Red Cab

Red Cab Inc. is private transportation service operating in Night City.

History

2010s

In 2012, Alec Belavitz, an immigrant from Russia, was a senior member of a yellow cab company operating in Night City. After driving for them for almost a decade, Alec had the option to buy into the company. He did so, eventually taking over the operation from his aging boss. When Alec's superior retired that same year, Alec took complete control of the company, revamping it into his image of the model cab company for the twenty-first century, and establishing Red Cab.

Alec spent the following years improving Red Cab by adding a fleet of well-maintained and well-armored taxi cabs, as well as some AVs; he painted the cars red in honor of his beloved homeland. Alongside a large number of drivers, it would soon become the largest private taxi service corporation in Night City, rivaled only by Aerocab.

2020s

By 2020, the armored, bright red checkered cabs were a common sight around Night City, offering safe, comfortable transportation around the greater metropolitan area. They would even go a maximum of five miles into the Combat Zone as well. Due to the large demand, the corporation was always looking for new employees.

Despite the rivalry with the other taxi companies in Night City, Red Cab was friendly to all of them, be it Aerocab, Combat Cabb or ITA. The same could not be said with the local gangs, especially with the Bozos and Slaughterhouse. The first ones had dressed in the clothes of their victims and had call a cab to rob or maim drivers, while the second preferred to ambush the vehicles with heavy weaponry and then kill all of its occupants. As such, Red Cab had recently started to hire solos to ride shotgun, which had resulted in some ugly scenes. John Katzen, dedicated to the company's security, considered the homeless around Night City to be good informants concerning gang activity.

Equipment and Resources

In 2020, the company had about 75 Red Cab Taxis (and 4 AVs) with twice as many drivers, plus a large maintenance crew. The headquarters were large enough to hold all the vehicles at once, plus the entire staff. A cab could be summoned by calling or e-mailing dispatch, and they would also answer taxi hailer signals and dataterm calls. At the driver's discretion, they would pick up fares off the street, but this wasn't common, as the driver took their own life into their hands, so this generally only happened in relatively safe areas. The company was open 24/7, with the dispatch computer promptly answering requests, and bringing a cab to the caller's location in three to five minutes due to the large amount of company vehicles. The fare during the day was 3.25eb per mile, lowered to 2.75eb after the first 5 miles. The price rose to 4.25eb per mile at night, lowered to 3.75eb after the first 5 miles as well. Passengers were responsible for reimbursement on any ammo expended during the ride.

The core of Red Cab's staff consisted of its drivers, who often complained about the scheduling system (allegedly devised by Belavitz himself and based on the phenomenally inefficient Russian system), but working for the company was a pretty good deal. Drivers retained 35% of everything they pulled in per shift and naturally all tips were theirs to keep. There was no infirmary on the HQ, but Red Cab had a standing account with Trauma Team, who would show up whenever they get an alert call from a driver.

Due to its large motor pool, it took a massive crew of technicians to keep the cab fleet moving. Thus, a substantial part of the company's employees were mechanics, electronic specialists, and even cybertechnicians.

The violence of the day also took its unfortunate toll. As such, Red Cab had a small security force, and as things got worse for the drivers, the security group grew on a daily basis.

Known Staff

• Alec Belavitz (CEO)
• Phil Lusco (chief mechanic)
• Katie Lopez (personnel)
• John Katzen (security)
• Rich Heale (accounting)
• Sofia Balakis (administration)

Gallery

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  A Red Cab Taxi