I always wondered what was the difference between taxis and car services, which so far as I know we don't have that distinction in Boston -- there are plenty enough operated/owned cabs that are around that you can hail or call as needed.
Natter 54: Right here, dammit.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Yellow cabs in NYC are only hailed, and are only supposed to pick up passengers in Manhattan or at the airport. In the other boroughs, if you want a cab, you're supposed to call a car service, which is not a yellow cab. You can also use car services that you call ahead in Manhattan, but they are usually nicer/more expensive, as far as I know.
In Cambridge, at least, you can't hail a cab on the street -- you have to go to a taxi stand, or call. Which caused some consternation a few years ago when another NYC resident friend and I were trying to get a cab home from a bar!
ION, can anyone whitefont the last five minutes of Eureka for me, or tell where I can find a recap? Stupid Sci-Fi.
Yellow cabs in NYC are only hailed, and are only supposed to pick up passengers in Manhattan or at the airport. In the other boroughs, if you want a cab, you're supposed to call a car service.
I did not know this! I thought it was just out of convenience. If a cab takes a passenger to Brooklyn, what is it supposed to do?
I don't know about hailing cabs in LA. I have seen it done. I seem to recall being told you weren't allowed to in Detroit. Which made no sense to me.
I don't know about hailing cabs in LA. I have seen it done. I seem to recall being told you weren't allowed to in Detroit. Which made no sense to me.
Just a guess, it probably ensures that cabs have no incentive to bunch up in front of the Ren Center, say, instead of responding to calls.
You can hail cabs in other boroughs, it's just that you probably won't ever find one.
it probably ensures that cabs have no incentive to bunch up in front of the Ren Center, say, instead of responding to calls
Which now makes me wonder about hotels.
I know that there are cab ranks here in LA, sometimes by obvious places like hotels, but other times I can't work out the placement rationale.
I really thought they weren't supposed to pick up on the street in the boroughs, but I don't know where I got that from!
I live near a street where a steady stream of cabs go past on their way back to Manhattan, and I hail them all the time.