RELIABLE TAXI SERVICE IN ORLANDO

قراءة المزيد

Yes, people smoke in Almaty just like other cities. And many taxi drivers will smoke. I don’t usually have someone smoking while I am being driven, but the car may reek of smoke when you enter it. Such is life… not much can be done about it.

This is also extremely commonplace. I wish it wasn’t. I would love to say that if this scares you, take a bus. But then again… bus drivers do it too.

If you throw your belongings in the trunk of a taxi, ALWAYS ensure that the driver gets out of the car to help you grab them. Make sure that he or she gets out before you. Never ever get out of that taxi without your things and a driver still being in the taxi.

You’re likely safer with Uber and Yandex as all information is on file… but never do this with street taxis. I have had a friend very wronged at the Bishkek Airport. He threw his stuff in the trunk and went climbing in the backseat of the car and the taxi drove off with all of his stuff and not him. Be careful. This happens everywhere though, not just when traveling in Central Asia.

I never get dropped off directly where I am staying. I have had multiple instances here with Almaty taxis in the past, so I just get dropped off somewhere nearby and walk. I always pick a prominent place by where I’m staying and consistently stick with that. Lately, the place is Dostyk Plaza. I just tell everyone that and they know where it is and no harm.

I was contemplating talking about these or omitting them but I feel it is important to discuss them so you know why it is important to use a reliable taxi source when in Almaty (the third was Uber, on the other hand). These incidents can take place anywhere. They are not Almaty-specific. But, here is a little insight as to why I eventually was keen on writing this post.

My first visa run a few years ago took me from the Dostyk Plaza area to Sayran Bus Station early on a Saturday morning to catch a marshrutka to Bishkek. The hostel I stayed at at the time called me a taxi to take me to the bus station and they used an actual company. The driver picked me up and we started our way to Sayran.

I had exact change on me for this ride as well as the amount needed to buy a bus ticket to Bishkek. Nothing more. Once we pulled up to the bus station, I told him to let me off before and he refused.

He then proceeded to pull through the pay station and demanded I pay for it so I could be dropped off close to the station. I was furious. The extra money was dipping into my marshrutka ticket. I told him that it would come out of his tip.

Once he stopped the car and I gave him the money with no tip (as it was used on the pay station), he was so furious he started shouting at me. I quickly grabbed my things and got out of the car walking away as fast as I could. He decided that would be a great time to try to run me over.

He stepped on the gas and made his way for me. I was able to maneuver in between two parked cars and he stopped his car and got out running after me trying to hit me. I was able to go in between two other cars and when he was about six feet from me, he threw a coin at my head as hard as he could. I reacted and my hand went up, deflecting the coin but leaving a mark on my hand and it in agony.

I started running toward the bus station screaming as he was chasing me and a group of about 10 Central Asian men just stared at me doing nothing. I eventually ran inside and he had turned around. I reported to my hostel and then to the police. Nothing was done. The car below was the culprit (I took photos of the car for license plate reasons as I was running away and have no remorse for sharing them).

I arrived back at Almaty Airport from Bishkek via a flight because the roads were icy and snowy from a visa run to Kyrgyzstan. My flight landed in Almaty late in the evening and I had to get a taxi from the airport to my hostel.

While I was on my way to grab an Eco-Taxi out front (don’t think these taxis exist anymore), two men approached me and the one said he would give me a lift to the city as he already had a passenger going there (the other guy with him). I asked the price and it was half-price and since he had another passenger with him, I obliged.

He spoke to me a lot during the trip asking me where I was from (I almost always say Germany when I feel a situation could be potentially dodgy as saying American will almost always make it dodgy and more expensive) and other things.

We pulled up to a corner near Hotel Kazakhstan (the place I lied about staying at so they didn’t know my actual destination) and as I was starting to pay, he demanded about $100 more than what initially stated (around $5). I pretty much told him to get bent and quickly realized that the other man in the car was not really a passenger, but rather an accomplice.

I was able to open the door and grab my belongings (a lot of tech equipment and photography stuff) and start to run. Because of the recent blizzard, it was slick outside and the snow was deep. The driver ran after me and tried punching me down to the ground. While he clumsily did this, he lost his gait and fell down.

I was able to continue running to the hotel and was screaming at the top of my lungs to get the security guards attention. The man got up, continued running and followed me inside of the hotel. Security stared and did nothing.

The front desk didn’t seem to care. And the man said he did nothing but was trying to collect his 1500 KZT for the fare (after telling me it was a ridiculous amount more than that and trying to beat me down to rob me).

Reliable taxi service in Orlando

After about an hour of trying to explain things to the front desk while the man was standing there, they called the police. He dashed out the door as soon as they were called and told me to not leave the hotel because he would be waiting for me. Again, security didn’t care and did nothing.

The police came and told me if I filed charges, I’d have to stay around Kazakhstan until they were cleared or went through which could be a year. I said no and that I needed out of Central Asia asap at that point. I then waited a few hours until the early hours of the morning to leave the hotel to go to my hostel so the men wouldn’t see me leaving.

