I love route taxis

[hille141]

Experienced travelers can get into bad situations using any transit system, regardless of whether it was "designed" for locals or visitors.

Sorry but I don't get why it's not a fair comparison to say route taxis are the equivalence to US Bus systems. Should I be outraged against people using our local transportation solutions because they're "designed" for locals?

The harsh reality is that private transport can often be way more confusing and more expensive than the route taxis, at least with the route taxis the fee is published so the tourists know what they're getting into.

Tourism makes up a huge chunk of the Jamaican economy, there needs to be a system in place to move tourists around that is safe and cost effective. Chartering a private taxi can be just as dangerous as taking a route taxi and MUCH more expensive, especially as a solo traveler.

If it's "dangerous" to take the local transportation system that needs to be addressed and changed, and not by discouraging people to use the local system.

Also I have to ask is this kind of topic not a conflict of interest for you? Just curious because if drivers advertise with you on your site it would obviously be in your best interest to push private transportation instead of route taxis. If you aren't taking any advertising money from drivers then my apologies, but it's always best to keep conflicts of interest out of a discussion IMO.

Very well said.

[Rob]

Experienced travelers can get into bad situations using any transit system, regardless of whether it was "designed" for locals or visitors.

Sorry but I don't get why it's not a fair comparison to say route taxis are the equivalence to US Bus systems. Should I be outraged against people using our local transportation solutions because they're "designed" for locals?

The harsh reality is that private transport can often be way more confusing and more expensive than the route taxis, at least with the route taxis the fee is published so the tourists know what they're getting into.

Tourism makes up a huge chunk of the Jamaican economy, there needs to be a system in place to move tourists around that is safe and cost effective. Chartering a private taxi can be just as dangerous as taking a route taxi and MUCH more expensive, especially as a solo traveler.

If it's "dangerous" to take the local transportation system that needs to be addressed and changed, and not by discouraging people to use the local system.

Also I have to ask is this kind of topic not a conflict of interest for you? Just curious because if drivers advertise with you on your site it would obviously be in your best interest to push private transportation instead of route taxis. If you aren't taking any advertising money from drivers then my apologies, but it's always best to keep conflicts of interest out of a discussion IMO.

Blake,

I am assuming you know nothing of what transpired late last year to experienced Negril veterans, Hussyband & his wife, using what they thought was a normal route taxi. I am sorry that they have to relive this event by having it reposted here, but apparently it is necessary. Here is a link to their direct encounter, which we are glad they shared to let others become aware of the extra risks involved in using a system that you are not familiar:

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...put#post112924

I then started a new thread explaining that there are extra risks involved when using the local route taxi system that a visitor to the island was not raised using. If you grew up using the system and were taught the "runninngs" as a child by your parents and teachers, it is not a dangerous system. You will instinctively know which taxis to take and not to take because you have had years and years of daily experience using it.

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...put#post112959

I grew up in America, Ohio to be exact, and in all those 34 years I never encountered anywhere across the 48 contiguous states a mass transit system that consisted of individual small cars/vehicles like the local, rural route taxi system used in Jamaica. In America I have used, buses, trolleys and trains, but the only time I rode in anything like a route taxi was when I flagged down or called a privately operated taxi cab. And they are not part of any states' mass transit system. Therefore there is no fair comparison.

A fair comparison would be with the buses with bus stops that operate in larger cities like Kingston and Montego Bay, and no one would say a word about you using that system - it is mass transportation set up for everyone to use. But, that type of a service is not an option for the rural areas of the island such as Negril. And that is why the route taxi system was created, so the local populace would have a way to get around since most of the population do not own vehicles.

Once tourism began to take off in Jamaica in the 50's - it quickly became apparent that the route taxis in rural areas were not sufficient for the needs of visitors to the island. And by the 60's the first transportation system designed specifically with tourists in mind became available. JUTA was the first, and there are now many JTB trained and authorised associations set up to handle the needs of our visitors.

Having a list of drivers to call is not that difficult of a process. Their numbers are listed, you call them when you're about ready to head out and they come to where you are and pick you up. This is a rather simple procedure. And as Hussyband has mentioned, the cost difference for them turned out to be nil. They noticed no difference in price.

