It’s Tuesday morning at the Luxor Cab Depot down on Jerrold Avenue in San Francisco and Susan Oak knits as she waits to begin a shift in the Ford Escape hybrid reserved for her. It’s the one day of the week she gets to drive one. This gas and battery powered vehicle typically gets 60 miles per gallon. “I’m not a lead-foot driver,’ says Oak, “so I usually get mileage that’s better than most (people).” Oak likes that a hybrid vehicle is better for the environment but mostly she appreciates the craft in the technology. The car batteries recharge whenever you hit the brake. Oak’s interest in craft goes much simpler. Although knitting helps her pass the time, it’s something she “likes to get perfect. I want to be the best at both knitting and driving,” she says. “Both knitting and driving is a craft that requires a lot of focus,” says Oak. “I want to learn a lot at my knitting club.” She and her girlfriends meet once a week in a bar.
Luxor’s investment in hybrids and Yellow Cab’s recent venture to convert some cabs to natural gas usage may be mere good public relations, but it most certainly is a step by the car manufacturers towards reducing automobile emissions. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s program to regulate greenhouse gases in the state is a good legislative approach.
“Clients get into my cab and invariably ask about what kind of car we’re in…tourists especially. The cab gets real quiet at stop lights when the batteries take over.” Susan Oak is an excellent ambassador for San Francisco. As a young Korean American woman in a business predominated by sometimes cynical white men, her attitude about the beauty of craft is an admirable trait to promote. Add to that her own youth, diversity and a technology supporting a cleaner world and you have a good message to convey.
This is the second in a series of visual narratives on woman cab drivers in San Francisco. Every month, Bill Russell is commissioned by TODO magazine, the hip little Bay area magazine you find given away free in the back of Yellow and Luxor cabs. The full illustration of this cabbie appears in their June issue.
