Taxi cab confessions of rian zarko
Photo credit Weebly
BY SCOTT TRAVERSO
It’s 5 p.m. on a Friday night. While most college students are getting ready to enjoy themselves after a long week of class, Rian Zarko is just getting to work. Zarko, a 25 year old junior at California University of Pennsylvania, is not like most college students, and it’s not just because of his older age.
Zarko is a cab driver for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab, a job you would not expect a college student to have. Before being a cab driver Zarko had just about every job you think a college student would have, “Stock clerk, gas station attendant, cook, server, and bartender, I did it all,” said Zarko.
A freak injury led him to Yellow Cab and it has worked out quite well. In the spring of 2011, Zarko tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at a Cal U intramural basketball game. The injury required surgery and for most professional athletes rehab for an ACL injury is close to a year. Forced to find work that had him off his feet, Zarko became a jitney driver for his friends when they went to the bar or anywhere around town. Eventually, a friend directed him to making his business official and got him a job with Yellow Cab.
The ins and outs of the cab business were easy to grab for Zarko and his routine on the weekend is set in stone.
Pick up the cab between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., drive the business crowd around, then move onto the dinner crowd, and finally the rest of the night is dedicated to college students and young adults in the Oakland, Southside, and Mt. Washington areas.
“You can either take a 12 hour lease, 24 hour lease, or weekend lease on a cab and after you make back your lease the rest of the money is yours to keep,” said Zarko. “On any given weekend I can make an easy $500.”
Along with the money, the schedule is another thing that Zarko enjoys about driving a cab. He only has to take the cab out once a month to retain his status as a Yellow Cab employee, so it works around his schedule for being a full time college student. The schedule allows him to work whenever he wants and basically have a business to himself.
“If I make a Facebook status saying I have the cab for the night my phone is ringing nonstop,” said Zarko. “I don’t even have to take calls that get sent into Yellow Cab. My friends and regulars know I can pick them up or if need be I can pick people up on East Carson Street. There is more than enough business down there every Friday and Saturday.”
Although the cab business has been good to him, Zarko has bigger plans for his future. A secondary education social studies major, Zarko is looking forward to student teaching in the fall of 2013. After he graduates, Zarko is looking to get a teaching job around the Pittsburgh area to help students.
“Being from the North Side of Pittsburgh I saw a lot of kids get ignored and left behind and that’s not acceptable to me,” said Zarko. “I spent lots of time at Heinz House when I was young and it’s a safe place for kids to go after school and stay off the streets. It really influenced me in my decision to go into education and help those kids in need while they’re still in school.”
Zarko knows getting a teaching job right out of school isn’t a guarantee and that the cab job is a good back up plan to have. He said even at first if he’s just subbing on and off, he can keep working for Yellow Cab on the weekends to keep the money coming in. But the big picture for Zarko is moving on from the cab business and into the world of education, “I have more to give the world than just a ride around town,” he said.
Scott Traverso is a senior at California University of Pennsylvania majoring in Journalism. He enjoys all things Pittsburgh, music, and playing golf.
http://www.pghtrans.com/yellow_cab.cfm
It’s 5 p.m. on a Friday night. While most college students are getting ready to enjoy themselves after a long week of class, Rian Zarko is just getting to work. Zarko, a 25 year old junior at California University of Pennsylvania, is not like most college students, and it’s not just because of his older age.
Zarko is a cab driver for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab, a job you would not expect a college student to have. Before being a cab driver Zarko had just about every job you think a college student would have, “Stock clerk, gas station attendant, cook, server, and bartender, I did it all,” said Zarko.
A freak injury led him to Yellow Cab and it has worked out quite well. In the spring of 2011, Zarko tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at a Cal U intramural basketball game. The injury required surgery and for most professional athletes rehab for an ACL injury is close to a year. Forced to find work that had him off his feet, Zarko became a jitney driver for his friends when they went to the bar or anywhere around town. Eventually, a friend directed him to making his business official and got him a job with Yellow Cab.
The ins and outs of the cab business were easy to grab for Zarko and his routine on the weekend is set in stone.
Pick up the cab between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., drive the business crowd around, then move onto the dinner crowd, and finally the rest of the night is dedicated to college students and young adults in the Oakland, Southside, and Mt. Washington areas.
“You can either take a 12 hour lease, 24 hour lease, or weekend lease on a cab and after you make back your lease the rest of the money is yours to keep,” said Zarko. “On any given weekend I can make an easy $500.”
Along with the money, the schedule is another thing that Zarko enjoys about driving a cab. He only has to take the cab out once a month to retain his status as a Yellow Cab employee, so it works around his schedule for being a full time college student. The schedule allows him to work whenever he wants and basically have a business to himself.
“If I make a Facebook status saying I have the cab for the night my phone is ringing nonstop,” said Zarko. “I don’t even have to take calls that get sent into Yellow Cab. My friends and regulars know I can pick them up or if need be I can pick people up on East Carson Street. There is more than enough business down there every Friday and Saturday.”
Although the cab business has been good to him, Zarko has bigger plans for his future. A secondary education social studies major, Zarko is looking forward to student teaching in the fall of 2013. After he graduates, Zarko is looking to get a teaching job around the Pittsburgh area to help students.
“Being from the North Side of Pittsburgh I saw a lot of kids get ignored and left behind and that’s not acceptable to me,” said Zarko. “I spent lots of time at Heinz House when I was young and it’s a safe place for kids to go after school and stay off the streets. It really influenced me in my decision to go into education and help those kids in need while they’re still in school.”
Zarko knows getting a teaching job right out of school isn’t a guarantee and that the cab job is a good back up plan to have. He said even at first if he’s just subbing on and off, he can keep working for Yellow Cab on the weekends to keep the money coming in. But the big picture for Zarko is moving on from the cab business and into the world of education, “I have more to give the world than just a ride around town,” he said.
Scott Traverso is a senior at California University of Pennsylvania majoring in Journalism. He enjoys all things Pittsburgh, music, and playing golf.
http://www.pghtrans.com/yellow_cab.cfm