And I dont know where you got your opinion from, but according to Index Mundi tourism makes up 5% of the Jamaican GDP - which is rather small and not the "huge chunk" you claim it to be. The service industry makes 60%, so that would be the huge chunk, not tourism.

http://www.indexmundi.com/jamaica/economy_profile.html

And if you use Gerry's guesstimate figures of us$2 billion in 2013, and compare that to Google's Jamaican GDP for 2012, you still end up with tourism making up about one seventh of the GDP. One seventh has never been known to be a huge chunk. If so, I would like to split the cost of a case of Red Stripe with you and give you the "huge chunk" of it... (grin)

And Captaind realises that there is no conflict of interest because his son is a route taxi operator as well as Michael's On-Time Taxi who advertises with us and provides private charter taxi services for visitors to Negril.

The reality, not being so harsh, is that by calling any of the drivers listed in our transportation section, whom we know personally, you will minimize the chance of anything bad happening. You can also feel safe by calling any of the JUTA, JCal or Maxi operators - but be sure that they are indeed members in good standing in those associations. We do take the time to verify all the drivers in our transportation section. Accidents can always happen, but there is no chance that any of these folks will rob you. None. Zero.

If you dont care about minimizing your risks when you can at virtually no additional hassle or cost, by all means jump into any random route taxis that comes along. But facts being facts, even Jamaicans dont do that - they travel with drivers they know from their years of daily experience using the route taxi system. And that experience is something no visitor to the island has....

It is up to you, but one of the nice things about learning is that you can learn from others. You dont have to put your hand in a flame to know it will be burned. Take a lesson from Hussyband and even Smith now, you dont have to have something bad happen to you using a system that was not designed for you when you know it has already happened to others...

If you want to call this all a conflict of interest just because we have responsible transportation advertisers, so be it.

It is up to you how much your safety and peace of mind means to you. If a few dollars is too much, that is your choice. But you cannot say that you were not warned in advance if something bad happens. We want everyone to have the most beneficial, accurate and useful information to make their vacation the best possible!

[Blake]

Blake,

I am assuming you know nothing of what transpired late last year to experienced Negril veterans, Hussyband & his wife, using what they thought was a normal route taxi. I am sorry that they have to relive this event by having it reposted here, but apparently it is necessary. Here is a link to their direct encounter, which we are glad they shared to let others become aware of the extra risks involved in using a system that you are not familiar:

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...put#post112924

Having read through that post, it wasn't a "normal" route taxi and it could have happened to anyone even taking a taxi from outside a restaurant and even with the right tags. A stolen car is a stolen car, unless you're using a driver you know personally it's impossible to know whether the driver is legitimate.

That doesn't mean you stop using the system, because if the system is NOT safe it should NOT exist. How many incidents other than the one last year involved a route taxi robbing it's passenger? Now compare that to how many visitors to Negril use the route taxis, frankly if you look at the numbers it's nothing but fear mongering to say if you use a route taxi you will be robbed, hell if you walk down the road you could get robbed.

I then started a new thread explaining that there are extra risks involved when using the local route taxi system that a visitor to the island was not raised using. If you grew up using the system and were taught the "runninngs" as a child by your parents and teachers, it is not a dangerous system. You will instinctively know which taxis to take and not to take because you have had years and years of daily experience using it.

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...put#post112959

Very informative thread, I still believe that telling visitors to not use the route taxis is brushing the problems under a mat and ignoring it. Route Taxis are a convenient way to get around Negril, especially if you're by yourself. Chartered taxis are NOT the same price or even close to the same price as route taxis.

Blake,
I grew up in America, Ohio to be exact, and in all those 34 years I never encountered anywhere across the 48 contiguous states a mass transit system that consisted of individual small cars/vehicles like the local, rural route taxi system used in Jamaica. In America I have used, buses, trolleys and trains, but the only time I rode in anything like a route taxi was when I flagged down or called a privately operated taxi cab. And they are not part of any states' mass transit system. Therefore there is no fair comparison.

The thing is that Negril does NOT have a bus system like the US, they have route taxis or "chartered" taxis, it would be ridiculous for me to tell visitors to the US to only use Yellow Cab taxis for ALL of their needs, because it's significantly more expensive than the bus system.

Just like using the drivers you recommend is much more expensive than using route taxis. Hell I don't feel comfortable using drivers in Negril BECAUSE the rates are not static, if Negril can learn from the US is that rates for taxis need to be static so that visitors to the island(especially rookies) are not getting screwed.

The reality, not being so harsh, is that by calling any of the drivers listed in our transportation section, whom we know personally, you will minimize the chance of anything bad happening. You can also feel safe by calling any of the JUTA, JCal or Maxi operators - but be sure that they are indeed members in good standing in those associations. We do take the time to verify all the drivers in our transportation section. Accidents can always happen, but there is no chance that any of these folks will rob you. None. Zero.

