I took a cab this morning to a early morning appointment. The fare was higher on the ride back. It was a difference of a couple of dollars, but the cabbie could not fully explain it. You know the computer calculates this type of stuff. Traffic was heavier on the way back and we hit a few more stoplights.

Years ago the charges were based solely on distance and a tacked on charge if you had the cab wait. Is this sort of thing now customary?

Yes, I am aware there are other choices, but have not bothered with the trouble of downloading apps for Uber or Lyft.

Most cabs are time and miles. Stuck in gridlock and the meter keeps running based on time. Also, fees like airport charges.

Thanks. I had not taken a cab in years. When I was growing up in Chicago all the drivers spoke Polish. The last time I was there, the Poles were gone and they were all Middle Eastern.

Here they are all local. There used to be a big ass meter attached to the back of the front seat so you could see the cost as it went along. No longer is that the case. There is a tiny computer screen on the dash that periodically displays the cost. No cage separating the driver either. Some of the locals get into the front seat. LOL

Last time I took a cab, the driver added a toll charge, when we never crossed any toll plaza
No tip for him. It was also, I believe, higher than an uber or Lyft would've been for the same trip, in a minivan that smelled of vomit.

Tatortodd is right. The longer it takes the more it costs and there can be fees based on pickup and even dropoff.

In my experience cabs are almost always significantly higher than uber or lyft unless you are in a cab city like Vegas or NYC, and even still usually the uber or lyft is cheaper, just maybe not as big of a difference. Plus the drivers are way better, don't spend the whole ride talking on the phone, speak English and smell like they own a shower and use soap.

As a for instance, from my house north of Atlanta to the Atlanta airport was around $110 before tip in a cab. It cost between $40 and $50 in a lyft or uber. I took both enough times to know that the pricing was not a fluke. That was a normal rate for both methods. And with lyft and uber you know the price upfront and it bills direct to your card. You can even setup separate business and personal accounts and you can have the receipts emailed to you and it is able to also interact with several major expense report software. My business trips post automatically to my expense software with a copy of the receipt.

Also Lyft gives you credit for use with personal rides when you use the business profile for work.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Last time I took a cab, the driver added a toll charge, when we never crossed any toll plaza
No tip for him. It was also, I believe, higher than an uber or Lyft would've been for the same trip, in a minivan that smelled of vomit.

Did he add it or pull the Uber driver scam I warned y’all about last year where they drive on the access road paralleling the tollroad which fools the Uber computers?

Since there are 2 tollroads between me and the airport, I now only take Lyft.

Last time I rode in a cab, 90's, it was in Chicago. We were at a company meeting and trying get to the company plane at the airport. The cab driver was middle eastern, and appeared to speak little English. After we drove by the same building and intersection, 4 times, I asked him how many more times we needed to go around the same block as we had a plane to catch, He reached up and pushed the flag down, and off to the airport we went. The company had already told us what the fare was for 4 people, so that was all he got, plus no tip!

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Last time I took a cab, the driver added a toll charge, when we never crossed any toll plaza
No tip for him. It was also, I believe, higher than an uber or Lyft would've been for the same trip, in a minivan that smelled of vomit.

Did he add it or pull the Uber driver scam I warned y’all about last year where they drive on the access road paralleling the tollroad which fools the Uber computers?

Since there are 2 tollroads between me and the airport, I now only take Lyft.

I watched him add the toll once we got to the destination.

Since you're Houston familiar. The trip was from IAH to JFK/BW8. I'd parked my car at my office while out for a work trip & got back when the office was closed. IIRC it was over $20 for a 4 mile trip.

Damn!!! Even a taxi would be ashamed to charge $20 for that trip.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Damn!!! Even a taxi would be ashamed to charge $20 for that trip.

It was a taxi....
I imagine an uber or Lyft would've been half that

I missed the cab part in your first post.

I took an Uber to the pharmacy the other day when I was running a fever and it was $6. It was a similar length to your trip.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I took a cab this morning to a early morning appointment. The fare was higher on the ride back. It was a difference of a couple of dollars, but the cabbie could not fully explain it. You know the computer calculates this type of stuff. Traffic was heavier on the way back and we hit a few more stoplights.

Years ago the charges were based solely on distance and a tacked on charge if you had the cab wait. Is this sort of thing now customary?

Yes, I am aware there are other choices, but have not bothered with the trouble of downloading apps for Uber or Lyft.

I drove a Taxi back in the 70's while attending Ohio State. At that time there were 3 elements that fed into the total fare. One element was the charge for "dropping the Flag", which back then was $1.30. The next element was the miles, which was 70 cents per mile and there was a minimum 1 mile charge upon dropping the flag.

The third element was TIME and it was based on the assumption that the cab would be traveling at 20 mph. Average more than 20 mph and the mileage overrode the time calculation, travel less than 20 mph and you would get compensated for the equivalent miles for the time. I remember one Christmas that the malls were so traffic jammed that the meter had hit 10 dollars before I could get off the mall property. BTW, that timer also ran when someone asked you to wait for them, spend 1 hour parked and you got paid for 20 miles.

BTW, my best earning days were were the first weekend of the month. Because that is when the Welfare checks went out and folks without a car would hire a taxi for the grocery run. Most drivers hated Grocery Hauls because they do involve physical effort. Me, I loved them. Because I was able to carry 6-8 full paper bags at one shot so I would get the cab emptied out quickly. As a result I was pulling in 2 bucks every 3-4 minutes. As a result I could average 30 bucks per hour for an 8-10 hour shift and wasn't burning much gas at all. The dispatchers also loved me because once I started I would work the same store for as long as there were folks needing a Taxi.

Note, at that time working a Taxi was as a Slef employed Contractor. You would rent the cab for the basic cost (32.00 for 12 hours) and pay for the gas and miles driven. On a normal day my costs for the cab would average 40 bucks plus 4-6 bucks for gas. On grocery days I would only have to pay about 36 dollars for the cab and 3-4 bucks for gas due to less miles driven. So if I took in 300 dollars of fares I would go home with about 260 dollars in my pocket. Yeah, I did have days when I wasn't able to "make my nut" and went home with a loss. My worst losing day was a 14 dollar loss. However losing days were pretty rare for me.

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Interesting post. Thanks. I did not mention the hassle I had with dispatch. They are royally fucked up. One way around that is apparently to call the cabbie directly and have him pick you up. Dispatch had the wrong address on the return trip plus they kept calling the fax line at the Surgical Center. Apparently they now want to call to make sure the fare is at the address. I did not take my cell with me, because those things often are lost or misplaced after anesthesia.