Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Fernando Rouxinol	2		2002/02/07, 12:35 am

List your favorite taxis here

Taxis are dirt cheap in Rio. During the daytime, one can get a cab from Copacabana to downtown Rio for about 15 reais.

So for the most part if you need to go somewhere that you are unfamilar with then definitely take a cab. Cabs have meters & in general they use them. If you notice that they aren't using them, then you should insist that they use the meter. And unless it is late night like I mention below, then just tell the cab driver than you will find another cab & get out.

If you catch a late night cab from Help or Lido, they typically will charge you somewhere between 5-10 reias. This is a relatively fair rate. These areas can be dangerous so taking a cab is never a bad idea even if your apartment or hotel is located very near.

Just for your information the taxies in Rio will be charging a special fare for December. The meter will read the higher fare until the end of Dec. I was told that it will also be in effect during Carnival for One week.

found a new trick for the centaurus and monte carlo guys..if you are in copacabana and close to one of these termas..taxi will not charge you fare just because of the kickback they are getting..it has been offered to me twice this trip.

Taxi's in Rio - probably as many taxi stories as garota stories coming out of Rio.
Rio taxi drivers usually fall into one of two boxes:
1. Ayrton Senna wannabes that drive like lunatics.
2. Bumbling idiots that act like it is their first day in rio and take the most circuitous route to any destination.

I once had a quick cab ride home from Terraco Atlantico to my apartment about 6 blocks away. The driver takes off flying down NS de Copacabana with his foot to the floor and going right through red lights. I notice my street intersection approaching at a very rapid rate and by the time I can get "vira direta aqui" out of my mouth we are in the intersection. The driver hammers on the brakes and puts the cab into a four wheel skid over into the left hand lane and stops a couple feet short of the corner on the wrong side of the road, flips into reverse to back into the intersection then flips into forward again to make the correct right turn. Apparently cars don't actually have to stop for red lights after a certain hour if the streets are not busy - which they weren't or I wouldn't be alive.

The trick the bumbling idiots use is to look back and ask you some question in portuguese about which road you want them to take - invariably your response indicates to them to take the long way and when you balk the response is always that you told them to take that route.

Always check that they start the meter when you leave and ask them to put it on if they don't. I left 4x4 one night ater 1:00 am and had a few too many beers and didn't even think about the meter until half way home - no it wasn't on. I knew I was screwed because you can't negotiate shit for a fare after the ride is done and the guy was quite a big dude. For a fare that would normally be $18 I openned by offering him $25. He demanded $40 but did come down to $35. Sooo if you end up getting a cab ride without the meter and don't negotiate the rate BEFORE leaving you will likely pay double (at least).

The cab meters have two rates - a "1" on the meter indicates the cheaper day rate. A "2" on the meter indicates a higher rate that comes into effect after a certain hour in the evening (8pm ish?????) and all day sundays.

What is the deal with cabs driving with the lights off anyway? As if Rio traffic wasn't dangerous enough for pedestrians, cabs have the unusual habit of driving around with their headlights turned off and then maybe flash them if they see a pedestrian. I have no idea why the psycho buggers do this.

All in all - I quite like the rio cab experience - it is never dull.

if a taxi does not turn on the meter, I politely thank him:

"Oh, free ride, no meter?"

He quickly gets the message. He may not charge anything more then the meter, so he is out of luck.

If some taxi wants to illegally charge more then meter, at least he has to negotiate a price beforehand. They only play these tricks on dumb tourists


of course, language skills help


If he insists on higher prices, I politely say I changed my mind, my destination now is the police station (delegacia) at Av N S Copacabana corner of Francisco Sa.

I say that I gladly pay whatever police tells me is my due.

Alternatively tell him to stop at the nearest police car so things can be sorted out.


They very quickly get the message. They would be arrested on the spot and their car impounded.

Again, as a tourist, you might not manage to get your message across. You could pick the tourist police station in Leblon.

Once the taxi told me to get out and pay nothing, so I just took another taxi for the last short stretch





And belive me, real Cariocas get their message across even better then I do.

I am just having trouble with a car repair shop. They are cheats. I want to take out my car without repair, and they want 200 Reais.

My friendly mechanic friend told me he would immediately threaten flag down a police car and file a complaint for fraud and for illegally keeping the car. After all, I did not sign any repair order

Having lived in Rio for years, I have had almost know problems with cabs. Just tell them to turn on the meter and they always do.

The only problems have been at the airport. Getting to my place from the Gig can cost anywhere from R$30 -60. It seems like some of the taxis have their meters rigged. I have wanted to argue the point but it just does not seem to be worth the time for R$20.

Taxi rates have once again risen in Rio a couple of weeks ago. Many Taxi's still have the new rate tables taped to their window. The big problem, however, is that the starting fare did not change like in the past. So, unless you know aprox how much your fare is to a particular place you reeally will not know if the taxi driver has already adjusted the meter and is charging you even more on top of it.

This recently happened to me catching a taxi from the Airport back home to Ipanema.....generally my fare is about R$40-R$45, but this time it was already going past R$50 before I even got anywhere close to home. I complained to the taxi driver and started to make a stink, so he lowered his fare and said there must be a "problem with the meter". By my estimation it would have easily reached R$60 and I could have bet he would pulled out his rate card on top of it... should have waited for him to do that, but not sure I could have kept the lid on exploding with anger.

Unfortunately, unless you know the aprx fare you really will not know if you are being tricked into overpaying...if you can find one without a rate table taped to the window, the better.

They should have done like in the past - raise the minimum starting fare...but noooooooooooooo

Fucking taxi drivers.....50% or more are crooks...That is why I take the bus more and more, just to be less stressed and not feel like I being robbed. I have a car, but the drinking law is pretty tough right now and being enforced like crazy, with checkpoints popping up everywhere which drives me to leave my car home many nights. In Brazil it is ZERO tolerance now....not even ONE beer!!!!

According to the card, your fare should be 7% more than last year - a hefty increase IMHO.

One day Rio will be more expensive then NY.... I quite honestly do not know how people survive on a Brazilian salary.

In reading another post above about never having had an issue with taxi's in Rio - that is almost impossible! The number of hot meters is staggering.... even on short trips, a few reals here, a couple there, etc, etc....

(Message edited by lovingmarvin on April 07, 2010)