Belgrade Taxi Special!

Its a fact that almost every visitor to Belgrade will hail a taxi at some point. In my experience riding the taxi proves to be pretty informative – drivers usually have a wealth of stories they divulge to passengers. If he’s a quiet one (there are only a handful of female taxi drivers although I’m not sure of the fate of the female only taxi firm that started up last year) you can check out whether he has the cross hanging from his rear view mirror. Or you could wonder whether he keeps a gun under his seat. Better still throw out a few words of Serbian and in most cases he will be delighted and might even tell you about his time in Germany or London during the 1980’s.
Its a sad fact (or happy depending on your perspective) that educated taxi drivers are increasing in numbers. A guy who I occasionally call to drive me to the airport used to be a university lecturer but finds he can make a better living as a cabbie. His case is by no means unique although still the exception rather than the rule.

However, any frequent visitor to Belgrade will know that the taxi system, though cheap, remains pretty much hit and miss. You might end up riding in a rusty looking polluting cab or in a brand new Mercedes. There is also the danger of climbing into a cab that is in fact unregistered and illegal. For more specific advice on taxis check out the archives of the blog or the website:
Belgrade taxi

In the last few years there has been increasing pressure on Belgrade city hall to resolve these problems for once and for all. They brought through proposals that will be enforced from January 2009. These include an obligatory video camera in the cab, a panic button, GPRS tracking of each cab, a digitised taxi meter which can print out receipts and allow the use of credit cards and the cab will have to pass the Euro 3 standard on fuel emissions.
Taxi firms aren’t too happy about this since it seems that its the cabbies themselves that will have to foot the bill. Or rather the paying customer will have to pay.
Well it will be a while but in the meantime Belgrade authorities are beginning a long overdue crackdown on illegal taxis – sort of. It appears that a number of firms registered outside Belgrade are being sanctioned for taking customers in Belgrade. At the same time its still easy to find the worst kind of illegal cabbies hanging around by the bus station and railway station. Up to now the police have done little to solve this problem although I occasionally taunt them and ask how much to my place in Belgrade. Upon being given an outrageous quote I retort ‘do I look stupid?’ and let them hear me swear as I walk away.
Well somebody’s got to do it…

Tagged as: belgrade, city, police