On the Subject of Taxis....

[Rob]

Smith - we are talking about the same stop - that is on road as you leave the airport. It is not in the arrival area for the visitors. Of course, if a route taxi driver happens to be driving by the arrival door and you hail them, they will stop for you. They are not supposed to discriminate as I mentioned previously.

[smith744]

I'm trying to remember the last time I got into a full taxi.

lol
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me too..!!!...

lol
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When I mentioned before about the angry reactions from the white plates, it was when I was on the road clearly flagging down a taxi but if it's after sunset, it's hard to tell if the plate is white or red until they are right there stopping. Then when I said no, a few have gotten a little hostile. This isn't late night, usually just after dinner going back to my hotel (maybe 7 p.m. or so).

those *few* do the psuedo-faux-hositle thing because they didn't get your money.

no biggie
"..water off a ducks back.."

[Rob]

I don't know why,
but everytime i read this statement
the following flashes through my little feeble pea-brain::::>>> "...The United States Constitution was not designed with Colored-people in mind..."

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm
maybe 'cause it's BlackHistoryMonth eh

Wow - I've never seen the US Constitution to be trivialized to that extent, being compared to transportation system. But even so, you are comparing apples and oranges. A civil war in the mid 1800's helped to change the US Constitution and it wasnt for another 100 years or so until the civil rights movement that the words finally started to mean something in the US.

The route taxi system was implemented about 50 years ago in order to provide an affordable way for the Jamaican populace to get around. That is all it was designed to do - nothing more, nothing less. It was not designed as a basis for government....

Grabbing for straws are ya?

[smith744]

Getting Around Negril 101 [[ continued ]]

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Benefit of Using Route-Taxis
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Remember Negril is a VERY-VERY-VERY small place
route-taxi drivers recognize & remember faces

after you use the route-taxi system a few times,
the taxi-men know that you know they system,
and will stop for you more often,
and will watch your back,
and will do little things to make your use of the system even better

[smith744]

Grabbing for straws are ya?

Nope..!!...

the *thought* just keeps coming to my mind/brain
everytime i read that "..not designed for visitors.." statement.

[captaind]

Nothing like an esoteric discussion about taxis........

Makes an old Freemason get excited.....

[BrenJaLee]

Smith, I love you! You always bring such great comments to a thread! And you're right, the difference between route and charter isn't just chump change to a lot of us. I'm usually there for 2 weeks and take taxis almost daily for something. The difference between route and charter for a single person is going to be around $300J ($600J round trip). Say I take a taxi on only 10 days of my trip (very conservative estimate), that's a difference of $6,000J or about $70. That's $70 that I can spend on dinners and spread the wealth around to more than just taxi drivers. And I'm still giving about $4,000J+ to route taxi drivers.

Rob, thanks for finally clarifying that your statements are different based on high season vs. low season. Since I've mostly been there during low season, perhaps that is why I rarely see full taxis. I have a specific daily budget when I'm there which includes taxi, food, excursions, and souveniers. I feel better about sharing the wealth, some money to the route taxi drivers, some to the restauranteurs who are trying to keep open during slow times too, some to the vendors trying to sell trinkets to pay for their own food for their families, and some money to charter taxi drivers for excursions. Share the wealth I say... share the wealth!

[Guirigay]

I took one ride in a route taxi last week and the Jamaican in the front seat spent the entire ride from Home Sweet Home to Catcha riffing hard in Patois about tourists spending only 200j to go all that way. He was seriously shiddy. Pretty sure he didn't realize I understood him. Gave the driver 500j and told him to keep the change and smiled thinking about the conversation they had when we got out...

[smith744]

Getting Around Negril, Jamaica AND the Airport 101 [[ continued ]]

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Brief Info on Airport Route-Taxi system

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Route-taxis service the airport
INSIDE the airport grounds/area

1....you can sit on the benches and wait
2....it's NOT far from the Arrival door
3.... or you can hop a taxi at one of the reddish '.X.' 's on the map above
4.... or you can stroll out to the main-road (outside the airport grounds) and catch one at the greenish '.X.' on map above

fare..??.. ---- can't remember, but probably not-more than Ja$100 to the MoBay bus/car-park.
..then Ja$200 (approx) to Lucea
..then Ja$200 to Negril

Suggestion:::>> Remember, because the Jamaican people are sooooooooooooo-nice & helpful, getting a route-taxi is too-too easy-easy::::>>> Just ask somebody,,, ANY-body where to catch a route-taxi

note::>> on the map above the airport Police station:::>>> you could ask them where to catch a route-taxi.... i'm SURE they'll help you.

[BrenJaLee]

The route taxi system was implemented about 50 years ago in order to provide an affordable way for the Jamaican populace to get around. That is all it was designed to do - nothing more, nothing less.

Yes, but my "guess" is the tourist industry in Jamaica wasn't quite as thriving then as it is now that needed to be taken into consideration. My "guess" is there were not as many tourists trying to get around to visit numerous locations in a town then as there are now. Lots of things are used differently from how they were originally intended (especially after 50 years) because times change.