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Top five cities for taxi drivers (and the bottom end, too)
When you step into a cab, you never know what you're going to find. The driver could be knowledgeable, helpful, pleasant and safe. Or, he could lead you into a fender-bender in minutes. It's a real roll of the dice, of course, though some cities' cabbies are certainly better than others – at least that's what hotels.com found.In a study of world's taxi drivers, hotels.com found that London's are tops. But, you get what you pay for: London's taxis were also the most expensive. New York came in second, with 27 percent of the vote (compared to London's overwhelming 59 percent). New York's drivers ticked up 10 percentage points, but this still wasn't enough to break the tie it scored with Paris for having the rudest cabbies. Rome picked up the dubious distinction of having the worst drivers.
Tokyo (26 percent), Berlin (17 percent) and Bangkok (14 percent) round out the world's top five.
Madrid took sixth, followed by Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris. So, Denmark may be happier, but Spain has better cab drivers.
Of course, there's always one you should look out for ...
[photo by Ben Fredericson via Flickr]
Filed under: Asia, Europe, North America, Japan, Thailand, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
justruss Aug 8th 2010 5:40AM
Paris does have rude taxi drivers. I recall a short ride in cab to our hotel from the Troacdero where we paid the driver far more than the value of the trip (it was a very short drive so he didn't want the fare) because we deemed it too dangerous to walk at such an early hour. Once in the cab and with the windows cranked full up, he promptly farted for our amusement. It was a rich one, too.
Another driver crossed the Seine three times to get us to the Louvre.
I don't see Athens on the list. Taxis there are like the mafia on wheels.
I'm in Seoul right now, and have never seen such good taxis - anywhere.
bruce Aug 11th 2010 11:11AM
Thailand cab drivers in the top five best? This must be one seriously flawed study.
Was one of the criteria for evaluation taking passengers to several out-of-the-way unwanted destinations (where the driver gets a commission for your patronage) before the one you actually asked for? If it was, then I can understand the high ranking.
Although cab rides are a near-necessity in Bangkok, they're one of the things I least look forward to when I visit.
Unexpected Traveller Aug 12th 2010 10:29AM
For me the worst taxi drivers are Norwegian: http://wp.me/ppqxP-t
and the most clueless are Australian: http://wp.me/ppqxP-7T
Ana Aug 13th 2010 1:08PM
Violent Taxi Driver in Bangkok
I am now in Bangkok, and I was wondering if anyone would know where I could file a complaint against the taxi driver of the taxi that we had just gotten off of? We came from Siam Paragon and was having a hard time finding a taxi that would use the meter, so we agreed to the flat rate of 150 baht that the driver charged us with.
The taxi driver was irritable from the heavy traffic, and was driving very fast when he got the chance. Upon arriving at our hotel, he did not see the first door (probably because of his speed) where the hotel lobby was. Instead, he went straight ahead to the next wing where there was no bridge to the main lobby. My brother who was sitting beside him called his attention (nicely) and told him that we were supposed to get off at the first door. It was roughly only 20 to 30 steps away from where he stopped, and he was also going to pass it on his way out of the hotel premises. It was raining so we thought we would just get off at the lobby for us not to get wet. He angrily shouted "200 baht! 200 baht!" and stepped on the gas so hard to make a U turn. Startled with his outburst, I sternly told the driver that we would just get off right there, and that he should not treat tourists so rudely. My brother, after being shouted at, slammed the car door as he got off. The taxi driver did not stop there. He too, got off the car, and opened the trunk. He took his tire wrench and was supposed to attack my brother with it! The hotel guards stopped him just in time and asked him to leave. While driving out the hotel premises, he left a threat to us that he will be watching us and waiting for us outside. I was able to get the taxi's plate number from the guard. It is a hot pink taxi and the plate numbers looks something like "NS4521" (the NS was written with curves? I guess it is in Thai? Sorry I'm really clueless, but I kept the paper with the plate number that the guard gave me).
It is only our 3rd day here in Bangkok, and we have so far rode taxis around four times. The first time was from the airport where we were charged 500 bhat. We had no problem with that since the driver just went about his business and was professional. It was a blue taxi. The second, third, and fourth time were all pink taxis, wherein not once had it been a good experience for us. For the second taxi that we rode, the driver told us that the mall we wanted to go to had closed early, and that it would be better to just have dinner somewhere near the night markets. He then suggested a "cheap and good" seafood restaurant, so we agreed. When we arrived, we noticed that the prices were ridiculously high, and later on, upon reading the same stories on the web, realized that we were scammed.
The same thing was offered to us by the next taxi driver (also of a pink taxi). Since we already knew better, we declined his offer and just made up an excuse.
Now, the last taxi that we rode had the rudest and meanest taxi driver that I had ever encountered in my entire life! These 3 encounters all from pink taxis had made me wonder if this is a common practice among them.
I really lost all the excitement I had for Thailand tonight. Shouldn't they be doing something about these taxi drivers if they really want to promote tourism in their country?
I am really looking forward to flying home next week. I believe this has by far been the worst vacation I have ever had. I have never been scammed and treated so rudely so many times in a row! My Bangkok vacation has turned out to be very frustrating, disappointing, and infuriating,
If you have friends or relatives who are coming to Bangkok, please warn them about this particular taxi driver. Also, please ask them to read about the different scams that some locals trick the clueless tourists into. Please pass this email to your friends and family. It is best to come prepared and aware, so as to avoid these kinds of experiences. Thailand sure has plently of things to offer, but if this comes with visiting their country, I think I would rather not return unless needed, and would not recommend friends and family to come and visit too.