Olathe cab driver hailed as paratransit driver of the year by trade association

When Gregg Katz was told he was being honored by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association as paratransit and contracting driver of the year, he had to do some quick searching.

“I wasn’t entirely sure what a paratransit driver was,” Katz said of 10/10 Taxi.

What he discovered was that by serving mostly elderly clientele and as well as those with disabilities, he unknowingly became a paratransit driver.

Katz works exclusively in Olathe, taking care of passengers who typically live between 135th and 151st streets.

“If I ever go outside that area, it’s actually kind of a unique situation for me,” said Katz, who lives in Olathe.

Katz started working for 10/10 Taxi a little more than three years ago. He said the first year is tough for any driver because they are new to the business.

“You will do nights, you will put a lot hours in because you pay for your taxi whether you’re driving or not — the more you work the more you make,” Katz said. “It’s only been the last two years that I started looking into the marketing aspect of it — how to make myself a successful driver — which has led up to this paratransit situation.”

Katz found a senior living facility for people 65 years old and older and he began getting more and more passengers there to where now 100 percent of his passengers are elderly or mentally challenged.

“I’m practically picking up the same people every day,” Katz said. “I don’t think of them as passengers anymore. These are my friends and family now.”

It’s gotten to the point that Katz says he can tell when someone is having a bad day.

“I know who is taking what medications,” he said. “If I take someone to the doctor and they are not able to speak well on their behalf, I’m able to explain, ‘Well, I know that she doesn’t eat in the morning. She’s taking these medications.’”

On the flip side, his passengers know everything that’s going on in his life, Katz said.

Prior to driving a taxi for a living, Katz was in the U.S. Marines. He worked as a support employee with the FBI, ran a flower shop business and delivered newspapers for The Kansas City Star.

“I’d seen another driver who had been using his 10/10 Taxi to deliver papers and I asked questions about it and I went through the orientation program,” Katz said. “I thought I would give it a try and it probably has been, I want to say, one of the most interesting jobs in my lifetime.”

It’s the freedom of deciding when and where to work that is the most appealing part of the job, Katz said.

“We just have the contractual obligation that we pay our cab lease weekly,” he said. “I like the flexibility of it.”

At the time he made the switch in careers, it allowed him the time to cater his schedule around being a father and driver. His kids have since grown up and moved on.

Katz will accept his award next week at the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association’s annual convention and trade show in Phoenix.

Katz said he believes what made him stand out is that he’s been doing things for passengers that they’d expect to be a paid service, including helping get groceries into their homes, taking hearing aids in for maintenance for less mobile clients and delivering such things as eight bags of mulch to a passenger who had one arm. He tries to provide more than just a driver service.

“To me that’s just common courtesy,” he said. “It also gives me the opportunity to step out of my car and stretch my legs a little bit. But I guess some of these people were used to being charged extra for it.”

Last year, he prepared Thanksgiving dinner and then drove door-to-door dropping off the meals to a handful of passengers he knew had no plans for the holiday.

“I enjoy knowing that I can take care of these people … it gives me an opportunity to be a good person to other people because it makes their life better,” he said. “Also, I’m 51. There’s going to come a day when I might need some help myself. I’ll like to think that there isn’t going to be a price tag associated with every little thing.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Olathe cab driver hailed as paratransit driver of the year by trade association."