was a round of the Romero Boulevard.There were two other men with their respective motorcycle.I decided to retire and cancel the trip.

Also in that application where the price is negotiated, there are several users who ask for transport, offer a high rate but want more than transport.It is easy to identify them.There is a user usually offers 30 dollars (very high rate) for moving it from the Los Heroes Boulevard to former Cuscatlán.But in the request he explains that he wants a "young driver, willing to other things."

In the other application only once I observed one of those behaviors.It gives the option to report those details that can put driver security at risk.

In this last application, the security measures that it offers both drivers and users are the same: to record everything that is discussed in the vehicle, share location with someone of trust and button to call the police.

There are places where I didn't go

On the other hand, the user appears the photo of the driver, the car plates and other details that in a way generate user confidence.

I, as an extra security measure, as soon as I accepted a trip I used to ask two questions: how many users are and the exact place to which it goes.The first question is because there are people who request the taxi but when they arrive for them it turns out that there are more than four.In vacations or Sundays these cases abound.

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The second question is for mere security.There are places where the risk of being a victim of theft or disappearance is very high, more when the driver is not from the area.

It seemed to me that some users bothered those questions and canceled the request.But security is as soon as possible.Most respond kindly although already on the way they ask that the two questions be explained.

On one occasion, on the other fixed price platform, after a football match of the Major League, I received a request.The starting point was the boulevard Los Heroes and Destinad, the Lamatepec Hospital.I was surprised that the two questions did not answer.When I arrived I could see three young men.They walked as if they were drunk.Before I canceled the trip, two messages came to me: "Hey boss, boss, we are going for April 22," they wrote.April 22 is a high -risk community for strangers, dominated by gangs.According to my experience, as a journalist, the three young people were gang members.

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Many users often say that some colonies are calm;Of course, they can be calm for them who live there but not for the driver.At most, it is best to tell the user how far he can take it.

But there are people who are very aware of the level of insecurity in their neighborhoods or colonies.For example, there are people who tell the driver how far he can go without risk.There they get off and walk what is needed with the trip.

In Soyapango there are many colonies where the risk is very high if gang members detect that a taxi driver is not from the area.For example, I was warned not to reach the San José colonies or those that are on the skirts of the San Jacinto hill.The La Granjita community, in San Salvador, also has a high level of risk, according to locals.The danger rises if it is night.

“I go to such a colony, but you leave me in such a place not to enter.It is the main street where it would leave me ”, are the phrases with which some users often try to convince them to be given the service.

Sometimes it hurts not to transport them because perhaps they are people who leave their work and need to reach their homes, but you can't take risks.

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Transporting uniformed soldiers

On more than one occasion I got requests from the vicinity of military enclosures.The first time surprised me because it was known that the armed force was in emergency.Who made the request said they were military.Out of curiosity I accepted it.But when I arrived, I saw that there were three uniformed soldiers and equipped with two backpacks that were going to relieve some colleagues in the San Patricio neighborhood.

They pay their money the transport of the barracks to the positions where they are assigned.On that occasion I saw several taxis per platform that came to collect soldiers.

Sometimes it is time to listen

On several occasions I had to hear the sorrows of some people.One of the last was on December 23, when I arrived by K. A young woman who took a long time to board because she wore a lots.

As soon as he got into crying.She moved me and cannot help asking if she needed help, with a little fear because I have read that some women have felt harassed by some drivers.

But the young woman began to tell me that that day she had been fired from her work and that her boyfriend had decided to end the relationship.The 24 -year -old girl was originally from the interior of the country.She hurt that her boyfriend instead of supporting her for losing her job would have caused her more pain.I retired with the feeling that the young woman had felt good to vent with a stranger who may never see her again.I don't think she recognizes her, because she wore a mask.

Working as a platform taxi driver I also met that in El Salvador there are neighborhoods who honestly, I did not know, that they look like a world with a thriving economy.Road to the port of La Libertad there are several of those.

But there is also unhappiness.

One Saturday afternoon I received a request.It was one of those colonies of people with good economy.I was about to retire when a guard asked me if I was going to pick up someone.I told him yes but that he had not given me details of the address (something frequent with people living in private residential)."I think she is a young woman from that house," said the watchman, pointing out a corner house.

Suddenly a young woman came out with two big suitcases and other bags.I told her that she couldn't make the trip for space reasons.She said she could accommodate her bags and that she would occupy the seat of the co -pilot.I accepted.

As soon as we started the trip I heard it say “Goodbye Santa Tecla”, and began to sob.She left the house due to family problems.I went to leave a sector of the Escalón neighborhood.

Suggestions for a better service

Take into account the following tips so that you as a user can receive a better service.

If you live in a restricted access neighborhood, try to deliver data as the exact address (street, passage, polygon, house number) of the starting point, its name or the surname of the family.Some guards do not allow entry if you don't have that data.

If possible, tell the driver if he carries large objects or luggage.Remember that there are cars without enough space in the trunk.That way the user will avoid wasting valuable time until the driver reaches the starting point and you find out that he does not fit his luggage.

Indicate exactly the destination point.This will avoid discomfort in case the driver does not want to continue beyond where the application indicates.It will also avoid risks to the driver.Remember that the place can be safe for you but maybe not for the driver.

If you travel with your pet, indicate it to the driver in what conditions it carries it (in box or bag, etc), because some drivers avoid taking those trips because some people carry large dogs or cats and they leave the vehicles dirty when bounted hair or fluids.

For security, do not accept out platform trips

In mid -September of the previous year, when it was learned that the Guerrero Toledo brothers had disappeared from Santa Tecla after requesting a taxi by application, many people approached with distrust.The news dressed in many who gave it for a certain although the company explained that it had collaborated with the Police and Prosecutor's Office and it had been determined that the Guerrero Toledo brothers had not traveled in Driver.

There are many users who approach distrust for so many rumors of people who have supposedly disappeared after traveling using digital transport platforms.Or drivers of these who have disappeared while working as such.But the reality is different.In the case of the Guerrero Toledo brothers, the investigations determined that they traveled with a driver of the so -called "pirate taxis."In February 2021, a driver was killed in Ayutuxtepeque.

It was said he was Uber driver.However, investigations determined that this was not true.That person made trips as "pirate taxi driver."However, it usually happens that many drivers enrolled in digital platforms usually make trips outside them, sometimes to save the commission that they stay.But doing the above greatly reduces the security measures that one of those platforms has both for driver and the user.I consider that the best thing is that neither user nor driver accept trips outside the platform.Nor request trips for other people.

A couple of months ago I had to cancel a trip whose starting point was a motel.Alberto asked for the trip.But when I asked how many users were and where exactly they were, he did not respond specifically.Then he said the trip was for another person.He then indicated that there were three users.He seemed curious.Later he asked me to communicate with them to a phone number he sent by message.

That should not be done on the platform used at that time.I told him."Well, they will come out," she replied.When I reached the exact point indicated by the application, I was surprised to see a child, a teenager and an adult who took great suitcases from a gray car in the hotel garage.I parked meters ahead.Then Alberto asked myself what color was my car.I saw the three people come to me.I decided to cancel the trip. Why did they leave the car on the motel?It seemed very suspicious.

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