One of the upsides of residing in or visiting Taipei is the city’s abundance of cabs. Regardless of whether one is standing at a busy intersection or walking along a small street, it rarely takes more than a minute or two to hail a taxi. Indeed, it is quite common to see long lines of the vehicles waiting outside busy locations such as department stores and subway stations.
Locals call taxis xiao huang, meaning “little yellow,” due to their color. Currently, there are approximately 50,000 cabs in Taipei and New Taipei. As the majority of taxi drivers are self-employed, the profession tends to attract people who value flexible work hours. Those who see cab driving as their permanent occupation often purchase a vehicle of their own, while people doing the job on a short-term basis typically rent a car from a taxi company.
Being courteous and maintaining a clean cab are considered essential in the trade. Amid the highly competitive environment for taxis, some of the city’s cabbies also offer courier services in order to attract more business. Working as a taxi driver in Taipei may not be the easiest way to make a living, but for many people a life of crisscrossing the streets and lanes of the nation’s capital holds a certain appeal.
Write to Jim Hwang at cyhuang03@mofa.gov.tw
(Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
Some of the city’s taxis offer multilingual services to appeal to international visitors. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
Cabbies take a break at a rest area in Taipei. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
Most cabbies begin and end their workdays by cleaning their taxi. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
There are around 50,000 taxicabs in Taipei and New Taipei. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)