I love route taxis

[booger]

Instead of the back and forth bickering, wouldn't energy be better served compiling a list of taxis who offer charter services in town. The transportation section has a lot of drivers, however a lot of them are tour/airport transfer drivers. Maybe a daytime list and an evening list.

[Blake]

The Zero % is exactly why I cannot in good faith recommend a route taxi when pretty much 100% of Jamaicans would know not to get in that taxi. The problem is not the system, it was designed for the local populace and the local populace know how to use it. Visitors to the island, we both agree, do not.

I am suggesting that visitors to Jamaica use the transportation system designed specifically with them in mind. It is really that simple. And as Hussyband has pointed out (as well as others), the private charter taxis are not that much more expensive or that much more inconvenient.

And islandwide I do not know the exact number as I am not the keeper of these statistics but have already related the several incidents that I know about to you in a previous post. And that number is enough to make me make this recommendation and to no longer recommend that visitors use the route taxis system since we both acknowledge they have not enough experience with.

Sorry, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, I frankly can't see how you feel route taxi's aren't safe without empirical evidence to back it up.

"That" Taxi could have been a stolen negril taxi, the outcome would have been the same and no amount of experience would change that.

I would have no problem using charter taxis/regular taxi's IF the prices were clearly stated BEFORE getting in the car like it is in the US, the bait and switch taxi cab drivers perform along with the haggling can be downright uncomfortable, especially at night when you just want to get back to your hotel safely.

Are you opposed to a bus system for Negril for travelers? If one theft occurs will you no longer promote the hypothetical bus service? What about if a driver on your list decided to rob a passenger? Would you stop promoting your list based on ONE incident?

Extrapolating incidents to make them appear like it's unsafe to take route taxis would be like saying the US isn't a safe place to live based on the gun usage, it's making the situation appear worse than it really is.

Heck, I could see a commuter shuttle/bus system that goes back and forth between the cliffs and beaches being a possible solution to the current system which uses individual cars, but that would put a lot of red plate drivers out of business in an effort to provide a "safe" solution to visitors/local transportation.