Easy Rider : Taxis: A two-day experiment shows that, as Valley Cab defends its turf against the threat of competition, it provides generally prompt and pleasant service.

The taxi rolled up the Encino driveway at 14 minutes after 10, right on time by the city’s standards, and well ahead of the 45 minutes predicted by a harried dispatcher on a rainy, traffic-jammed morning.

The driver--a slight, troll-like man with oversized, mutton-chop sideburns--not only climbed out of the cab in the rain to ring the doorbell but waited to hold open the car door.

“God bless you,” he said at the trip’s end, a sharp contrast from the parting words often uttered by big-city cabbies.

All in all, it was a good indication of what was to come during a pleasant two-day odyssey crisscrossing the San Fernando Valley in taxis. The rides were aimed at catching a glimpse of the service provided by the Valley’s chief taxi company, Valley Cab, as it fights to preserve its largely exclusive territory.

After years of enjoying virtual monopoly status in the Valley portion of Los Angeles, the Van Nuys company is facing competition from a Burbank-based firm seeking permission to operate in the same area.

The Los Angeles Transportation Commission has given Valley Cab until April 1 to demonstrate that its service is good enough to make a competing franchise unnecessary.

City standards require that cabs respond to at least 76% of customer calls within 15 minutes. But a Department of Transportation study in December showed Valley Cab responded that quickly only 67.7% of the time--results used by the Babaeian Transportation Co. to support its claims that another taxi service is needed. A survey performed by department employees earlier this month showed Valley Cab response times had risen back to the minimum level.

When a Times reporter rode throughout the Valley by cab last week, service was generally prompt, considering the Valley’s vast distances. Drivers--who ranged from a former drug addict to a laid-off aerospace mechanic to an aspiring rock star--were uniformly polite and pleasant. Compared to riding taxis in New York or Bangkok--indeed, compared to driving oneself around Los Angeles--the experience was genteel.

Still, it helps to have Imelda Marcos’ pocketbook and her native countrymen’s endurance to use this form of transportation in an area as sprawling as the Valley.

City-franchised cabs charge $1.90 for the first fifth of a mile and $1.60 for every mile after that. A ride from a Studio City sushi bar to The Times’ Chatsworth office was a whopping $28--more than the $24 flat fee from LAX to downtown Los Angeles. From the Encino hills to Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar, the ride cost $32 and change. Quick trips up and down Ventura Boulevard cost between $6 and $10.

It helps to know exactly where you’re going, because even experienced drivers familiar with the Valley had to stop to consult their Thomas Guides in the suburban expanse. In most instances, drivers who got lost graciously discounted the fare or stopped the meter while they got their bearings.

Forget about spontaneously hailing a cab in the Valley anywhere except near Universal City hotels. Even on urban Ventura Boulevard there is a dearth of roving taxis.

After failing to find a passing taxi on Ventura Boulevard within 20 minutes, an impatient customer phoned for a taxi from the Sports Center, a Studio City bowling alley and tennis court. Fifty minutes and three phone calls later, passenger and cabbie found each other outside Jerry’s Famous Deli. The confusion was the fault of the customer, who mistook the bowling alley’s name for that of a nearby restaurant, the Sportsmen’s Lodge.

“Naaah, he got there just a couple minutes after you called,” the gum-cracking dispatcher sighed during the customer’s second phone call. “He went inside the lobby looking for you.”

Service tended to be slower in the Northeast Valley, where commercial development is more sparse. It took one cab 30 minutes to get to Olive View Medical Center, but the half-hour wait was a pleasant surprise after the dispatcher, noting the rain, warned the caller it could take 45 minutes to an hour.

Another cab, summoned to a remote gardening center in Sun Valley, parked at the end of a long dirt road instead of pulling up to the nursery’s entrance. The passenger, who redialed cab headquarters after waiting 30 minutes, was told the driver’s location and walked to meet him. As it turned out, the novice cabbie was terrified of the barking dogs roaming around the Payne Foundation, which specializes in native California plants.

