SF has similar laws. The one I see cab drivers break most often is refusing to accept payment via credit card. If you ever get in a cab in San Francisco and they tell you they don't take credit cards they're either lying or shouldn't be driving the cab in the first place.
Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
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Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#12Any idea why a cab driver would want to reject a journey? Is there some other bureaucracy that makes it hard for them to turn a profit if they abide by this? For example it is very common in England for "distance and a half" fares to be invoked when journeys are outside of a particular region. This is in place so that if a cab driver takes you to "Stixwich" they're not out of pocket on the drive back since there are…
Here is the NYC taxi cab rates.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_rate.shtm...
You have to pay $2.50 just to get in the cab in the first place, no matter how far you go. Thus, it is much better for the driver to do multiple short trips. It also means that longer trips are actually affordable for riders.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#13Any idea why a cab driver would want to reject a journey? Is there some other bureaucracy that makes it hard for them to turn a profit if they abide by this? For example it is very common in England for "distance and a half" fares to be invoked when journeys are outside of a particular region. This is in place so that if a cab driver takes you to "Stixwich" they're not out of pocket on the drive back since there are…
The last time I was in NY, I emerged from a hotel in midtown, and asked the next cab waiting in line outside the hotel to take me to SoHo. He just shook his head and sat there. I asked the hotel cab-wrangler if the cab was working, and he just shook his head as well. I walked a block and got a cab on Broadway instead.
Only thing I can figure is that he was holding out for an airport fare. Give that it was raining pretty hard, this was kind of annoying.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#14SF has similar laws. The one I see cab drivers break most often is refusing to accept payment via credit card. If you ever get in a cab in San Francisco and they tell you they don't take credit cards they're either lying or shouldn't be driving the cab in the first place.
You can now pay with plastic in NYC taxis through the little screen/swiper thing in the back seat. :)
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#15Any idea why a cab driver would want to reject a journey? Is there some other bureaucracy that makes it hard for them to turn a profit if they abide by this? For example it is very common in England for "distance and a half" fares to be invoked when journeys are outside of a particular region. This is in place so that if a cab driver takes you to "Stixwich" they're not out of pocket on the drive back since there are…
> Any idea why a cab driver would want to reject a journey?
As stated by OP, shorter journeys within Manhattan tend to be more profitable. The main reason is that once in an outer borough, it takes longer to find a fare to get the cab back in Manhattan. So they either burn time and gas looking for the right fare, or they burn time and gas driving back to Manhattan empty.
> Does NYC deny this 1.5x for further journeys?
There are myriad rules and fare schedules for journeys outside NYC, airports, etc. The 5 boroughs are within NYC, and this is what OP is addressing.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#16I am fully aware of this rule, and I have a strategy to deal with it. The last time I had trouble I was trying to get a ride from the Javits to Queens. Having a friend helped. First we would take a picture of the cab as it approached, getting the number on the roof and proof that he was on duty. What guys will do who refuse you, but know they aren't allowed to, is switch their on/off duty light. If you tell them you…
Is that just in NY? Tons of NJ gas stations charge less for cash than for credit/debit.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#17It is pretty rare that a cab drives around with his doors un-locked. I almost always have to tell them where I am going before they unlock the door. Another pro-tip: many times Lincoln town cars will take you like a taxi but they are not allowed to pick you up unless you called for a car so get in before negotiating the price
I recommend people never take a non-yellow cab. They have far fewer regulations, so they can charge ludicrous amounts. Even if you negotiate a price beforehand, it might surprisingly change when you arrive.
Agreed. I took one of those black Towncars once, and the driver tried to charge me something absurd at the end of the rather short trip. I told him all I had was a twenty, didn't get any change. That was the first and last time I'll ever hail one of those.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#18I think it is fundamentally immoral to force someone to take part in a transaction that they don't want to, just because the law forces them to do it. You wouldn't point a gun at them and make them do business with you, why do you want someone else to do it.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#19Any idea why a cab driver would want to reject a journey? Is there some other bureaucracy that makes it hard for them to turn a profit if they abide by this? For example it is very common in England for "distance and a half" fares to be invoked when journeys are outside of a particular region. This is in place so that if a cab driver takes you to "Stixwich" they're not out of pocket on the drive back since there are…
So for example I live in SF but grew up in Millbrae (which is pretty much where SFO is actually located) I'd park my car there and then take a cheap cab ride back and forth to the airport.
The problem was the cab drivers at SFO are looking to get a $40 fare back to the city, not a local $10 drop off. I've had a driver refuse to take me once (I now know better). In NYC taking a fare to the outer boroughs is usually a one way trip, you're going to have to dead head it back to Manhattan which is time lost.
Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.
#20The other problem is even though this is the law, I have had friends who avoid taxi's who don't want to take them because of that sense of hostility.
Unless I'm desperate for a cab, normally I would just find a new one. It's not like SF where there's no way you'll ever find a cab, NY they're so abundant