Chile Forum

My pet peeve the past month has been the variable taxi fare (CLP 90, 100, 110 or 120 / 200m), and not knowing how that fare is determined.

I have asked around, wandered the internet (admittedly, only in English, so that might explain my lack of success), and tried some hypotheses myself, but everything failed. Would it be the results of a "customer friendliness" (hah!) or "knowledge of the Santiago streets" test that the driver takes once every xx period, is it based on the "fanciness" of the taxi cab or perhaps decided by who the driver knows?

I have eliminated all but the last possibility, and now want to ask you help. Have you wondered the same, and did you find a satisfying answer?

Your (either helpful or not) input is much appreciated!

no idea....

Apparently, no idea if its true, a radio taxi is cheaper per km, but has a higher flagfall,

check the relation of the price per km to the flagfall..

also check the difference of what communa the cab is registered in,

also, have a play here http://www.taximetro.cl/#

that website's great, now at least I will know it when my gringo dollars are being unfairly extracted

I also learned that apparently there are taxis out there with a 80 CLP / 200m tariff. Now all I need are some good glasses to let me see the price on the windshield when I flag down a cab. Thanks for that website, it's bookmarked

my experience is that the 90 CLP often turn out more expensive anyway. Crooked meters more than make up for the 10-20 peso difference...
I don't think I have ever seen a 80 CLP one and I have taken a lot of taxis

if you think your getting ripped off, watch the hand of the taxi driver, its common for them to have a switch that they can press that bumps the pesos up when your not noticing.....

I have also taken my fair share of cabs, and (hope to) know what to look for. If I know 100% sure that something's off (the meter going up twice in 3 seconds for example), I venture out with a "your meter is quite fast, no?" and depending on his answer and the time I have to wait around for another cab i tell him to let me out there or just take the US$ 1 or 2 damage as gringo-tax.

Funnily enough, the questions about the meter has gotten me kicked out of a taxi, there should be a nice clue about the Chilean taxi driver ego in there.

Long story short, why oh why does the 90-120 CLP range exists?
For long taxi rides this can mean a 33% increase in the total price (in the limit of distance -> infinity).

I always thought (but now realize that this may have been a mere assumption on my side which slowly morphed into believe) that this was a well intentioned way of having more competition and a price discovery mechanism in a notoriously inefficient business.

From my perspective it's not a bad idea (may be a model for Rome or Athens), the main caveat obviously being that at the moment of picking a taxi, in most cases it is availability and not price which drives the decision which cab to take.

I asked a taxi driver today, and he told me it was based on a score you get when your car get licensed. The better the condition of your car (year, 'clean' exhaust gases etc) the higher your score and the more you can ask.

If this is true, the 90 CLP / 200m are contributing more to the ICAP/smog than the 120 ones. Would that guilt anyone into picking the 120 CLP over the 90 CLP taxis if they could choose?

I get cabs quite frequently and challenged a recent cab driver about the fare. I did the same route two days in a row as I dropped my car off in a local taller and went back the following day to pick it up. On day 1 I was charged X, the very same route the next day was XX.

The cabbie went off his head when I asked him why he charged me more than the other one yesterday. He opened his wallet and showed me all these notes and said "Do I need your money" Then he old me he was going to call the police and get them to come and check the meter, I didn't have anything going on at the time and found the situation quite amusing that he threatened to call the police so I agreed to wait for them to arrive. They didn't arrive of course so I passed him what I had paid the day before. If they're taking the same route the price should be the same every time that's if they are all charging the same Km.

Joanne wrote:I get cabs quite frequently and challenged a recent cab driver about the fare. I did the same route two days in a row as I dropped my car off in a local taller and went back the following day to pick it up. On day 1 I was charged X, the very same route the next day was XX.

The cabbie went off his head when I asked him why he charged me more than the other one yesterday. He opened his wallet and showed me all these notes and said "Do I need your money" Then he old me he was going to call the police and get them to come and check the meter, I didn't have anything going on at the time and found the situation quite amusing that he threatened to call the police so I agreed to wait for them to arrive. They didn't arrive of course so I passed him what I had paid the day before. If they're taking the same route the price should be the same every time that's if they are all charging the same Km.

and what it was 500 pesos difference?

Gerrit wrote:I asked a taxi driver today, and he told me it was based on a score you get when your car get licensed. The better the condition of your car (year, 'clean' exhaust gases etc) the higher your score and the more you can ask.

If this is true, the 90 CLP / 200m are contributing more to the ICAP/smog than the 120 ones. Would that guilt anyone into picking the 120 CLP over the 90 CLP taxis if they could choose?

There goes my Hayekian phantasy ....