This one was not nearly as frightening, thank goodness. The Uber app back in 2016 in Kazakhstan used to only give estimated fares (not sure if it still does or not) for getting to places. I called an Uber to go from Dostyk Plaza across the city to Rozybakiev Street. This should be an easy trip down Al-Farabi and done.

The driver picked me up, drove me around for an hour, racked up huge charges to my account, started cursing and trying to hit women drivers (telling me that females shouldn’t be allowed to drive) along the way.

It was the weirdest and scariest taxi ride I had ever had (thank goodness Bulgaria topped it a year later). I eventually was charged an astronomical amount for this ride and ran out of the car. I contacted Uber and told them and they refunded the money to me.

I am not telling these incidents as a way to scare people. I am asked about them often and I think they fit the reason that knowing how to take a taxi in Almaty is super important to me and I want to ensure everyone has a positive experience in this city.

After a lot of trial and error, I haven’t had any issues here in the last two years and I can truly thank Yandex for that. If you have any questions, updates, or suggestions- please add them in the comments!

I’m in Almaty. I made the mistake of giving my phone number to a Taxi gang and having them follow me to my AirBnB instead of having them drop me off nearby.

Minutes after settling with the host, I start getting spammed with messages about them wanting to show me the city. They had already offered prostitutes, erotic massages, marijuana, to which I politely said no, but wanted to say FSCK NO. I told them that I just want to relax and walk around the city for a couple days, which is 100% true.

The next day, one of them messages me and tells me that he really needs to tell me something. But it needs to be in private. Smelling fish, I ask what he wants. “An offer”. I block his whatssap, and soon after, I’m getting calls from his partner. Again, blocked.

Background: I’m a solo traveler. Male. Large and strong male from the USA. I’m here to visit and journal.

*Update* They now calling me and cycling through different Whatssapp numbers. The profile pictures appear to be kids/boys. Maybe their children? Proespective gang members?

I had my AirBnB host call the taxi driver to help sort things out. The driver sent screenshots and requested that we go over our chat history. My AirBnB host and I both agreed that I was not understanding the situation.

Because we left the Almaty airport at 2am after 23 hours of flights and airport time, I was extremely tired. I would rate the driver’s English at about 2 out of 10, so we ended up using Google translate for much of our conversations. Inadvertantly, I agreed to having him be my private driver for the the 10 days that I knew for sure I’d be in Almaty (I have 20 days total in Kazakhstan). This means that I agreed to have him on standby the entire 10 days with arrival in less than 20 minutes of contact. Small trips in the city center would be free of charge. Tours outside of almaty would come at a small fee. In my opinion, his “stand by” price per day was extremely reasonable for USA standards.

This young man, age 25, was extremely concerned because he was losing money by not driving people anywhere. He didn’t know what to tell his boss. We got this sorted out. I apologized profusely , but declined his private driver service because I like walking from place to place. I do plan on doing Big Almaty Lake and probably another tour with him. I did pay the small amount of money for his lost income (and a small tip). He was very understanding. He mainly wanted to know if he should start his regular Taxi service again.

In regards to the raunchy things he offered me – I’m used to this. Male taxi drivers are always very candid with me whenever I travel alone, just as I am candid with them. I presume that male solo travelers often have other exotic experiences in mind, but I have a girlfriend of almost 9 years. He was just trying to meet my needs and probably get a small kickback.

On April 6th 2017, a new accessibility law came into place to tackle discrimination against wheelchair users. All taxi and private hire vehicle drivers in England, Wales and Scotland are now obliged by law to transport wheelchair users in their wheelchair, provide appropriate assistance, and charge them the same as non-wheelchair users.

One of the most important first steps if you're thinking about starting any business is to look at the industry challenges. In the taxi sector, the rapid increase in fuel costs, with petrol prices reaching a record-high of £2 per litre, has sent business overheads spiralling.

Innovations are emerging, however, that can help to fix this problem. Many green taxi companies are emerging that boast a fleet of electric vechicles. Plus, in an industry now defined by the disruptive antics of ride hailing and on-demand taxi apps, fuel-saving tools like vehicle tracking software have helped new companies to succeed where previous firms have failed.

According to the Department for Transport, as of 2022, England was home to 260,700 licensed taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) – a rise of about 10,000 compared to 2021. If you’re wondering about how to start a taxi company – be that a hackney taxi or a private hire vehicle – then know that this still offers a viable business opportunity for the savvy entrepreneur.

Read on to find out more about the nitty gritty involved with getting started – such as the legislation required, projected costs – as well as tips on branding and marketing. By the end of our guide, you'll know exactly how to set up a taxi service that can still drive custom in a cost of living crisis.

Traffic, routing and even (occasionally) customers can provide plenty of headaches for a new taxi company. Thankfully, one area which needn't cause undue stress is creating a website to promote your business. Thanks to modern templates like the one below, you can create one of your owns in under an hour.

