Cabs scarce at FleetCenter

The past two days may have been a commuter’s dream, but some delegates trying to get around the city via taxi after the convention ends for the night are living a nightmare.

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Delegates who eschew the buses supplied by convention organizers in favor of a little independence could come to regret their choice: Tuesday night, for example, thousands of delegates who poured onto North Washington Street just after 11 found a street devoid of taxis, police officers who gave them conflicting information, and nobody from the city’s vaunted volunteer corps around to help.

While most delegates headed out to Atlantic Avenue to catch a cab, dozens of others stood on North Washington expecting taxis to arrive because police told them they would. Others walked up to Commercial Street to find that the few taxis that whizzed by already had passengers.

The result was confused and annoyed delegates who stood or wandered around North Washington and Commercial streets in a light rain trying to find a way to get to restaurants, bars, or other gatherings.

As one female delegate from Minnesota said ruefully after waiting 25 minutes for a taxi to show up: “I should have gotten on my shuttle, but I just wanted to get away tonight. Aren’t there any cabs in this town?”

Apparently not enough. With 15,000 delegates, 15,000 journalists, and thousands more convention support staff and members of various organizations in town for the event, the city’s taxi fleet has been unable to keep up with the demand.

Even though there are plenty of full-sized buses available to take delegates to their hotels or any area of the city, many delegates want to break free of the convention cocoon by nightfall. After a day of being shuttled from breakfast meetings to delegation meetings to caucuses and official events, then spending anywhere from three to seven hours inside the FleetCenter for the evening’s program, many out-of-towners want to explore the city at their own pace or kick up their heels a bit.

But if they think they can just hop in a cab and take off, they’re in for a surprise.

Tuesday night was a good example. Two officers directing traffic on North Washington gave delegates conflicting information about whether taxis were allowed on the street at that hour: one said all taxis were being blocked from the street, but her partner working 20 feet away said taxis were allowed on the street.

Delegates who headed up to Commercial Street squeezed under storefront awnings and tried to protect their “We Love Teresa!” signs as the rain intensified. The handful of cabs that drove by were all full.

“That’s it,” said one disgusted delegate. “I am not staying [at the convention]until 11 o’clock tomorrow night if this is what we’re faced with when we come out. I don’t care who’s speaking.”

Groups of delegates clustered along Commercial Street wildly waved their Kennedy signs at every cab that sped by. A group at the end of Hanover Street was luckier than most: They were swathed in hooded rain slickers.

More than 30 minutes after the convention ended, a phalanx of cabs was spotted on Atlantic Avenue snaking its way to the FleetCenter. Whether there were any delegates left to pick up is another question.