The cab driver that wanted the world

I went to show with four of my friends last night in dartmouth NS, we had a few drinks so we decided to catch a cab home to halifax (about a 10 min drive from where we were) since there was five of us the sent a van but what they didn't mention is that they would charge us an arm and a leg for it, here's a breakdown of what he charged.

3.00 Just to enter the cab
7.00 Because it was a van
2.00 To cross the bridge (only fee that made sense)
2.00 for the extra people

14.00 just to enter the cab! What should have been a 10 dollar cab drive ended up costing over 25.00! I really don't understand how they can charge 7.00 for a van to seat 5 people and still charge an extra .50 cents a person.

actually all of those fees make sense.

at the end of the day, cab drivers don't take home much.
they pay the company a lease, they pay for gas, daily car washes, vacuuming and cleaning up after the mess, work 12 hour shifts often 6 days a week just to make ends meet.

i hope you tipped :)

I don't know anything about cab fares but i do agree that it seems like you are getting double hit for the van and the passengers. Regardless.... I am very very happy that you all made the right choice to take a cab after drinking. Thank you for that.

here there is a 3$ fee for requesting a van and i forget how much it costs just to get in i think its around 3$ as well. there is also a fee of 0.50$ for each extra person and then the meter goes up based on some combination of time distance. apparently there is also an option to request a car with a car seat for kids no idea how much that costs since on the rare occasion we take a cab with ds we bring our own car seat.

a lot of the drivers we've had have been really nice. for example some will let us set up our car seat and get everyone buckled in before they turn the meter on. most of them wont charge us for each extra person or will only charge more for one person instead of 2 extra (so they didn't charge extra for ds). we often tip better when they don't tack on the extra charges. however at night the drivers tend to tack on the charges especially when taking people to/from parties/clubs. it is more dangerous and they often have more cleaning to do when they work nights. Our landlord is also a cab driver and hes a really nice man. I honestly don't think he makes much money from driving even though i think he owns his own cab. (some don't own the cabs they drive so they have to pay some of their earnings to the car owner but don't have to pay for maintenance of the vehicle).

$5 a person isn't bad!

Rules and regulations on taxi and fees is provincial. I didn't know much about the Nova Scotia one until I read this.

Is that bridge you crossed one you have to pay? If not, that fee was not supposed to be there. According to the link I provided you, it's supposed to be 0.50 per extra person and verify with the provincial department, I don't think they are allowed to charge for a van.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tmlskk01

I went to show with four of my friends last night in dartmouth NS, we had a few drinks so we decided to catch a cab home to halifax (about a 10 min drive from where we were) since there was five of us the sent a van but what they didn't mention is that they would charge us an arm and a leg for it, here's a breakdown of what he charged.

3.00 Just to enter the cab
7.00 Because it was a van
2.00 To cross the bridge (only fee that made sense)
2.00 for the extra people

14.00 just to enter the cab! What should have been a 10 dollar cab drive ended up costing over 25.00! I really don't understand how they can charge 7.00 for a van to seat 5 people and still charge an extra .50 cents a person.

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I suppose the price is a real bargain considering you all got home safely. :top:

I personally have taken a van cab before and was charged $10 for it but I was taking a huge picture frame in it (5feet by 6feet) But I don't think they should charge you just because you have 5 people and then charge you .50 a person, That is steep.

Welcome to Halifax/Dartmouth, no real competition so very high cab prices.

Well, someone is getting rich, but it's not the cab drivers. In my city, if you request a cab for five people, which would be a minivan, you have to pay one and a half times the fare. It's truly criminal when it's almost $40 for a ten minute ride. We actually paid $46 one year getting to the airport from our house due to traffic problems (stalled vehicle). When we are in Honolulu, we take a 25-30 minute ride from the condo to the airport and the total cost is $35 with tip included!

That said, it was a good decision to take the cab because your only complaint is being fleeced by the cab company, rather than the alternative, which could have been a dui or an accident.

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Originally Posted by matrix82

Welcome to Halifax/Dartmouth, no real competition so very high cab prices.

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Even if there would be more companies, there wouldn't be any competition in price, it's regulated by the gvt.