Milwaukee has a taxi problem.

Make that several.

The likelihood of hailing a cab in a blizzard or a even a light snow is second only to the likelihood of catching a ride home on a magic carpet. This is troublesome in a city where winters last six months.

But even those lucky enough to hunt one down — which we all are eventually, with truckloads of patience — have another hurdle to jump: racy drivers.

Sadly, the popular alternative to the sickos quizzing you about what you wear to bed is drivers who, over their speakerphone conversations and grating radio selections, fail to remember you exist in the backseat.

These problems aren’t unique to Milwaukee, but they’re magnified in our little city where a dozen bad drivers are enough to spoil the bunch.

That’s why when I met Rich Matzo, 65, I made sure not to let him go.

Serendipitously, I got into Rich’s cab last fall and had a friendly conversation with him about his home state of New York while he carted my friends and me across town.

When I asked why he came to Milwaukee from New York, he said, “Two things. You can’t get into trouble here, and you got Usinger’s sausage. What more could you need?”

Even in the hazy wee hours of the night, Rich’s first-class manners were abundantly clear, as was his innocent interest in building relationships with his clientele. I took his number that night and have successfully avoided cab companies’ hold music since.

Even in brutal weather, Rich is on-call and making good of his promise to sweep me up in ten minutes or less.

According to Rich, maintaining personal connections is just as important for drivers as it is riders. College students are the padding of most city drivers’ incomes, he told me last week.

“You guys are the difference between buying domestic beer and imported,” he joked.

Similarly, riding with Rich is often the difference between mediocrity and momentousness.

In last Friday’s blizzard, my friend Pat and I felt a little stir crazy and had Rich drive us to Wolski’s to split a couple pitchers. On the way home, Rich played his new CD for us: Lady GaGa’s “Born This Way.” I can say with some certainty that this probably isn’t the favorite of an older blue collar guy, but he was doing it for us. Altruistic behavior like this is common in Rich’s cab.

In terms of people skills, Rich is unmatched; he interacts without prying or preaching, kids and teases, and for him, that’s just part of the job description. Speaking English is one of his selling points, and he’s able to connect with the people in his backseat better than most drivers can.

Business aside, Rich has a genuine interest in providing people safe, speedy transportation. He makes a point of respecting even the most vulnerable of passengers, expressing resentment towards drivers who take advantage of the intoxicated and “treat (women) like animals.”

Why?

“I believe in karma,” he said. “If you do something bad to someone, it’s gonna happen to you ten times worse.”

Human connections come easy to Rich, and he’s one of the few cabbies in Milwaukee reserving the right to say so. Of the places I’ve been in Milwaukee (often thanks to him), his cab has been one of the most major. He’s overheard conversations few of my friends can recollect, met guys my parents never will, and mobilized some of my favorite memories. I’m inclined to say all of the rides I’ve shared with Rich mean nothing to him, but he’s not like most cab drivers.
And thank God for that.