I have a question for you Vicky.

Should a person change their moral standards to please others? Why or why not?


i am not trying to start nothing and i wasnt even going to mess around with this thread becuase it is a few weeks old but what do you mean by this statement.

I don't think its so much race as to where you call home.
My wife and I came home from a trip to Atlanta and were greeted by taxi drivers looking for a fare. As soon as we gave our local address they vanished. We ended up having to wait for the last cab it felt like. Tourist were greeted and whisked off while we just stood there dumb found.


you look kinda light skin in that picture vicky, you sure they didnt think you was a tourist? and when they heard you talk and plus where you live they was like HELL NO.

Sometime I wonder when I hear people crying about the " Poor Man " I try to think of who can be described as this individual and why is he the poorman.......recently I visited New Providence I arrived on one of the ferries about 11:45pm in the night.....I looked around I saw a man I recognized as a Taxi driver.......I told him i needed a cab, he said "ok hold on a sec" about two or three minutes later he returned and with another man and said to me,"he will take car of you" this man then led me with my wife to an old beat up truck with the words "for hire" on the side, I said to him hell no am not going in that......to make matters worse he was dresssed in some old sirty construction clothes...

I was happy when I saw someone I knew, who took me to my Hotel.

No wonder the foreigners are hacking at the various ports and at the hospital.

I thought this was just an isolated incident, after we got to the hotel I wanted to go out and shake my leggs for a bit, so I called a popular taxi company for a cab....it took about 4 to 5 minutes before someone answered the phone by picking it up and hanging it back up.... I dialed the number back....the female operator was very rude when I asked for a cab....she snapped "and I just told you no cab available, you can't hear" I told her she did not speak to me, apparantly some one from the same hotel must have called for a cab.... after waiting for sometime I called back and a cab came..........I couldnt believe it the driver was shabbly dressed and smelled of alcohol in a raggedy mercedes....

I think the Government needs to properly monitor these rude cab companies who are too quick to complain about everything instead of trying to get their act together......

we cry the other day when Fred tried to force the CSME down our throat...the cab drivers in our country are some of the worst public service people along with the bus drivers ......who feel that they are entitle to something for nothing......


By the way I have bought myself a car to use whenever I come to Nassau....so I won't have to put up with the rude taxi men again and the operators(dispatchers)
:driving:

Dear Sir,
How would I go about starting a transportation service in the your beautiful country, hiring local HONEST drivers. Is it possible or is the union corrupt?
I am a very successful and hardworking business owner in Florida. Any ideas??

Dear Sir,
How would I go about starting a transportation service in the your beautiful country, hiring local HONEST drivers. Is it possible or is the union corrupt?
I am a very successful and hardworking business owner in Florida. Any ideas??


Forget it. A non-starter. This is a protected industry for Bahamians only.

it happen to me again and again and again. but i am used to it.

First things first. The powers that be need to limit the amount of taxi licence to one. And the person who owns the taxi should drive it. It should not be rented.

it happen to me again and again and again. but i am used to it.


???:confused:

some old dude tried to tell me it costs fifteen dollars from the bridge to the entrance to Johnson road....

another cabbie told me he only picked me up cause the front desk called...otherwise he don't provide his service for bahamians...lol

another cabbie told me that's a basic policy....

some old dude tried to tell me it costs fifteen dollars from the bridge to the entrance to Johnson road....
another cabbie told me he only picked me up cause the front desk called...otherwise he don't provide his service for bahamians...lol
another cabbie told me that's a basic policy....

