3972  taxis of Buenos Aires

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 16:32:07 -0300
From: Alberto Gesualdi <clambat2001@YAHOO.COM.AR>
Subject: taxis of Buenos Aires

Dear friends from tango lists

I would like to make a refreshment of taxis of buenos aires , as well as separate the three stages of wisdom that tourists , even tango tourists , will experience

1. Stage of wisdom 1 , arrival at Ezeiza airport
You will hounted by persons saying they know your grand mother and that their price is the best in town . Avoid them as well as the Tienda Leon and other stands that have been placed abusively at the exit of the custom area, making very hard to see from the area of waiting , the passengers that are making their exit from custom.
Head to a stand that says "TAXI" in blue and white, and do not stop, and refuse to speak to anybody, until you with your belly in contact with the counter of this stand ,andyour luggage between your legs and /or seated over the bag like Aladdin in the magic carpet .
This is not my taxi enterprise :) It is the official stand of taxis from Ezeixa, the blue and white ones, that will collect a fare that is printed in a board .The fare includes the highway toll of Ezeiza , but not the highway toll that connects the following leg of the trip , so make it clear if you want to go sgtraight to downtown through AU1 highway, or if you prefer to use General Paz Avenue that is free of charge. This days it will be wiser to use AU1 and pay the extra charge ( ARP 2 ) since General Paz Avenue is almost collapsing with the amount of cars that have been manufactured on 2005 year, a record for the last four years ( this year will be around 500.000 new cars, and almost half of them are intending to use the same street that you are trying to use )
The toll for the ezeiza highway is a nuisance, it doesnt make sense to discuss it , ARP 0,70 . It is included in the fare of the Ezeiza white and blue taxis to your destination

2.Stage 2 of wisdom, using taxi cabs within buenos aires.
Friends,. this is a chaos . Town hall authority does not control anymore the medallions of the taxis , so you can find unauthorized taxis runnin as well as taxis with all the licenses. Both classes are yellow and black,. the official colour for taxis of Buenos Aires, but ....is a mess, the quality of taxi drivers have sunk, you'd better ask for a friend that travel before you if he/she found a reliable service.
All the taxis are equipped with radio, so now is a "passenger hunt" .You will notice sometimes that a taxi is coming, it has the "free/libre" red sign ,you raise your hand to stop it, and the driver makes you a "no" sign with his hand. This means he have catch a passenger through the radio , so he does not bother anymore for you.
There is not a fixed rule, but if you see a taxi that is driving slowly with the red sign on , using the right side of the street, it maybe an option. If it is going quickly at the left side, forget it, it will not stop unless you jump in front of it , and this is not a safe procedure .
Taxi drivers smoke at the car, or has the radio on , or has the fm tuner with a music , not tango, at full volume. And they resent if you ask politely to turn it down or end the cigarette. Some taxis have a sign of no smoking printed, also they have a sign "aire acondicionado" meaning there is air conditioning.

You have the right to stop the taxi cab, and before opening the door, have a look to the driver and the shape of the taxi. If it is rusty, or neglected, or without marks, do not enter , make him a "no" with your hand and select another taxi . If the taxi driver protests, I can offer a small set of bad words that are very short and precise to make the person understands clearly his services are no required .

Once you are on the taxi cab, try to give an address as accurate as possible, and suggest the way you would like to take, it is also your right . For instance , if you are at Belgrano neighbourhood and want to go downtown , tell the taxi driver to avoid Cabildo , corrientes and santa fe avenue, and to take Libertador , since this first avenues are overloaded with traffic. Also Cordoba avenue if returning from downtown .

The best way to travel in Buenos Aires is using the metro/tube. But avoid rush hours, monday to friday ( 8 to 9.30 am , 5 to 7.30 pm )
3. Stage 3 of wisodm
After your stay in Buenos Aires,. you are wiser , so now you can acept a taxi to take you back. But remember that there is a service of buses from tienda leon , that now departs not only from Plaza San Martin (Santa Fe Avenue and Suipacha ) , but also nearby the Sheraton hotel. at Madero Avenue .

