NEW YORK -- True story: A Midwestern couple vacationing in New York takes a taxi across town. The man hands the driver $10 and politely asks for change.

The cabbie smiles, returns a few bills and says, "Have a nice day."

It's an increasingly common scene. The surly New York cab driver -- the swerving, swearing speed demon who's as much a part of city lore as Broadway marquees and hot-pretzel vendors -- may be a thing of the past, city officials say.

Complaints against cabbies have fallen by nearly 30 percent in the past two years, to their lowest level in a decade. And more people than ever are phoning the city's taxi hotline to pay compliments.

"We were surprised -- it wasn't bad at all," tourist Marvin Cashman of Centralia, Ill., said recently as he stepped out of a cab on Fifth Avenue. "I guess you're sort of, you know, conditioned to expect this sort of near-death experience. Like they're monsters behind the wheel or something."

Since 1998, city officials who license New York's more than 40,000 cab drivers have taken steps to weed out rude and unsafe cabbies and reward the ones who make customers happy -- from returning lost property to simply being pleasant.

"There's been a real turnaround in the industry," says Matthew Daus, head of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission. "It's about simple respect, mutual respect. And it's a snowball effect as time has gone on."

The steps include linking police citations for unsafe driving to a point system that can lead to suspension of a driver's taxi license. Officials also started adding points for drivers found repeatedly to be rude.

A four-hour training course for cabbies now emphasizes the delicate relationship between cab driver and customer -- when to strike up a conversation, for example, and judging when passengers just want to be left alone.

"If I know they're tourists, I just try to talk to them," cabbie Doug Hantman said. "And then as I'm taking them into the city I just point out some landmarks. Just be personable. And it's a very nice cab ride, and they're appreciative."

At the same time, the commission has emphasized recognition for drivers who are complimented by customers. This summer the city held its first ceremony for those drivers, a move designed to instill a sense of pride in cabbies.

The numbers say the city's approach is working.

New figures show passengers filed 10,183 complaints against cabbies during fiscal year 2002, which ended June 30. That was down from 12,903 in 2001 and 14,129 in 2000. Complaints are at their lowest levels in a decade.

Service refusals dropped, too, to 2,329 this fiscal year from 3,184 last year. Reports of overcharges -- the city regulates cab fare -- fell to 1,225 this year from 1,656 last year.

Those drops come even as the city adds cabbies -- it has 9 percent more now than it did two years ago. And a commission Web site, advertised by prominent notices in cabs, has made it easier than ever to file a complaint.

Hantman said he hopes those figures will help erode the negative image attached to New York cabbies by television, movies and crass jokes.

"There's a real mystique about us, I guess," he said.

The culture change may have been most evident just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Sujoy Haldar, executive director of Cab Watch, a group that provides cabbies cell phones equipped to make free calls to 911 to report trouble.

In those frantic days, cab drivers -- already hurting for business -- gave thousands of free rides to victims' families, he said.

"Cab drivers are among the most visible icons in New York," Haldar said. "They're very much a part of rebuilding the city. When there's a disaster, they're definitely on the front lines."