At Startups.co.uk, we test and rate website builder tools, and we've identified Wix as one of the best you can choose for creating a business site. Wix even has a selection of custom website templates designed specifically for taxi firms – you simply drop your own company information, wording and preferred imagery into your chosen template. Better still, it's completely free to try for yourself.

At Startups.co.uk, we're here to help small UK businesses to get started, grow and succeed. We have practical resources for helping new businesses get off the ground – you can use the tool below to get started today.

Before starting your own taxi company, you yourself must become a fully licenced driver. The process you’ll need to go through depends on where in the country you’ll be operating your business.

Outside of London, you must apply to your local council for a taxi or private hire vehicle licence. In London, TfL handles licences – taxi and private hire licences are processed separately.

TfL handles applications in London. In order to be eligible to apply to drive either a taxi or private hire vehicle in London, you must:

Hold a full driving licence from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Northern Ireland, or another European Economic Area state

Depending on if you apply for a taxi or private hire licence, you may need to undergo a medical examination. Learn more about the exemptions for taxi licences and private hire licence

If driving a taxi in London, you’ll also need to pass the Knowledge of London. In order to pass this test, you must learn and memorise the streets landmarks that are within a six mile radius of Charing Cross – there are thousands of them!

TfL can either grant a licence for the whole of the Greater London area, or for one or more of London’s nine different suburban sectors.

Hackney carriages (taxis, black cabs) are able to pick up people off the street without a prior booking. Mostly found in urban areas, black cabs are highly regulated, with fares controlled by local councils and numbers restricted by many local authorities.

Drivers of black cabs are essentially self-employed, and have to go through rigorous checks and tests before they are awarded their license. Although some Hackney carriage drivers form co-operatives and switch their cars to saloons and other models, the majority of these taxi drivers can be found in their black cabs, trawling the streets for customers with their orange light on.

Private hire vehicles (PHVs), or minicabs, must have a prior booking when picking up passengers. Usually linked by a radio circuit and operating out of similar types of cars that are branded in the same way, minicab owners face stiff penalties if they are found touting their business to random people on the street.

It is possible to mix fleets, with hackney carriages undertaking private hire tasks alongside standard minicabs. >However, remember that while it is possible for black cabs to be used for private hire, doing the same thing in reverse (i.e. using private hire vehicles as hackney carriages) is against the law.

Orlando taxi service

If you’re planning to operate as a self-employed taxi driver, compiling a business plan might not be top of your priority list. However, it’s crucial to work out whether starting a taxi business will actually be a viable – and profitable – option for you.

If you plan to operate a fleet, think about the balance between the extra costs and potential for additional income that comes with managing multiple cars

Expected startup and ongoing costs (e.g. buying a cab, GPS software, radio equipment, and petrol – consider using fuel cards)

Abi Hussain, transport manager at Cabzilla comments: “The process of writing a business plan was an arduous one. We had many factors to consider, including our premises – where would we be based? Who would drive for us and where would we find them?

“We also had to consider licensing costs and insurance, as well as completing a competitor analysis, a market analysis (which was vital in what was already a saturated market) and financial forecasting.”

With so many tasks involved with launching a taxi company, it's important to find an effective way to track your progress. We recommend using project management tools.

If you're working on your own or with other people, project management software is an excellent way to keep things moving. Assign tasks, create deadlines, outline projects and track progress from one platform.

The average salary for taxi drivers in England is £496 per week, according to data published by Indeed.

Conducting extensive competitor research in your area will enable you to figure out where there’s a gap in the market for a new taxi service. This could be an under-served area of town, or a niche that has yet to be exploited by other taxi companies.

The internet has also given people a huge platform to air their grievances about however they think they’ve been wronged by a business or organisation. Use this to your advantage – look online at reviews of taxi businesses in your local area to see what complaints customers have, and think about how you could improve upon their service.

In addition, think about the area that you’ll operate in, how much you’ll charge passengers for trips, and the type of service that you’ll run.

Essentially, when researching the market for your taxi or private hire firm, you’re looking for gaps in the market. For example:

Where you live will tend to determine where you operate, so use your local knowledge to help identify business opportunities. For example, there could be a certain part of town that provides a steady stream of passengers. You could also identify areas that aren’t well-served by public transport, which could mean people in need of taxis. Similarly, big, out-of-town pubs and clubs could also offer the potential for plenty of customers.

Alternatively, consider setting up a taxi company away from where you live. Use your outsider’s perspective to see where a taxi service could be the most helpful. Be sure to spend time in potential areas, and look out for peak travel times.

The amount you can charge passengers will depend on the type of service you offer (i.e. taxi or PHV), as well as your location. Taxi fares are regulated and set by local authorities, whereas PHVs are free to set their own prices.

Below is a rough guide to taxi fares in London. A minimum fare of £3.20 is applicable at all times.