Hot answers tagged taxis
23
The City of Boston's Hackney Carriage Rules [PDF], section 5.II.y:
Passenger’s Right to Direct Route: Hackney Carriage Drivers shall take such route
to the destination as the passenger shall so direct.
So you are absolutely allowed to declare your own route, and the driver must follow it. The Rules explain what recourse you have if they refuse.
NYC ...
19
Contrary to @Ginamin's answer, my advice, based on traveling in Mexico, as well as practically everything I've ever read on the subject, is to never use a metered taxi and always agree to a price up front.
The best prices are usually had when you pay at a kiosk, such as found at a bus station or airport.
Case in point: Yesterday I arrived in Morelia, ...
17
While it is true that taxi drivers will try to overcharge you in Malaysia, it is also true that the rates set by the government are on the low side. The official rate is 1 MYR / kilometre which converts roughly to $0.3. Tourism drives up prices in cities in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and I am willing to sympathise with the taxi drivers. Unlike Western ...
16
Cabbies almost always choose the route they think is going to be the quickest, not the shortest. That's because a busy cabbie will lose money whenever they are stuck in traffic - the extra on the meter for stopped time doesn't make up for the fact that they could be getting another fare. So if you try to direct them to a shorter but slower route they will ...
10
General rule: Don't ever trust a taxi driver.
While not answering your question, some general advice: Try asking someone who has nothing to gain from quoting you false prices. Try buying food/drinks/whatever somewhere and ask the vendor. Unfortunately, this does not always work out, because sometimes the locals just don't know. Generally travellers who are ...
10
Always, ALWAYS get a metered taxi. If the taxi driver says no meter, get a different one. Meters almost always run cheaper than the flat rate taxis.
Also, know where you are going.
I usually have my iPhone with GPS so I can watch where we are going in case the diver decides to circle the block a few times. Getting to know the major street names is also ...
10
I usually round up to the next 5 dollar increment, with a minimum of 15%. If paying by credit card, I'll usually just use the automatic 20% button (the smallest offered), out of laziness.
This WSJ Article claims that the average in NYC is 18-19%. Which is above the national average by a little, but not much. That's a pretty decent number to target, but I'll ...
10
Taxis cross state borders all the time. Probably half of Hoboken, New Jersey takes the taxi home from New York City on any given weekend night, and New York has some of the most restrictive taxi laws in the country.
Taxi licensing is mostly local, at the city or county level. A cab driver is only permitted to pick up passengers from a jurisdiction where ...
9
The "official" taxi company of Budapest Airport is Főtaxi.
From the airport to the Szechenyi Bath the price is 21-22 EUR:
Back to the airport costs 16 EUR:
You'll get a discount card at your first travel, you have to show it the second time to get the discount rate.
I've never payed Euros but I think they accept it ( they printed the price also in ...
9
Some thoughts:
That 29 miles sounds like it came from someone in PR—Google maps puts it at over 35 miles and 60-80 minutes with traffic. Back when I lived there, I'd have estimated that drive at about 90 minutes without traffic.
Do you know what your schedule will be like during the trip? Unless you know you're going no further than a few blocks away from ...
9
You can use a shuttle service (there are several, look them up here), but you'll have to pay more for excessive baggage. For two with such a baggage it may be over $100.
It would probably be cheaper to just rent a car for a day. You can drive it from SFO to San Jose, and then return it at SJC airport (which is very close to the San Jose downtown). Your ...
9
Considerations:
Dulles (like BWI) lies a considerable distance from the District; there are no "obvious" options because each involves a tradeoff of time or money. Only Reagan National (DCA) is truly convenient to the city.
If you have a large party or many bags, a taxi may be worth the hassle. There is no place to store bags when using public ...
8
Yep, that's the nature of SuperShuttle... it takes twice as long and drives you batty, but it does save some money.
Do you really have to fly to LAX? There are two commercial airports closer than LAX to Anaheim -- John Wayne and Long Beach -- both of which are pleasant, quieter airports.
8
I am American, but have lived in Sri Lanka for the past 9 years (my wife is Sri Lankan), so I can offer a bit of advice based on my time here.
First, a recommendation for Negombo: depending on your budget, Ranweli Holiday Village, which is about 15 minutes north of Negombo is great. I've stayed there several times over the years and always enjoyed it. ...
8
I have been to KL twice this year and hope to go back again - I had the exact same problem as you!
I would say Ankur made some good points in his answer, but, I just wanted to add a bit that is too much for comments, then my own experiences on top...
Prepaid counters are a rip off and often charge more than most taxi drivers would try to rip you off for!
