Sep 12th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
I quit driving a cab in Chicago a couple months ago after nine years on the job. Do something 12 to 14 hours a day, six or seven days a week for that length of time and there's no way it won't shape your relationship with the world. I've spent these recent weeks recalibrating because I no longer wanted my life to be led from behind the wheel. Closing that driver's-side door has been eye ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
cab posts
Notes From A Retired Cab Driver
Sep 12th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
I quit driving a cab in Chicago a couple months ago after nine years on the job. Do something 12 to 14 hours a day, six or seven days a week for that length of time and there's no way it won't shape your relationship with the world. I've spent these recent weeks recalibrating because I no longer wanted my life to be led from behind the wheel. Closing that driver's-side door has been eye ...Woman sues taxi company for hell ride: the same thing happened to me
Feb 2nd, 2011 at 5:00PM:
I checked my email last night and I found a short and simple email from my former roommate, a guy I lived with for a couple of years in Astoria, New York (Queens). He had included a link and a "Does This Sound familiar?" subject line. When I followed the link, my heart sank as I read the story: Woman sues cab company after ...Ten wild cab rides that you'll never forget
Sep 20th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Everyone has their own way of immersing in a culture. Some jump in knees-deep into the food scene, massacring the local food blogs and munching their ways through every gastic adventure that they can find. Others enjoy the philosophical and soft-edged days of lounging in street side cafes, watching passers-by and drinking coffee in the early afternoon sun. Here at Gadling though, we prefer the ...Look where cab drivers eat - Dining out tip
Aug 10th, 2010 at 12:33AM: Look where cab drivers eat.
There are times in a foreign country when you want to test the culinary prowess of a culture that has a thousand years of history behind it. And there are times when you just want to "tie on the feed bag."
If you want authentic, down-home grub and you don't want to be over-charged, follow the cab drivers. If you you see five or so cabs parked in front of a restaurant, ...Top five cities for taxi drivers (and the bottom end, too)
Aug 7th, 2010 at 5:00PM: 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 ...New Bing Maps feature takes the guessing out of taxi cab fares
Aug 3rd, 2010 at 9:00AM:
Bing maps just introduced a really cool feature for travelers - cab fare mapping and pricing. The feature covers 54 cities around the world, including many major tourist destinations. Simply enter your region, departure and arrival points, and Bing will provide a route and estimated fare.
In the few tests I threw at it, the calculation seemed very accurate, and it takes all parts of the fee ...Don't get ripped off by taxi drivers - International travel tip
Mar 19th, 2010 at 4:36AM: Here are three tips for avoiding getting ripped off by taxi drivers in foreign countries:
1.) Before getting in a taxi that doesn't use a meter, make sure you agree on the fare with the driver so you won't get a surprise at the end of the ride.
2.) To avoid misunderstandings, have the hotel staff write the addresses of your destination and the hotel in the local language so you can show it ...New website helps Seattle visitors share a taxi
Jan 4th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Now that visitors to Seattle can hop on the light rail from Sea-Tac Airport into downtown (or take the 45-minute bus), fewer may be likely to take an expensive cab. But for those who don't want to hassle with lugging baggage onto public transportation or who are arriving at odd hours, there is a new way to get from the airport into the city without spending the usual $40 on cab fare.
...Cabbie drives 1,600 miles -- customer refuses to pay
Dec 22nd, 2009 at 5:30PM: Life as a cabbie is no walk in the park. They deal with drunk passengers, being robbed, and often spend part of their shift cleaning up puke in the backseat of their "office".
The worst customers are probably those that take the cabbie for a ride. These thieves take advantage of taxi cab services, and run off without paying, when they reach their destination.
South Florida cab passenger ...Rome cab drivers forced to be honest
Dec 1st, 2009 at 4:30PM: All over the world, taxi drivers seem to love to scam tourists. Hapless visitors with no idea what a taxi from A to B should cost are so easy to drive around for an extra ten euros or so.
