There are probably a million different taxi-supplying agencies in Dubai, and probably a billion taxis roaming the streets, but getting one taxi for myself, a 18 year old, brown Indian, is many a time, near impossible. Fine, yes I am exaggerating a little, but only a little. Let me start again. There are 5 major taxi suppliers: Dubai Transport, Cars Taxis (“Cars” – yeah I know taxis are cars painted up, but that’s one non-sensical shitty name), National Taxis, Golden (really?) Taxis & Gulf Radio Taxis (hai?). They supply a good number of taxis for the small city that is Dubai. Hell, these stupid taxis make up a big chunk of the dreaded traffic that is partially drowning Dubai.
Okay, there are a good number of taxis, then why does getting one taxi at 11:00 AM on a Thursday in Deira for an 18 year old, brown Indian seem as impossible as men conquering Mars? Empty cabs go by, without as much as glancing at you, so the finger that is upright also becomes redundant. Some half-decent ones that at least stop, say that they have to go pray, or that they are being awaited by someone else. Fine, but if I was this stunning blonde, with enough exposed skin to light up any man-eyes, the “praying” and the “awaited persons” would disappear, right? And getting a taxi won’t be that big a problem. Here I talk with experience. A few months back, a fellow Indian cab driver with an empty cab drove right past my wavering hand. I was like fine, he must be going home. But then he suddenly stopped 50 yards ahead of me, for this considerably fair woman. Wow, a fellow countryman betraying his own people - very confuddling.
Going to Sharjah by cab is not a possibility. However white you are, Sharjah is a big no-no for taxi-drivers. It’s not like they aren’t allowed to go there, but they just won’t – “too much traffic”. Yes I sympathize with them, when it comes to traffic and shit, but it’s their friggin’ job! They are meant to take people from one place to the other, irrespective of whether the bill is 5 dirhams or 500 dirhams, or whether there is heavy traffic or not. Fine, these poor bastards are not paid that well, and are exploited, but taking it out on their passengers is not nice.
Every cab driver I have been with is always on the brink of bursting out. The way these drivers abuse their fellow road-buddies is more than hilarious. Fine, these guys are visibly stressed, but when they act racist with their own people, it’s not cool. Every taxi-driver wants a pretty passenger who wants to be taken from Deira to Abu Dhabi on Friday at 9:00 AM. But that’s so not happening.
I can’t wait to drive. It will be quite a relief not relying on these turned on, racist tax-drivers. But then a whole new problem will unfold – parking. Bloody hell!
P.S. The metro will help! I can’t wait for that to kick in, but I won’t be here to experience it. The Public Buses and their routes suck. Shit, everything seems useless when it comes to transport and Dubai.
13 comments:
It isn't THAT bad, from my experiences atleast. It usually doesn't take me more than 15 mins to find a taxi .... what more, a number of these drivers are pretty nice guys - though some are over-inquisitive, most of them are quite interesting to talk to ....
And however frustrating it may be, many cab drivers have justifiable reasons to ignore you - some maybe heading home for lunch after a night shift, many have partners with whom they share the cab, etc.
Maybe I've been lucky, maybe you've been overtly unlucky - whatever it is, I can't wait to drive!!
On the whole, the taxi scene is bad, but its not so much because of drivers being racist or turned on as because the drivers want to make more money!
ello Anish! anothe rvent post-very nice! taxis rnt that bad u know they arent. its insanely tough on the guys considering the crap they get from the companies and if they have to go to sharjah spending 3 hrs and get paid something like 30 bucks, come on right? they sit literally sit without leaving the vehicle for something like 4-5 hours at a stretch! that's the closest to being clinically paralysed as i'd like to get! weve all talked to these guys about their shit, about how they havent seen their 2 year old kid yet because he was born after their last vacation.if a white lady showing thigh makes them feel remotely chirpy theyre going to pick her up! besides you know for a fact a white man in dubai is more likely to tip than an indian man, well anywhere! anyway if it continues to bug you heres a fun lesson-plug in ur mp3 and WALK IT! incidentally in india u can go the distance between sharjah and deira twice for like 60 rupees!(Burn...!)
