Mr. Cab Driver

(posted by ange - a forgotten blog from Portugal)

Getting a taxi in Albufeira is so civilized. There is no standing on a corner of Granville Street, or Davie Street, or Broadway, or you name the street, competing with a gaggle of other pedestrians to hail a cab. No jumping in front of cabs to get their attention. No running to beat out someone else for a cab. No fighting with others who believe the cab that just pulled over is their cab (when clearly it is yours!). No trying to remember the phone number for the cab, no getting the phone number, calling and being put on hold for 20 minutes, or trying to find the number to another cab company, only to be put on hold again. No, here there is a system. It’s called the Taxi Stand. Taxi Stands are located throughout the town (i.e. outside the grocery store, around the town square) and involve a line up of cabs, where one goes to the cab at the head of the line, gets in and goes. If you go to a cab in the middle of the stand, or even try to hail a cab, you will be told to go to the first taxi in line at the Taxi Stand.

Your cab driver is friendly, helpful (if you have any bags he does all the lifting and unloading) and charges a flat fee. That’s right…go wherever you want inside the town limits and you pay one price (3.90 euros) If you call a cab from home there is a surcharge of 80 cents and if you have luggage, another small surcharge of a euro or two. This system was consistent throughout Portugal, including the bigger cities Porto and Lisbon. With petrol prices being what they are in Europe, I am left very confused as to why it used to cost me almost $10.00 to get the 8 blocks across the neighbourhood from my mom’s old apartment to my apartment! (It was raining!)