A Macha’s Guide to Taxis

Rush hour gropings not withstanding, the metro in Mexico City is a clean, cheap, and efficient mode of transportation. There are those times, however, when the subways just won’t do. Maybe you’ve got heavy bags to carry, maybe you’re going to one of those corners of the city not easily accessible by public transportation, maybe you’re coming back from a late night party and the metro has stopped running. Sometimes, a macha just needs a cab.

But we’ve all heard horror stories about the taxis in Mexico City. “You’ll get robbed.” “You’ll get kidnapped.” “You’ll get raped.” These warnings are not unwarranted, although I think Mexico City get’s a particularly bad rap. (Recently, in a conversation with a gay male couple who had just taken their first trip to Mexico City, they reflected that they Mexico City had a much more terrifying reputation than other, more dangerous, Latin American cities. “We were much more likely to get kidnapped when we went to Guayaquil, Ecuador, but we didn’t hear the same buzz of warnings before our trip.”) Indeed, during my first trip to Mexico City, my traveling companion was so terrified of taking taxis that hours of each day were spent navigating the Metro, the Tren Ligero (light rail), and lengthy walks when a twenty minute cab ride would have sufficed.

To avoid wasting such time, I offer machas this guide to taking cabs safely and confidently in Mexico City. I never advocate anyone making travel decisions that leave them feeling unsafe or vulnerable, so these tips go in order from the most cautious (and most expensive) strategies to the least, and I trust readers to use them in accordance with their own comfort level.

• Hotel Taxis-If you are staying in a hotel, many have hotel taxis that are available for guests. Even if you are not staying at a hotel, you can still use their taxi-service on a walk-in basis. Depending on the hotel, these taxis can cost two to four times more than street taxis. Ask at the desk about taxis, prices, availability, hours, and whether the taxi needs to be reserved (especially for time-sensitive trips to the airport).

• Sitios-There are many sitios, or taxis seguros (secured taxis) throughout the city. (These are the equivalent of “car services” in New York City.) You don’t hail these taxis on the street. Instead, you can call them through a service or pick them up at locations designated for sitios. These booths are usually marked with signs that say sitio and can be found near some metro stations, tourist destinations, and sometimes near nightclubs. These cars are usually sedans and do not look like street taxis (descriptions below); the drivers are usually wearing a white shirt with a tie and there is usually a radio in the car. Your hotel should be able to provide the phone numbers for a reliable local taxi service (although they may only want to recommend their in-house service). If not, see the list at the end of this post. Sitios can charge from 1.5 to 3 times more than street taxis. Rates vary depending on the company; some companies use a meter (called a taximetro) but will add 20 pesos to the amount shown or start with a higher rate than street taxis (officially the base tariff is 9.60 pesos). Some sitios will set the price ahead of time, particularly if you have called for the taxi and not picked it up at a sitio booth.

• Hailing a taxi-Street taxis in Mexico City are very cheap and usually very easy to hail on any moderately busy street. There are two types: the red and white sedans and hatchbacks and the green volkswagon beetles, called vochitos. The red and white taxis are slightly more expensive than the vochitos, and provide a little more room for passengers (they seat four) and luggage (in the trunk). In the vochos, the front passenger seat has been removed, leaving a bit of room for bulky luggage and packages, but only (cramped) seats for three in the back. During the day, insist that the taxista (driver) use the taximetro. (At night, it is customary to negociate a price ahead of time.) In the vochitos, the base tariff is 5.80 pesos, and will go up 60 centavos (that’s about six cents in U.S. dollars) every 30 seconds or so. In the red and white taxis, the base tariff is 6.40 pesos. Although street taxis are less regulated than sitios, there are some tips for making sure you are getting into an officially registered taxi and not just a car that has been painted to look like one. Officially registered taxis should have an identification number painted in black on the side. (Be careful of numbers that appear to have been painted on by hand or otherwise look suspicious.) This number should start with the letter A, followed by a hypen and a five-long-number. Inside the taxi, the driver’s taxi license should be displayed where you can see it, and the picture should be a picture of the man who is actually driving the taxi. Oh, and never ever get into a taxi that is already carrying an extra “passenger.”

Late at night, the rules of taking a taxi change a bit. It is generally considered more dangerous to hail a street taxi at night, though I have done it many times (both with other people and alone) without incident. Prices also vary; officially, the late night rate (which is in effect from 11pm to 6am) is allowed to be 20 percent more than what is shown on the taximetro. However, it is customary to simply set a price ahead of time for late night taxi rides. (For example, you might be able to get a taxi from the Condesa to the Centro Historico for as little as 40 pesos, but more likely something like 50 or 70 pesos. To go from Coyoacan to the Centro Historico late at night in a street taxi might cost between 70 and 100 pesos.) Rates for sitios also go up at night.

The taxi situation at the airport and at the city’s four bus terminals is different. There is one company that has a monopoly on all traffic coming from the airport. It is illegal for street taxis to pick up riders at the airport, even if they have just dropped off a fare. Therefore, if you want to take a taxi from the airport (and who doesn’t after a long trip), you are stuck taking one of the black, white, and yellow airport taxis, marked with a plane on their side. You pay for these taxis in advance at a booth inside the airport in exchange for a ticket that is presented to the driver for payment. Prices are quite high (two or three times more than street taxis) and depending on the time of day and one which terminal you fly into, you must wait on a long (but fast moving) line to get your taxi. At bus stations it is best to take a sitio (which sometimes can be paid in advance like at the airport) and not to hail a street taxi. Do not be seduced by one of the aggressive taxistas that troll transportation hubs looking for foreigners and Mexicans unfamiliar with the city.

Tipping taxi drivers is not customary in Mexico City. As a New Yorker, this was very hard to get used to, and when I have heavy baggage I still tip the driver a couple of pesos for helping me.

Rush hour in any city, by any means of transportation, can be a nightmare, and Mexico City is no exception. I recommend avoiding all travel during rush hour, but if it can’t be avoided be aware that bad traffic jams can easily double the cost of a street taxi as you sit waiting for the gridlock to clear up.

If you are not familar with Mexico City or do not speak Spanish very well, it can be very intimidating to take a taxi. You run the risk of being taken on an unnecessarily long ride. To avoid this, I recommend planning your routes at the beginning of the day. The central parts of Mexico City are built on a grid with major routes often being the most efficient way to get from one part of town to another. Familiarize yourself with these major thoroughfares so that you have an idea of the route the driver should take. It is fine to ask the driver how he is planning to go at the beginning of the ride, and you can specify if there is a particular street you would like him to take.

Also, Mexico City is huge, and if you are going to an obscure location, it is likely that your driver will not know where it is and will need to know what major intersections or landmarks are nearby to orient himself. Don’t be shy about taking a detailed street map with you in a cab. You can buy them for 10 pesos at news stands in most tourist areas. If you are a tourist, the driver will know from the minute you tell him what your destination is, and tracing your route on a street map is a good way to get to know your way around the city better. More than once the driver has asked to use my map in order to help us find our way around the circular streets of the Condesa or the labyrinthine alleys of Coyoacán.

Numbers for Sitios:

Radio Taxis Delta (open 24 hours), phone: 8590 6720; Super Sitio, phone: 5590 3325; Servi Taxis, phone: 5516 6020