Taking a taxi

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Occasionally I need to take a taxi. This has always worked out okay, but I always feel like there are rules for taking a taxi that I don't know. [EDIT: I'm mostly interested in how taxi-taking works in Canada and the USA.]

1) If you're taking a taxi by yourself, are there rules for where you sit? Are you supposed to sit in the front or in the back? If both are okay, do they mean different things? For instance, is it the case that if you sit in the front, the taxi driver is more likely to try to talk to you than if you sit in the back?

2) I think I've read that you're supposed to tip taxi drivers, but I've never figured out how to do that. At the end of the ride I give the driver money and he gives me back the change that's over and above the official fare. Where in the process do you give a tip? (And how much do you tip?)

Are there any other taxi-related rules that anyone can think of?

(P.S. This seemed to me like the most appropriate forum for the question, since it's about social skills in a particular context, but if another forum is more appropriate, please let me know.)

Last edited by Cassia on 01 Jul 2009, 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

You sit wherever you want to, it doesn't matter. If the taxi driver was a cool guy and we had a nice chat, I'd just round up to the nearest 5 or 0. There aren't any more taxi rules

I think it can vary from country to country.



Here in Finland, the driver usually opens the rear door that is on the opposite side of them. We have the driver's seat left front in the car, so the passenger usually sits right rear.



Here there is no tipping culture almost anywhere. Only person I can think about is the doorman in pubs / nightclubs that I usually tip.



In some countries you get a lower fee by negotiating the fee right away, instead of waiting until you are at your destination. It seems to apply here in Finland, too, at least sometimes.

If there is a "taxi-pole," where many of them are waiting for customers, you are supposed to take the first in the line (this was not always clear to me for some reason).

I think the front passenger seat is just there in case it's a large group going in one taxi. No problem with sitting in the back. I don't know how the tipping thing works either.

Thanks for the responses. I'm mostly interested in taxi-taking practices in Canada and the USA (I assume the two will not differ in this); I'll edit my original post to reflect that.

RealTalk: When you round up to the nearest 5 dollars, do you just tell the driver when you give him the money to keep the change?

OddFinn: When I've taken the taxi here in North America, the rate isn't negotiable; the taxi company has a rate that's posted on the window or somewhere in the taxi, and how much the ride costs so far shows up on the meter as you drive along.

I wish there wasn't a tipping culture here, but there is, so I had better get used to it.

Yeah, I'm just too lazy to wait for him to give me change, so say a cab ride cost me 21,40. If I don't want to give a tip, I'll say "give me 3 (back)". If I want to tip, I'd just give him 25 and when he starts reaching for his small change say "It's ok"

Further question: Does anyone tip a taxi driver in another way than rounding up? Like tipping a certain percentage. If so, what percentage and how do you give the money?

It depends if you are in a small town or a city

In the city, its best to sit in the back..

in a small town, you can sit in the front...

I dont know much other than that...I rarely take a taxi.When Im sober, I usually drive...I only take a taxi after a full night of drinking.