I paid $10 from esso on east bay, to eastern road, just near johnson road .. :sparky:

we need to expose the charges doctors hospital charges though, its rediculous for 3rd rate service .. i was in their this morning for a few hours; the nurse didnt even wear a glove when taking my blood, they didnt tell me what they were doing, i had to pull teeth to get some answers, i had an IV stuck in my hand for 30+ minutes after it was done, with a non stop beep, but i had to basically break it off my hand to get some response from the other nurses, the doctor had disappeared time when that was done so i just checked out.. 3/4 of that time just waiting actually .. and it was like $800!!!!! all kinds of little charges here and there which dont add up .. and when i came out, there was no change with my problem .. or very little, and it was so late at that point i could have just gone to the walkin clinic .. so much for "emerency" service .. :(

I going PM next time .. ;)

Taxi franchises have always been a political issue. The transportation system plays an important role in our economic development and can act as a barometer to how far we have progressed socially.
I had an experience with taxi NP1048 on the day before Lynden Pindling's birthday which gave me pause. I arrived on a Bahamasair flight from Fort Lauderdale with my wife at about 11:30 P.M. After clearing Customs we went outside and asked a group of cab drivers if a cab was available. They responded that there was not a large enough cab available. We had two regular-sized suitcases and two carry-on bags. These easily fit in a normal-sized car (That's how we got them to the airport and in the end that's how we took them home.).
The cab drivers tried calling up a cab and taxi NP1048 showed up at the same time. We waved to him. He literally sauntered up to us displaying an attitude that was unbecoming to say the least. He looked us up and down and started saying "hmmmmmm". My wife was having none of this and she went inside to call home to have someone come to pick up us. I told the cab drivers I would report their behaviour.
To further compound matters a white couple came out of the terminal. The driver of NP1048 rushed over to them, curtseying the whole way, opened his van door for them, loaded their luggage, and took them to wherever they went. The other cab drivers were so embarassed they then promised to get someone to take us home. They wanted to know where I was going. At this point I would have walked home rather than ride with any of them. I told them they did not need to know where I was going. The time to ask me that would have been when I was seated in the cab.
What we have here are several social issues. We have struggling taxi drivers racially profiling clients. We have black on black racism.
We also have a situation where many taxis do not have working meters and they know they can cheat or intimidate tourists. So they prefer to carry tourists and they basically rob them.
Maybe not finally, we have poor people standing around ignoring income that approaches them and then wondering why they are poor, why things are so tough.
We need to clean up the taxi business. We need to introduce competition. It is unfair for a few people to have opportunity and many who want it to be denied. Anyone, who can pass the tests to certify themselves as taxi drivers should be given permission to drive taxis. Anyone who has a vehicle that meets the requirements should be allowed to pay the government's fees and get a taxi plate. Competitiion will force an increase in standards. Government should ensure that taxis perform to acceptable standards.
I guess I was so angry because when we were about to depart Ft. Lauderdale my wife said she was going to call home to have someone pick us up. I told her not to - we can catch a cab. My reasoning for wanting to take a cab was and is simple - the more money moves around the better it is for the economy. I feel when money stops moving, someone has or develops a problem.
The taxi drivers at the airport are busy building their own problems. On the back of this we need to be mindful that all taxi drivers do not display the bad attitude and bad manners displayed by the driver to Taxi NP1048.


Ebo,

A great post full of great observations. I completely agree, competition and increased regulation is the only real way that anything'll ever get done about our taxi situation. For those that are still interested in this thread, I'd also like to add an additional perspective to the mix -- I'm Bahamian born and bred, but I'm white. I've tried to take cabs several times - but here's the thing, I often get profiled as a tourist, so I've been in situations where I'm IN THE CAB and I get out because I know that the taxi driver is trying to literally rob me blind. And this type of behaviour is VERY common. One cab driver this March tried to charge me $30 to go from Waterloo to Village Road. I'm not exaggerating at all. He coaxed me to the cab thinking I was a tourist, asked me where I was going - I told him Village Road - he looks me up and down, pauses and says to me "alright, I can take you for thirty", obvioulsy thinking I was drunk and didnt know my way around Nassau.

I shot him a "you mussie craazy" and turned around and found another cab.

It feels terrible to have your own people #1 profile you and #2 try to manipulate you. The problem really is that...they get away with it all the time.