Blue and white taxis from ezeiza airport are not convenient , since their station is at ezeiza , so it is better to ask for a regular taxi or a remise that are more or less the same . A remise may charge ARp 30 to ARp 40 , depending the point of your depart within buenos aires city .A taxi more or less the same, sometimes the taxi driver agrees a fare with you .


The bare truth is that the radio taxis made a change in habits . Now a lot of the radios are run independently from the taxi companies, so there is no connection between the taxi driver and the radio operator, they pay a fee to have the radio on board , each taxi runs on their own .

This is the way it is , what can we say except welcome to Buenos Aires, even with the taxis is a good place to know :):)


warm regards
alberto gesualdi

Huck Kennedy <huck@ENSMTP1.EAS.ASU.EDU> escribis:
Sergio writes:

> In most airports to get a luggage cart you must pay at
> least 3 dollars

I have not found this to be true. While obviously
I haven't been everywhere in the world, I can say I have
never been charged for a cart at an international arrival
anywhere except in Newark Airport in the United States,
where they actually have the disgraceful gall to charge
$3 even within the customs area. Elsewhere in the US,
I've gotten a free cart within customs, but then had to
relinquish it before exiting to the main airport area.
Outside the US, I've always gotten a free cart, period,
with no restrictions.

> Cab drivers in many countries take you for a ride, then they demand a tip or
> keep the change without asking if it is ok. Frequently they do not bother to
> help you to unload the luggage. In Argentina they will bring the luggage to
> your house if needed.
>
> Here I have never seen somebody to keep the change, most taxi drivers round
> down on the amount: 6,30 will require you to pay only 6,00. It may be
> different for tourists.

That has happened to me as well. I keep hearing
horror stories of Buenos Aires cab robberies, but
I thought the cabs there were some of the best in the
world. The fares are cheap (before the devaluation they
were still relatively cheap, now they're a steal), and
you can give a cab driver a simple address anywhere in
the city (like Calle Qualquiera, 4832) and he can tell
from the address where the nearest cross street is, and
take you there directly with no fuss.

And the nicest surprise (although it's an acquired
taste) is that the cab drivers almost all drive at night
with their headlights off, using only their tiny parking
lights (which are also white, but give off little light).
At first this seems crazy, but then you realize that with
cab drivers constituting the vast majority of drivers at
night, the city is spared the harsh glare of headlights
and instead takes on an almost surrealistic soft glow
that is quite charming.

The downside of this, however, is that a couple
of times I almost got hit crossing the street on foot
at night because I'm used to looking for bright
headlights, and the dim lighting of the rapidly oncoming
taxi just didn't register in my mind as an approaching
danger.

They advise you to call for a cab by telephone
instead of hailing one on the street. The only bad
experience I had was the one time I did call one to take
me to the airport. We negotiated a price on the phone,
then on the way he tried to hit me up for more money to
pay the tolls on the highway along the way. I told him
we had agreed on a fixed price to take me to the airport
and the tolls were his problem, not mine.

Huck


Abrm tu cuenta aqum

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 13:50:57 -0800
From: Marisa Holmes <mariholmes@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: taxis of Buenos Aires

> You have the right to stop the taxi cab, and before
> opening the door, have a look to the driver and the
> shape of the taxi. If it is rusty, or neglected, or
> without marks, do not enter , make him a "no" with
> your hand and select another taxi . If the taxi
> driver protests, I can offer a small set of bad
> words that are very short and precise to make the
> person understands clearly his services are no
> required .

Well, it's a temptation to want to know those words,
but what I'd like most after reading your interesting
posting, is to know how to make a gesture meaning no
with the hand. I use a negation gesture of crossing
and uncrossing both hands, palm down, at chest level,
but I think this is a US or English gesture. How do
you do the Argentine one?

Marisa

Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 14:12:12 -0800
From: Internet User <bailartangos@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: taxis of Buenos Aires

Thanks Alberto...
Where on earth did you learn to write English in such a poetic manner?
Its quite beautiful, I love the images I get in my head reading it.


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