Route Taxi's - Owner operator or part of a fleet?

[Rob]

Before all those Japanese cars hit the streets Latas were the car of choice for a route taxi. We used to say we were grabbing a "Lata" - now we say "we're grabbing a local".

The correct name for the old cars in Jamaica is Lada. Lada is a brand name of Russian made cars that were brought to the island during the Michael Manley administration. This was before the "deportees/Toyonda's" were brought to Jamaica in mass.

A sidenote to the name is that black grocery/store bags are often referred to as "Lada bags" by those who live here. We all used them to carry our purchases when we crowded in the next taxi... (grin)