Institute History
Description
They live for twelve hours at a time in the twisting jungle of New York City traffic. Countless faces they see snarl back at them as they wind past buses, trucks, cars and other cabs battling to get through the next light, to grab the next fare. These drivers have become hardened by the cruelty of the town. They pick and choose their passengers with prejudicial glances, with more than just a discerning eye. They pass on those who seem "threatening." They understand that making a poor choice on any night could prove fatal. Every day they face the grim truth that their next passenger could be their last.
Hershey Riley has been a medallion cabbie for well over a decade. He is fond of recounting his on-court performances as a journeyman basketball player in the late sixties. The decisions he makes tonight may cost him far more than the woman he loves.
Salgado is a troubled young woman haunted by a painfully sordid past that is on a collision course with her future. In the back seat of her cab tonight sits a Hollywood agent. And she is about to change his life.
Mibra is a young man from the war-torn land formerly known as Yugoslavia. He has left behind his son and his family, the shelling and sirens, for a life in New York. When a tragic accident turns the refugee into a fugitive in an angry city of strangers, he finds that his life depends upon the trust of the one man whom he calls a friend.
Rich in characterization and big city atmosphere, RUNNING METERS tells an enthralling story of hope and despair from within the confines of three yellow taxis in New York. Behind the wheel are three drivers whose lives are forever changed this summer night.