The reality is that you're making money off of drivers listed in your transportation section, so I can't help but feel your view is slanted towards promoting private drivers. You are seen as a voice of information on all things Negril, so I kindly ask that you stay unbiased when it comes to things like route taxis, the odds of an incident happening are extremely minimal and the incident you linked wasn't even for a Negril Taxi. Those thugs could have robbed people walking down the road and hopped into their car afterwards, the end result would have been the same and no route taxi would have been involved.

Should people not walk down the street for the fear of getting robbed?

Either Negril is safe to visit or it isn't safe to visit, telling people to only take private taxis like JUTA or the transportation drivers you showcase is essentially telling people that the local transportation system isn't safe enough for them.

What's next? Only eating at "approved" restaurants? Only using "approved" travel services?

Sorry, but I look at an incident and then look at overall statistics, yes there will always be robberies happening, but if it doesn't happen on route taxis it will happen on the streets as you walk to the entrance of the hotel.

Just my opinion, I'm not going to stop using route taxis because of fear mongering, especially when the only alternative IS more expensive and just as shady with "haggling" required just to get a reasonable price.

[rompcherry]

I'm not against the route taxis, although I believe it depends on "who" is in the car, what you have in your possession .. if you're flashing jewellery and smart duds, I-pads and fancy phones, then you are best to use your feet or a proper tourist cab. To go from point A to B with a bathing suit and a towel, maybe A ok.
Heck it costs $4.50 just to get into a cab from my city before the wheels start to turn and there is a big red button on the back of the cab if the driver gets into trouble, it flashes and says "call police."
When we are talking about a "reasonable" rate for tourists, I don't think $10.00 or $20.00 is bad to go downtown Negril, do your shopping, have a cabby stay and wait for you, maybe go to the ATM and drop you back to your door.
And, the drinks are cheaper in JA .. when you add all this in including the cab for an evening out it would be 3x that amount where I'm from.
Heck my own car costs me $25.00/day with lease, gas, insurance and maintenance.
When I've used a rout taxi, I offer them $300 anyway for a one-way ride .. I have no purse with me .. I plan it out .. and I don't go far.
If you suspect something, just say you feel sick and you're going to throw up lol .. they'll stop the car fast ;-)

[Rob]

...How many incidents other than the one last year involved a route taxi robbing it's passenger?...

Blake,

As I have stated, here is my quote from that exact same question already asked:

"...Believe what you want and travel how you want. But to answer your question, I have heard of too many incidents around the island involving tourists, even though one is still too many.

Negril is a rather small town with a population hovering around 5000 and receives lesser numbers of visitors to the island than MoBay or Ocho Rios, so the number of incidents here are relatively small. But there have been incidents reported all around the island, in Hanover (not Negril), several in St James, a few more in the north coast areas and of course Kingston. "

There have been incidents happening to Jamaicans using unfamiliar route taxis. Some have ended up much worse than a robbery.

The point of Negril.com, the reason I created it back in 1995, was to promote Negril in such a way that visitors to the island would be given the best information available to make their vacation the best possible.

Being in the position of knowing that incidents have increased around the island last year and also owning and operating Negril.com does put me in a difficult position. There is no doubt about that. But I do feel that it is time to take the stance that there are inexpensive and easy options to using the route taxi system. Just as when I started Negril.com, we didnt warn about walking the beach at night because there were very few if any problems. But in the last 20 years, that has changed and we now recommend not to walk in the unlit areas of the beach at night. It is simply not a smart thing to do. Of course you can do it and people still do, but you are increasing your risk factor.

I now feel the same about the visitors using unfamiliar route taxis as more incidents occurred last year and one exact example from Negril veterans has been relayed here for all to learn from. It is not fear mongering, it is more of a case of a common sense safety issue. For visitors, I no longer can feel comfortable advising them to use a system that they are not familiar with and that was not designed to transport them in the first place.

You can think I am biased all you want. And if you define being biased as providing the best safety information possible to make all of our visitors have the best vacation possible, then I will wear that biased badge proudly. But the fact of the matter is that we have route taxi drivers advertising with us to provide charter taxi services for our visitors.

Can the system be improved? Of course it can. Can standard rates be set and enforced for charter drivers? Possibly but very unlikely since Jamaica is one of the most capitalistic societies on the planet. Will there be a true mass transit system set up for Negril in the future? Of course there will be. But until that happens, just as until the unlit areas of the beach are lit up at night, I cannot responsibly recommend that visitors to our island use a route taxi system of which they have little or no knowledge.

