Taxi cabs, like dense traffic, honking horns, and skyscrapers, usually are synonymous with big-city life. But the taxi business is different for Bobby and Natasha Skeans, members of Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative.
The Skeans family operates Island Ride on bucolic Kelleys Island. Covering only about 4 square miles, the Lake Erie island is awash with parks, nature preserves, and woods. It’s home to just a couple hundred year-round residents, and the tallest building there is three stories high.
But from May through September, Kelleys is a hot spot for tourists, who can number into the thousands on weekends — many needing safe rides to the island’s eateries and attractions. And Island Ride is always ready to serve.
Of course, with such a small operating radius, every day of operation is more smooth and uneventful than the last. Not!
The Skeans family operates Island Ride on bucolic Kelleys Island.
While the Skeanses live in a home tucked away down a gravel lane in a quiet, peaceful, wooded area of the island, other spots on Kelleys — especially on those busy weekends — have an altogether different vibe, and the island’s roads can feature some chaotic twists and turns.
“[Riders] can be very happy and like to sing songs,” Natasha says. “One time I had a football team. They were like 55 years old, and they decided to share all the songs they used to sing back in the day.”
To be a good taxi driver on the island, it takes an easygoing, free-flowing personality — and the gift of gab helps.
“On Saturdays, with three or four big vans running, we’re seven calls deep and the phone keeps ringing,” Bobby says. “We just assure them that we’re on the way.”
There have been times when passengers “take a nap.” In that case, Bobby (who is also the island’s fire chief) heads to the EMS station, where the passenger gets a wake-up. If that fails, that passenger gets evacuated off the island.
Bobby says it’s not uncommon to get pickup calls from people who aren’t exactly certain where they are.
“Either they don’t know the address where they’re staying or they’re too intoxicated,” he says. “So I begin by asking them what they see, like Cedar Point or Perry’s Monument. That gives me a direction at least, and I can go from there. Or, we pick up people downtown who don’t know where they’re staying and they’ll say something like ‘It’s the house with the red door.’”
Either way, taxi drivers use their experience and clues provided to get folks home after their big adventures.
But it can be tricky if overindulgence leads to aggression.
“It rarely happens, but people have gotten kicked out of a cab on the wrong part of the island,” Bobby chuckles. “And then we get people calling for rides and they’re actually on another island or the mainland.”
Large groups of dozens of people can prearrange transportation to events or sightseeing tours. And there are specialty runs too, like delivering food, cigarettes, or … wood. Huh?
“I get people who want to drive around and look for firewood. I mean, they want to look for random tree branches on the side of the road. That’s kind of annoying, so now I just buy it from the firewood spots and deliver it to them,” Bobby says.
Island Rides has also been known to save the day (or night) on occasion.
“Sometimes people heading to Sandusky on the last Jet Express (ferry) will mistakenly get off on Kelleys Island, so they’re stuck,” Bobby says. “We’ll try to find them a room for the night, but sometimes there are none.” In those cases, if there’s no serious weather coming through, Island Ride may hook them up with blankets and pillows, and perhaps even snacks and drinks, so they can sleep at the ferry dock and catch the first boat the next day.
Sometimes people get kicked out of a bar and, after getting picked up, Natasha says, they’ll try to pay the driver to take them back.
“We had one guy try to jump out of the van to get back to the bar,” she says, explaining that they convinced him to call it a night and go home.
When folks are informed of a longer wait time than they expected, those unfamiliar with the island often say they’ll just get an Uber and hang up.
“Yeah, they always call back,” Bobby says, noting that there are no ride shares on the island. “And you can hear it in their voice: ‘Yeah, you win.’”
Over the past few years, some callers have been surprised when a young girl answers the phone. Daughter Viktoriya, now 15, helps with operations by cleaning vans and other important tasks, and was 11 when she first began dispatching.
“A guy was complaining about the price ($7 per person) and I told him it would be a 40-minute wait because we’re so busy,” she says. “He said, ‘I don’t know, sweetheart, you can do better than that. Can I talk to an adult, please?’”
Viktoriya said a short time later they were picking up customers and the man approached and began arguing with her dad. She says she then stuck her nose into the conversation, but that’s all she has to say about that incident.
“I think she’s gotten a lot of value out of it because she can talk, and she knows customer service and how to handle all sorts of people, you know, in conversation,” Natasha explains. “And our son, Nikolay — he just turned 12 — he’ll learn those skills this year because he’s going to start doing some dispatching this year.”
Island Ride fun includes two-way radio communication between vans, which customers often like to get involved in. And according to the Skeanses, an enjoyable taxi ride with friends means tips.
“Returning customers can be very generous and respectful,” Natasha explains. “They know we are reliable and are all good drivers and good people and we do a lot of stuff around the island, and that’s their way of showing their respect."
