Increased fares; more police presence needed to curb ‘rushing’- Taxi Drivers
Taxi drivers have often been accused of putting lives at risk with their urgency to drop off tourists to the various beaches and rushing back to the cruise pier for another load in order to make maximum trips.
Persons have reported on social media about taxi drivers literally bullying them off the road in their urgency to get to and fro.
Speaking to this news site on condition of anonymity, two “veterans in the taxi business” said it is not a pleasant sight to see a selected few in the business rushing to get more people to the beaches, which in turn gives the entire taxi operators bad ratings. However, this could be somewhat remedied if the two suggestions are implemented.
Raise the fees across the board
One of the suggestions given to counter the problem is that the fares be increased across the board.
“What I think personally is the fares should be across the board both adults and kids because it is a shorter distance and I think if the fares were across the board they would not be doing that either,” one taxi operator said.
He is also suggesting that tourists be made to pay at the Pier Park instead of during or after they arrive at their destination.
“Each taxi owner should also invest in providing identification bands to their lot, which would simplify matters a great deal,” he said.
The current fare is $8 for adults and $4 for children.
An increase in the taxi fares would be up to the Ministry of Communications and Works.
More police presence needed
Meanwhile, another veteran taxi driver said police presence in areas like Cane Garden Bay and Brewers Bay, where the majority of the tourists flock, should be amplified.
“In my opinion, the reason why taxi drivers are operating this way is, number one, is that the fare to go to the beach in comparison to St Thomas or other islands needs to be increased by a few dollars more. I’m not sure what the regulators could do to decrease the dangers, but they need to have traffic personnel to deal with these type of things.”
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22 Responses to “Increased fares; more police presence needed to curb ‘rushing’- Taxi Drivers”
and you all complaining about taxi yall really messed up.
Rather than fighting each other, the taxi drivers should form a coalition and create a code of ethics and standards. Team up and make it so that whether the tourist goes with John or Harry, he will have the same experience and a pleasent one at that. If there is a disagreement, don't fight in front the customer it just doesn't look good on you, your service or the country.
I'm gonna digress a little to tell a story. A few months ago, I return home from a trip and had to catch a taxi. Everyone who could pick me up was either at work or off island. This was at the airport. I ask for ride and the taxi man-dem carry on like I had no money to pay them, none of them seemed to want to carry me and had million excuses. Anyways, I finally got a taxi and while he was nice enough he kept me waiting because he didn't want to carry just me. The other passengers were nice too and I enjoyed talking to them but even they were irate about having to wait. Overall, our spirits were high and I got home safely so I thankful but that doesn't excuse poor service. Abroad, when I called for a taxi, they told me how long it would take and by gosh they were there on time. I could have asked the taxi man to drive me to the moon and he would have without complaint as long as I had the money. And then I come to the only home I've ever known to be treated like a begger. If it wasn't for my heavy suitcases, I'd have walked my @$$ home or catch the bus. The point I'm trying to make is customer service on this island sucks, not just the taxi services but on a whole. There are too many surly people working in customer service and everything that happens in their private life they bring to the job and take it out on their coworkers and customers.
Taxi men, fix yourselves before you do anything else, else one day the tourist will learn that if they want to go to the beach all they have to do is go to the foot of Jose Hill and bum a ride. And if they really like nature and exercise, they can even walk there, not a soul would trouble them except to offer them a ride.
least spill some borscht.