...
8
Public transport is comfortable and easy in the Netherlands, and a good way to experience the country. You will need to change several times, which is always a bit of trouble with a baby, but it won't be worse than going through the airports. Do mind how far your destination in Maasbree is from the bus stop — though it might be easier to arrange a bike with ...
8
DCA is a relatively civilized airport; even without elite frequent flyer status, 4:30 should leave plenty of time, especially if you check in online, use a mobile boarding pass, and do not check bags.
It sounds like you would be staying in Crystal City, for which some practical options include the following:
If your hotel has an airport shuttle, inquire ...
8
Illegal? I doubt it, in most places. It's purely a courtesy thing, I suspect. Maybe some jurisdictions have rules or regulations, but I'd be astonished to see them enforced. You're more likely to get shouted at by a taxi marshal or the taxi driver for the taxi you join, as they don't like to see their fellow taxi drivers disadvantaged. They might well refuse ...
8
Ugly situation. Some ideas:
Befriend a specific taxi driver which is reliable (I think at the given time in the early morning there will be no rivals, it is more a convienience problem).
Be independent with other transportations. If you do not want or cannot afford
a car, a motorbike, a scooter: Some people I know of drive 40 km (25 miles) with
a bike. Ok, ...
7
A taxi ride would be at least 3000 Baht, but from the Airport you have taxi stands with fixed prices for most destination. From downtown Bangkok, you can negotiate to as low as 2000 Baht.
The less expensive would be to take the public minibuses. Thais use them for transport between provinces. Most of the minibuses can be catched at Victory Monument. To go ...
7
I have been living in Singapore for 8 years and have done a fair amount of travel in South East Asia (mostly Malaysia and Thailand) both professional and personal trips, also my wife is Malaysian which provides some insight.
Being "European", it took me a fair amount of time to get use to the negotiation. Don't take this personally and always say no thanks ...
7
The answer, eventually worked out as follows:
Asked several locals, got lots of blank looks.
Googled, checked lonely planet, didn't get much.
Taxi driver who had quoted me US$40-$100 when he dropped me off at the hotel turned up at 6.15am and banged on the door for two hours, despite me never agreeing to it, so I figured that was a good sign it was ...
7
Redmond is a crappy place to be without a car of any sort. The only reasonable mass transit around there is an infrequent bus system designed mostly to get employees to and from Microsoft. It can take 2 hours via public transit. Taxis are not cruising the streets so you have to call them well in advance, even from major locations like the Microsoft campus.
...
6
I usually plan my trips with Google Maps. Put both address and click on the public transportation. In your case: http://goo.gl/maps/O1f7
This is a 2 hour travel time for 27 miles and about US$5.00 price (two fares if you get bus and train). Notice that you can get the train from the airport parking directly instead of picking up a bus first.
You may think ...
6
This completely depends on the city and situation. I've only used a private car service once, in Lima, Peru, as the taxi drivers are notorious for ripoffs and theft. When I arrived at the hostel I was staying at, there were two people staying there who had all of their belongings stolen by their taxi driver at knifepoint. An Australian tourist was also ...
6
When using a regular taxi make sure it's with a reputable company or you agree upon the rate upfront. In a lot of countries taxis will take every opportunity to rip off tourists.
You'll generally not have this problem with private car services.
Private car services are also generally more comfortable and easier to have little stops or detours along the ...
6
According to Google Maps, the fastest way is to take a very indirect route (avoiding the mountains) on the M-39, a journey which will take more than 10 hours (~760 km). There appears to be a much more direct route via the M-34 that goes directly over the mountains, however, Google maps does not seem to allow for routing over it. I estimate that that direct ...
6
According to Lonely Planet, a Taxi in Bulgaria costs around 0.70 lv per minute at night in Sofia
"The rates per kilometre may range enormously from one taxi company to
another, but the standard rate is 0.59 lv per minute in the daytime,
0.70 lv per minute at night."
In Romania it should not be more than 2lei/kilometre ...
6
You can look up the maps/schedules of the relatively new LA Metro System to check if they cover any of your routes.
Private car service in the US is referred to as limousine service. You can easily search for service providers in Los Angeles, and reserve one during your stay. Their rates are usually based on the duration or rental mileage.
Is a car rental ...
6
Depends on the country. Sometimes it's better to use meter, sometimes not.
Here are my tips:
Ask lobby/local how much they think your ride should cost. If you want, you can take a cab without meter now based on this price.
Do NOT take any taxi that is waiting outside of tourist hotspots/hotels. In many countries, these guys are the scamming drivers ...
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