Anyway, drive safely when u do, who knows maybe you'll end up picking up slutty white chicks too!:)
Very true, very true. Public transport in Dubai is virtually non - existent. Why - well you have monopolies and oligopolies looting the public. Personally, I've travelled by taxi mostly only on school expense, and so I really havent had to look for them. But the pricing policies of the companies are such that the drivers need to do everything they can to make that extra buck. And it isnt racisim, its merely the belief of all uneducated taxi drivers that the fairer you are the richer you are. They dont have anything against you really. And I think that if anyone is at fault, its the taxi companies and the government.
PS driving is so much fun :P
Oh and if ur looking for a taxi from the gardens, its reallly easy cuz going to the city costs a solid 55 bucks!
When these guys look at u they must be thinking u want to go to Nasser sq or knife road. In that case even I wont take u in my cab for obvious reasons.Goras live in Jumera and beyond- thats why they are chosen. I dont think they are racist. Its their guess work which is usually correct.However it is frustating and some of them are------ u know what i mean.
DAD
dudee! cut d taxi drivers some slack! they wanna pick up white chicks! let em'! let them njoii sum time starrin at them frm d rear view mirror!! ooh now i knw y thr r so many accidents! ppl r bzy starrin n chkin out ppl in d nearby cars, they dnt look in front! n BAMM!!! accident-police-fines! argh!
n these taxi drivers do suck! 1 unfortunate day i missed my school bus! wave for a taxi wont even look at u! n tht same taxi guy took a u-turn n picked sum gora female!! ah! felt like killin tht guy!!
neway this thingz gona never end! lets jst instead be smart n call the cab company!
agree. Cab drivers suck. cabs are shit. I dont get it actually. If you take a cab from Shk Zd Rd...from the OTHER side (towards dubai), where do these guys think you're going? Deira is a no, Sharjah is a no, Bur Dubai, no. SO???? D-uh? And BTW, they wont stop for WOMEN...they will stop for Women 'showing skin'. Cuz if youre arabiyya or indian or any 'make' but covered in an abaya with a no-nonsense look, they will still refuse.
You're featured in Tabloid! Pick of the Day no less... :)
Yes you are very true when it comes to Transport here in Dubai... It's really hard to catch a bus or taxi (I don't like to ride in taxi because it's too costly) eventhough we set our early time to wait..Like what happened to me and others this morning..We patiently wait for almost 30 minutes and came late to the office...Gosh this is really not helpful to the City.. As other countries have a knowledge that Dubai is very nice city..Please I hope everything will work out fine in the near future..Metro will be better...
You got quite a post up there :)
Well I can see that you amplified the whole story a bit but that's okay! It makes it more interesting ;)
Man! I have to hire a blond so that she can wave for the taxis when I am in dubai :P
yep....Pick of the Day in Tabloid!
I just saw it. Don't ask me why I was reading yesterday's Tabloid though.
I actually agree with you.
But aren't those pink taxis running around supposed to be only for women? Woe for the male taxi drivers. The only good thing in life, taken away from them in one go.
Granted that getting a taxi here is next to impossible if you're a male. But don't let that make you want to be a girl. Trust me, it's not worth it.
Jozie
To be honest, I -as an Arab- have never suffered from the much-fabled Dubai Taxi service... until last year.
I've been previously told -by many taxi drivers- in simple terms, that they presume where you want to go, by your appearance. For example, if you're Indian, they presume it's Karama you want to go to, which is ridiculous, but anyhow, Karama happens to be clogged almost always.
On the other hand, if you're a Brit with that infamous imperialist attitude the British community in Dubai has been associated with, standing in a street corner, the taxi will presume that you're going somewhere "posh", which would be far and clear-roaded such as Jumeirah ..etc.
But in general, I do agree that the attitude displayed by Taxis as of late, has become increasingly rude, and humiliating. They act almost as if they're doing you a favour by dropping you somewhere. And they usually grunt and curse under their breath if they can't escape dropping you somewhere they don't "approve" of (such in the case of a big burly threatening-looking guy like me).
The funny thing is, my fiancee -who is a Dutch, and happens to be blonde- has had it worse, they presume that she's a prostitute (she's a psychologist), and always ask her if she's from "Russia", and if she says she wants to go to Deira City Centre, they go: "No no, you go to Emirates mall, better for you!" .... what the hell?
Somebody should discipline these swine.
YES! Taxi's ARE biased! No one stops for a thirteen year old Indian kid who's 5'2. NO ONE.
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