Taxi Rates

[SweetSue]

I take the route taxis and pay the same as anyone else. If I tip, I let them know that I do know the proper fare. Yes, we who travel are financially better off than many Jamaicans BUT let us not perpetuate the myth of the RICH FOREIGNER who deserves to be ripped off or fleeced. We do not do them any favor when we carry ourselves like royalty blessing the poor peons with our presence and presents. In doing so, we deny them the opportunity to get to know us as people and to truly share culturally. The attitude of looking at them as poor souls who need to be saved from poverty is demeaning. Plus creating or encouraging a welfare attitude never helps anyone. And from the other side of the same coin, it irks me when a man (local) who I know has a few dollars in his pocket or has the ability to meet his basic needs, puts on the hang dog look and tries to beg money from me just because he perceives me as a "foreigner" and therefore as rich. Is he looking at me as a person? NO. But where did that come from in the first place? The fact that this behavior has become accepted culturally is sad and cripples the DEVELOPMENT of people in developing nations. (btw Third World Nation is not PC anymore)

ALSO, like Irieworld, I do not have a pocket full of cash to throw around. I love my time in Jamaica and have been fortunate enough to make some friends but I have to WORK HARD for my money and make certain sacrafices in order to make my trips.

[Jbizek]

Been following this thread with interest and you nailed it SweetSue. The husband and I were wanting to try route taxis next trip and I had a hard time swallowing that by using them we were somehow cheating a resident out of a ride. Honestly this thread made me really uncomfortable but the less money I spend on rides the more money I spend at vendors on the beach. Damned If I do Damned If I don't. I try hard to spend cash with Jamicans not with middle eastern shop owners. We saw a lot of those last trip and I found them much more pushy than the Jamicans I dealt with.

[SweetSue]

But that is the system - route taxis are a system that starts on the street level and gets developed by the people. They had a taxi association, they pay dues and are vetted. That's why you look for the red plate. They even have depots where they can check in and passengers are discharged to connect with taxis that run other routes, ie Sav, etc. When I was in Ghana, the transportation was exactly the same except the little buses were called tro-tros, In Haiti, they are tap-taps. I have encountered the same exact system in St. Lucia. This is not an exploitation. It is their system. It is a people driven solution to meet transportation needs when the government infrastructure cannot provide a reliable, formal mass transit system.

The cab you take to the Hi-Lo is not missing a fare to Mayfield Falls if it is a matter of him simply running his route. It a taxi man chooses to take a private run to the grocery store, you don't owe him for the bigger fare he may have missed. That's just how the business is. There is no need for paternalism, they have their own system and run enterprise their own way. Just like us.

[Dana1]

Excellent reply SweetSue...totally agree with you

[vikesinja]

Another thing that irks me is how do you know who is Middle eastern and not Jamaican? Jamaica is a rich culture made up of all ethnicities of people. As most of us know there were a lot of East Indian and Chinese coming to the island after slavery was abolished. So, unless you ask the person "Are you Jamaican or something else?" You shouldn't automatically assume they are not Jamaican. And I have seen many Jamaicans working at so called non-Jamican shops. Sorry for the rant. Just seems this forum get so uppity and higher than thou sometimes.

[Jbizek]

Well the accent and the fact we discussed when he moved here and how he liked living there. Hardly trying to be uppity
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[tfw73]

I haven't used the route system before, but I am considering it. To me, it is a form of public transportation akin to the urban bus systems or rails. My family has exclusively used the charter taxis and we took a fleecing. I promise we paid more than we ever did in NOLA, NYC, Miami, etc.! There are obviously many route taxis and I can't see how tourists would take over and keep Jamaicans from having rides. SweetSue nailed it with the term paternalism. I view using the route taxis as contributing to the local economy.

[tfw73]

Well the accent and the fact we discussed when he moved here and how he liked living there. Hardly trying to be uppity
,

I didn't think you were being uppity or holier than thou. I got what you were saying.

[MoFromMonroe]

My husband and I recently took our first non all inclusive trip to Negril in December. We stayed on the beach and the very first time trying to go to the cliffs for dinner totally turned us off from making a second trip. Taxi driver who pulled up to us at CCLP wanted US$25. for 2 of us. After reading this board and hearing that we should not pay that much for a taxi we turned him down. Unfortunately we then walked out to the road and used a white plate without realizing it until we got in for our ride back to CCLP after dinner. Round trip was $15. The whole thing just seemed too confusing and stressful to even bother trying it again so the other 8 nights we just dined within walking distance of our hotel or at our hotel. Wouldn't it benefit the businesses on both the beach and cliffs if there was a standard price for beach hotel to cliff restaurant without having to haggle or pay a ridiculous price? We would have certainly made more trips to the cliffs. The point of vacation is to "destress". Not get stressed.

[Homebrewer]

My husband and I recently took our first non all inclusive trip to Negril in December. We stayed on the beach and the very first time trying to go to the cliffs for dinner totally turned us off from making a second trip. Taxi driver who pulled up to us at CCLP wanted US$25. for 2 of us. After reading this board and hearing that we should not pay that much for a taxi we turned him down. Unfortunately we then walked out to the road and used a white plate without realizing it until we got in for our ride back to CCLP after dinner. Round trip was $15. The whole thing just seemed too confusing and stressful to even bother trying it again so the other 8 nights we just dined within walking distance of our hotel or at our hotel. Wouldn't it benefit the businesses on both the beach and cliffs if there was a standard price for beach hotel to cliff restaurant without having to haggle or pay a ridiculous price? We would have certainly made more trips to the cliffs. The point of vacation is to "destress". Not get stressed.

many restaurants offer either a free pick-up or free delivery, we usually call for pick-up and negotiate our return, there is often a driver hanging out at the bar etc.

I'll tip the pick-up driver and usually pay $1000J for the return ride for the two of us