|
You will not have a great
experience taking
one of Istanbul's
20,000 yellow taxis.
The best you
can hope for is an acceptable
experience: the cab takes
you where you want to go by the shortest
route, and you pay the correct fare
as shown on the meter.
Far too often, you are likely to have
a bad experience:
1. The taxi refuses to take
you where you want to go because
the distance is not far enough to
amount to a large enough fare. No
matter that you have lots of luggage,
or can't walk well, or are carrying
a baby, or simply have a right to
go where you want to go. Tough luck!
2. The taxi takes you where you want
to go, but refuses to run the
meter,
and you are charged an exorbitant fare,
which you can only reduce by arguing
unpleasantly with someone who does
not speak your language.
3. The taxi runs the meter and takes
you where you want to go by a roundabout
route which wastes your time and cost
far more than it should.
4. The trip goes okay, but the driver expects
a big tip because you're a
foreigner (Turks don't tip taxi drivers).
5. The driver drives like
a maniac,
seeming happily to imperil not only
his own life, but that of other drivers,
and yours as well.
There is some good news:
the first four rules above apply
mostly (but dependably) to taxis accepting
fares in and around
Sultanahmet
Square and other super-touristy
areas. (The last one applies to taxis
in most of the world.)
How to Avoid Unpleasantness
1. Have your hotel call a
taxi from
a local taxi stand so that you have
someone to complain to if service is
not acceptable.
2. Walk or take the tram away
from Sultanahmet to another district (Sirkeci,
Eminönü) and take a taxi
from there. (Drivers cheat far less
often in other districts of Istanbul.)
3. Use public transport! (Tram,
Metro,
Bus, Tünel, Füniküler,
Sea Bus,
ferryboat,
suburban
train.) In fact, Istanbul
traffic is now so heavy that travel
by public transport is often faster
by tram and Metro than by taxi.
It is frequent, reasonably comfortable,
and using an Akbil
pass a one-hour,
15-km trip all the way across the city
need cost no more than the first
minute in a
taxi.
More About Istanbul Taxis
Most are powered by
clean-burning natural gas,
and all have digital meters which
the drivers are required
by law to run.
If your driver doesn't
start the taksimetre, or tries
to haggle at
the start of the trip instead of
running it, just point to the meter
emphatically and say Taksimetre! (TAHK-see-MEHT-treh)
It'll probably be cheaper on the
meter than if you let him just charge
you what he wants at the end of your
trip.
As the driver starts the meter it
will flash the rate type:
—Gündüz (GURN-durz)
means Day (06:00 am to 23:59 (11:59
pm). The drop rate is YTL2, and each
kilometer YTL1.3
—Gece (GEH-jeh)
means Night (24:00/12:00 am midnight
to 05:59 am). The drop rate is YTL3,
and each kilometer YTL1.95.
The Gündüz fare
for the 15- to 25-minute ride between Sultanahmet and Taksim
Square is about YTL10.
For the
35- to 75-minute ride from Atatürk
Airport to Sultanahmet the
Gündüz fare
is about YTL20
to YTL25.
From the airport to Taksim
Square, about
YTL25
to YTL30.
The Gündüz fare
from Sariyer,
on the Northern
European shore of the Bosphorus near
the Black
Sea, to Galata
Bridge is about
YTL50.
Many taxis are small yellow
cars that
seat two in the rear seat comfortably,
three in a pinch (or if you're all
endomorphs). One person can sit in
the right-front passenger seat, so
the total a taxi can carry
is four passengers (plus
the driver),
though most drivers prefer three passengers.
I doubt that a driver will allow
five
passengers unless he has a larger car
than the standard size (there are some
larger ones).
Turks don't tip taxi drivers,
they round up the fare. If it
ends up being, say, YTL9.75,
a Turk will just round it up to YTL10.
In many cases if the fare is YTL10.25,
the driver will require only YTL10,
and not bother with the change.
As a foreigner, your
driver may assume you'll give a tip,
but you needn't unless the driver
provides some special service, such
as helping
with lots of heavy luggage.
Istanbul Transport
Maps
of Istanbul & Region
Transportation
in Turkey
Istanbul
Sights
Istanbul
Hotels
Istanbul
Restaurants
Istanbul
Homepage
Where
to Go
Turkey
Travel Planner Homepage
|