The shortest waits for cabs were on Ventura Boulevard, where a call by Teru Sushi cashier Barbara Lundy produced a cab within five minutes, and the Sheraton Universal Hotel, where a taxi materialized within moments of a bellhop’s call.

“I would say Valley Cab is pretty good,” said Lundy, who estimated that she phones for cabs for customers of the restaurant about once every two nights.

Next door at the Venture Inn, Michael Schwertfeger was more critical. The manager of the bar and restaurant said he calls taxis for customers at least once a night and alleged Valley Cab has taken as long as an hour to respond.

“Sometimes the customer will sit through a third drink” before the cab arrives, Schwertfeger said.

Some drivers attributed longer waits in the northeast Valley to their belief that fewer cabs work the area, particularly at night, because they fear drug- and gang-related crime.

“There are pockets in the Valley like that, and most experienced drivers know where they are,” said one veteran driver who asked to be quoted anonymously. Cruising along the Ventura Freeway about 8 p.m., he aimed his flashlight at a sign that read “Driver Carries Only $5 in Change.” Identical signs are posted in all the company’s cabs and are intended to discourage potential thieves.

The driver said cabbies also need a protective shield between the front and back seat, like those installed in cabs in New York and Washington, D.C. “It’s a shame the city and company won’t spend more on our protection,” he said.

A less-experienced driver, an aspiring rock star with a headband and a long, blond ponytail, recalled en route to Universal City how he had picked up a convenience-store thief on his second night on the job.

“He lay down in the back and said, ‘Go! Go!’ ” the Tucson native recalled. The suspect had a fistful of money, and even when the cab was stopped and surrounded by police, he paid his $10 fare.

Several drivers said the $80 Valley Cab charges its drivers to lease their cars compels them to work 12-hour shifts to cover their expenses and still come out ahead. Most fares, they said, average $10 or less and involve a quick trip to the market or home from a bar.

And most drivers were loath to share their territory with a second company, although the veteran cabbie suggested that competition might force Valley Cab to lower its car-leasing fees.

AROUND THE VALLEY IN 11 TAXIS DAY 1 Wednesday, Jan. 9 START Location: Encino-Sylmar Wait: 14 minutes Fare: $31.40 Tip: $3.60 Cabbie: Born-again Topics: Spiritual healing Location: Sylmar-San Fernando Wait: 30 minutes Fair: $9.30 Tip: $1.70 Cabbie: Tired Topics: Driving cab Location: San Fernando-Sun Valley* Wait: 20 minutes Fare: $15 flat fee Tip: Not accepted. Got lost Cabbie: Booster Topics: His company’s service Location: Sun Valley-Chatsworth Wait: 30 minutes Fare: $37.70, discounted to $32 because of getting lost Tip: $3 Cabbie: Bitter Topics: Chemical poisoning Location: Chatsworth-Encino Wait: 20 minutes Fare: $18.70 Tip: $2 Cabbie: Resolutely optimistic Topics: Unemployment DAY 2 Thursday, Jan. 10 Location: Chatsworth-Van Nuys Wait: 10 minutes Fare: $10.70

Tip: $1.20 Cabbie: Frustrated Topics: Cab driving in the Valley Location: Van Nuys-Universal City Wait: 10 minutes Fare: $24 Tip: $25 (declined another $1) Cabbie: Ambitious Topics: Becoming a rock star Location: Universal City-Studio City (via Burbank) Wait: less than 5 minutes Fare: $36 Tip: $4 Cabbie: Clever Topics: Making it in L.A. Location: Studio City-Sherman Oaks Wait: 50 minutes Fare: $6.70 Tip: $1.30 Cabbie: Disillusioned Topics: Car detailing vs. cabbing Location: Sherman Oaks-Studio City Wait: 10 minutes, “Flagged” a different cab Fare: $9.30 Tip: $.70 Cabbie: Worried Topics: War in the Mideast Location: Studio City-Chatsworth Wait: 5 minutes Fare: $28.10 Tip: $1.90 Cabbie: Veteran Topics: Cab-driving frustrations * Ararat Transport Co. provided this ride because Valley Cab does not serve San Fernando.