Travelogue: Taxis, taxis everywhere—stunningly, shockingly nice taxis

Vegas, New York, Chicago—step aside, because <em>this</em> is how you do transportation.

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[LB1LF]

The Quick & The Read[/url]":225aqd29]Beautiful travelogue. Thank you.

All were sparking clean BMW 3-series or Mercedes C-class sedans. All were kitted out inside with leather and dashboard displays.

Why? I'm sure there are less expensive automotive options, why did they standardize on the (undoubtedly) more expensive one? I feel a joke about Apple coming on...

-It is probably a simple matter of economics and predictability. Say what you want about Mercedes-Benz, but if you stick to the maintenance schedule, they are just about unstoppable - they just keep doing their thing day after day.

If you earning a living depends on your car being reliable, it makes an awful lot of sense to go with a Mercedes.

C-class is the bog standard taxi option in Norway, too.

 

[LB1LF]

bburdge[/url]":18rrqsqn]
You would be surprised at how much of a misreputation for poor reliability Benz has in the states. I have 04 C230 for my daily driver at over 100K miles, and it has been quite a dependable vehicle, but I frequently get cracks from people about how it must be costing me a fortune to maintain.

-I didn't really say maintenance was cheap; just that if it was performed, the car is just about as reliable as they get.

The less is spoken about the parts cost for my colleague's Geländewagen, the better. (Though in fairness, G-wagen parts are eye-wateringly expensive, even by MB standards.)

 

[LB1LF]

Jeff S[/url]"aild2mp]

I've wondered - does the 'unlimited' speed also apply to large trucks? Or do they have a speed limit and have to stay in the right lane except to pass someone going even slower than the trucks?

-In the EEC (EU+Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), heavy trucks and buses are limited to 100km/h (62mph).

Edit: (Or, come to think of it - I think I have seen a few buses labelled '110km/h maximum' (69mph) - perhaps there is more than one class of heavy vehicle)

 

[LB1LF]

r3loaded[/url]"iss2q5d]
We're not so fancy in the UK - standard taxis are usually a Toyota Avensis, Skoda Octavia or Honda Accord. I have seen C-Class's around but they're uncommon. Not at the same level of cleanliness but they're usually passable.

-The most -ahem- interesting taxi service I've ever seen was in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.

The taxis were battered-down Toyotas, but cleaner than taxis in a number of other countries - say, the US, for instance. The taxis operated on a fixed-fare system - 1000 central african francs ($1.50 or so) to use one, the taxi was yours until you arrived at your destination or despaired enough at the confusion caused by the driver's total lack of knowledge of English paired with your own total lack of French that you simply waved to indicate you had arrived, got out and hailed another one.

All taxis had a sticker on the rear bumper saying something along the lines of 'If you see me driving like an ****, call my supervisor at XXX-YYYY.'

I spent a total of nine weeks in the place, and not once did I see a taxi which hadn't bumped into something obscuring the last couple of digits on that sticker. Purely coincidental, I am sure.

 

[LB1LF]

Borkis[/url]":3j114y04]

LB1LF[/url]":3j114y04]

-In the EEC (EU+Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), heavy trucks and buses are limited to 100km/h (62mph).

Edit: (Or, come to think of it - I think I have seen a few buses labelled '110km/h maximum' (69mph) - perhaps there is more than one class of heavy vehicle)

I'll have to correct you a little there: In Norway, most trucks are limited to 80km/h, busses usually 90km/h.

-You are (almost!) right - funny how the mind can play tricks on you; I really, really had an image in my mind of lots of buses with 110km/h stickers on them.

Now, straight from the horse's mouth, in this case the horse is Norwegian legislation on the subject, which basically is just an EU law rubber-stamped by our parliament:

Trucks with a maximum gross weight of more than 3500kg (7750lbs or so) - 90km/h or 57mph.

Minibuses (More than eight passenger seats; max gross weight less than 5000kg/11000lbs) and larger buses - max 100km/h (62mph).