In New York City, they've made an effort to combat the problem by adding video maps in cabs (so you can see when you aren't between your pickup point and your destination) and charging flat fees to bring ...Dim Sum Dialogues: Planes, Trams, & Automatic Doors
Jul 8th, 2009 at 9:00AM: This is a continuation of yesterday's column on the transportation of Hong Kong. After seeing various Youtube videos of the infamous landing at Hong Kong's now defunct Kai Tak Airport, I'm disappointed that I never had the chance to experience a 747 roaring over a narrow Kowloon street. But the beauty and convenience of Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport make up for that disappointment, and have ...How to visit Los Angeles without a car
Jul 1st, 2009 at 10:30AM: Los Angeles is known for a lot of things: celebrities, beaches, smog and police chases, to name a few. But, when it comes to planning a trip to LA, perhaps the fact that will stick out the most is that LA is a car town (which explains the smog and police chases). Los Angeles is a sprawling city that is really several towns and neighborhoods that are connected by a series of highways that stretch ...Photo of the Day (5.30.09)
May 30th, 2009 at 5:30PM: Add one more thing to my growing list of things to do before I die: be a contestant on the Cash Cab. What could be more quintessentially New York than an endless row of New York taxi cabs? This photo, brought to us by ultraclay, not only captures the perfectly organized chaos that is New York City street life, but he brings these yellow cabs lined up in a row into vibrant life. Those of you like ...Oktoberfest can be expensive... especially if you take a £2,000 cab to get there
Oct 7th, 2008 at 2:30PM: Have you ever missed a flight? It's a stressful and frustrating situation, especially if you have a carefully planned out itinerary that requires your presence in certain places at certain times. When a man named Dave missed his flight from Portsmouth to Munich -- where he was to celebrate his friend's bachelor party by drinking beer at Oktoberfest -- he decided to forgo the airlines. Instead he ...To summarize getting to and from London...
Mar 7th, 2008 at 10:00AM: ...I would default to the much overused Mastercard lingo:
Airticket from London to Prague: $100
Taxi to the airport: $250
Leaving for the airport early enough to take the train next time: priceless. (Well, not completely priceless, but about $230 cheaper than taking a cab.)
The good part is that I actually made the flight with two minutes to spare. The bad part is that it would have been ...Cockpit Chronicles: Taken for a ride in Panama City
Mar 4th, 2008 at 9:00AM: I called my friend Captain Dave the day before our trip. "Dave, we're going to hit the ground running in Panama City so we can check out the canal. I've got it all figured out. Just get to bed early," I said. Dave was up for this. He actually traded one of his Barbados layovers to fly this trip with me. Sometimes it's worth it to fly an ugly trip with a good friend. We've been flying together ...Choose Your Russian Taxi Carefully!
Aug 29th, 2007 at 11:00AM: I'm not sure I ever had much of an interest in visiting Russia before I started reading EnglishRussia.com. I mean sure, I'd go if the opportunity presented itself, but once my favorite Russian blog hit the scene and they started covering all sorts of "largest country in the world" oddities did I realize this was truly a place I wanted to go. Take this video for instance, simply titled Moscow ...
The Truth About Taxi Drivers in Prague
Jul 27th, 2007 at 8:00AM: The cab drivers in Prague really are that bad. The problem has gotten slightly better after the Prague mayor dressed up as an Italian tourist and saw for himself how much they rip off foreigners. But it is still not nearly good enough.
The thing is, they don't only overcharge foreigners. It occasionally happens to locals, too, if they don't pay attention to the hyperactive meters. Sadly, a lot of ...NYC's Taxis go Hybrid: Yellow Can be Green
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:50AM: NYC's Mayor Bloomberg announced a plan to have the entire NYC fleet of taxicabs change to hybrids within five years. With 13,000 cabs, this is a tall order.
There are about 400 hybrid taxis currently in use now, and they've had good reviews from riders and drivers. Taxi models include the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h, and the Ford Escape. Expect the number to ...New York Couple Takes 2400-Mile Cab Ride
Apr 9th, 2007 at 1:51PM: Betty and Bob Matas are retiring from NYC to Arizona. Though the next big hurdle for them will be the move, the couple has already hired movers to haul their stuff. But wait: how will they get their cats to Arizona? Though they could've shipped the cats via airliner, the Matas didn't want to force their cats to endure a trip in the cargo hold. They'll just drive, right? Well... no... they don't ...