Blake - now a question for you - how many, what percentage of visitors to Negril would read and know what the "Lilliput" marking on the route taxi meant and would know not to use that route taxi? The percentage of Jamaicans in Negril who would know not to get into that route taxi would be very close to 100%. If you feel the percentage of visitors would be rather small, then you know the reason why I do not feel comfortable recommending visitors using the route taxi system.

[captaind]

Blake....what don't you get

Negril.com is not driving anyone anywhere. Facts are facts.

My son's route is Negril to Green Island. When he runs the route he's known to most of his riders and they trust him. There are taxis that they wont get into because they don't know the driver or if it's overloaded. If you get in a gypsy cab in Las Vegas you're taking the same kind of chance.

Remember that 99.5% of visitors riding in the taxi doesn't understand one word of what's being said. Do you understand patois?

Years ago there were no route cabs and visitors mostly didn't leave they yard they were staying in.

So now visitors roam all over Negril as big as it's become. To get to the point.......

Negril.com is trying to point out the most comfortable way for a visitor to get around

You should stick to things you know about

BTW..there's a name for a visitor who will take up a route cab seat to save 1.00US.....cheap Charlie

[gerryg123]

BTW..there's a name for a visitor who will take up a route cab seat to save 1.00US.....cheap Charlie

This one made me laugh: I pray to god a tourist came up with that and not a local because in all my visits to Negril -- including approximately 50 route-taxi rides -- I have NEVER seen a Jamaican tip a fellow Jamaican. And I mean NEVER.

Just sayin'.

[Hussyband]

Experienced travelers can get into bad situations using any transit system, regardless of whether it was "designed" for locals or visitors.

Sorry but I don't get why it's not a fair comparison to say route taxis are the equivalence to US Bus systems. Should I be outraged against people using our local transportation solutions because they're "designed" for locals?

The harsh reality is that private transport can often be way more confusing and more expensive than the route taxis, at least with the route taxis the fee is published so the tourists know what they're getting into.

Tourism makes up a huge chunk of the Jamaican economy, there needs to be a system in place to move tourists around that is safe and cost effective. Chartering a private taxi can be just as dangerous as taking a route taxi and MUCH more expensive, especially as a solo traveler.

If it's "dangerous" to take the local transportation system that needs to be addressed and changed, and not by discouraging people to use the local system.

Also I have to ask is this kind of topic not a conflict of interest for you? Just curious because if drivers advertise with you on your site it would obviously be in your best interest to push private transportation instead of route taxis. If you aren't taking any advertising money from drivers then my apologies, but it's always best to keep conflicts of interest out of a discussion IMO.

Ok, any discussion of route taxis aside. You are making the comparison that a site which makes it's living from advertisers and advertising is promoting a conflict of interest by driving readers to those that advertise? Is there some misapprehension that the board owners do this out of the goodness of their heart, paying what I can only imagine are not cheap hosting fees, administrative costs, and general board upkeep?

I know a membership on the board to chat is free, but I highly doubt running the thing is free. This is not a news outlet where the editors or owners are held to the same ethics or standards as the press (which is kind of laughable nowadays anyway), it's a company someone created as their livelihood.

[Blake]

Ok, any discussion of route taxis aside. You are making the comparison that a site which makes it's living from advertisers and advertising is promoting a conflict of interest by driving readers to those that advertise? Is there some misapprehension that the board owners do this out of the goodness of their heart, paying what I can only imagine are not cheap hosting fees, administrative costs, and general board upkeep?

I know a membership on the board to chat is free, but I highly doubt running the thing is free. This is not a news outlet where the editors or owners are held to the same ethics or standards as the press (which is kind of laughable nowadays anyway), it's a company someone created as their livelihood.

There is a significant difference between driving the readers to the advertisers and promoting them as the SAFE way to travel by making it sound as if you taking a route taxi will result in you getting robbed.

You're right, there is no expectation of a website owner being required to hold to the same ethics or standards as the press(which I agree is laughable) but when a website owner states that it is unsafe to take route taxis and then promotes drivers who pay him to advertise, it makes me do a double take at what I'm reading.

[Rasta Tours ja]

This Route taxi ting six of one and half
doz of other ,I park at certain hotel I saw
this lady every day I ask politely do you
need a taxi she replied no sir,but yet she step
in road and take a route taxi after awhile
she return with the same guy for a quick
second she scream out and shout my bag
oh my god that just rob me .