It usually happens on sultry summer nights around 11:30 pm when I arrive at LaGuardia Airport and face the prospect of waiting on a taxi line that snakes three times the length of Terminal C. No, I’m not going to wait in that line! I’m too smart. I’m a native New Yorker. I know better than that.
So I take myself, wheelie in tow, up to the front of the line, and start shouting out “Anybody want to share a cab to the Upper East Side?” “ Anybody going to 69th Street?”
Invariably I get a volunteer, be it a man or woman. Doesn’t matter to me. As soon as they agree, I slip right behind them in the line, placing myself among the very next folks to get a cab.
Even luckier, the person turns out to be someone pretty nice, typically back from an interesting trip, sometimes stocked with an interesting Christmas gift or two.
One Christmas, I jumped into the cab with a woman named Liz, who loved to Tango. In the shopping bag was a foot massager, a thoughtful gift from a brother who knew her feet took a beating from all the tango dancing she did in her spare time. Trouble was, Liz was really an accountant. She loved tango dancing so much, she stayed out late into the night dancing her favorite dance.
In the short amount of time we had before the cab dropped her off at 62nd and First, I had convinced her to buy her own club, to name it Tango Liz, and in fact, to become Tango Liz. She seemed genuinely excited about the prospect.
I never heard if she took me up on the idea, but for both of us, the price was right.
Have you ever shared a cab? How did it go?
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April 27, 2012 at 3:44 pm
A shared ride to the train station in Boston lead to lunch, then a 4 hour ride together on the Acela to New York, followed by dinner that weekend. Five dates later (including 2 nights at the opera) things are still looking good. What started as a hatred of wasted fuel at the hotel taxi stand, where 15 people stood waiting to take individual cabs to the same airport, lead unexpectedly to romance.
June 8, 2012 at 2:22 am
There should be prominent signs at airport cab stops *encouraging* people to share. Then the shy (like me) would have permission to shout out and we wouldn’t feel intimidated.
September 25, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Funny story about cab shares –
Upon returning to Grand Central with a former flame (after a great weekend of hiking upstate) we snagged a taxi outside to take us to our separate homes, both in different parts of Brooklyn. The cabbie asked us to be as detailed as possible with directions, as he had been in the country for about 2 weeks, driving for less than one week. This wouldn’t have been too much of an issue, except that the driver was very much the stereotypical NYC cabbie – driving about 65 MPH. By the time his GPS (or my Google Maps via iPhone) updated, he had already missed several turns. It took us almost 15 mins just to get to the Midtown Tunnel!
After the three of us took a backwards way to my part of Brooklyn, I decided to pay him my share separate, and he reset the meter for my partner’s ride home, making it easier for the novice cabbie. Unfortunately, both driver and GPS could not differentiate between the street my friend lived on in Brooklyn and the same address in Manhattan (for non-locals, several streets in both boroughs share the same or similar names).
I received a txt about 10 mins later saying they were back in Manhattan! She was finally able to direct the taxi operator to her place, and sadly could not tip since she had just enough for the long, indirect trip.
While sharing a cab is great for the environment, make sure you’re both headed in the same direction!
November 14, 2012 at 6:46 pm
LOVE this story!! It’s amazing when we cross paths with unexpected people who inspire us to fully become who we truly are. I am inspired to start sharing cabs : )
November 14, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Cab sharing is both a great way to save on gas and to save some money. I too have shared cabs from Grand Central to LaGuardia. One winter on my way to England I panicked at the length at the long line for a taxi. Thankfully an employee of Grand Central was organizing taxi service and yelled out if anyone was heading toward the airports? At this moment my hand shot up and I was able to make it to the airport on time. While I love the idea of cab sharing I can not help but think about many airports in Europe that are directly connected to public transportation via buses or subways. Direct access to the city center is helpful for locals and visitors alike. I wonder how much energy would be saved if people could easily hop on public transportation and arrive at the subway?
November 28, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Thank you for this story! It brings up an interesting point, why don’t we share cabs more often in NYC?
There are some places where cab sharing is publicly encouraged (and even enforced). To see this time and fuel-saving action, however, one might need to take that ride and cross the River to the Jersey side.
In my former home of Hoboken, there exists what often looks like a pretty horrific cab line outside Hoboken Terminal/PATH, particularly 15-20 minutes after last call, when all of the trusty NJ Transit buses have already called it a night. This line moves much faster than others, however, because cabs invite in as many as they fit with people going to same parts of the city or to other destinations. It’s a $5 flat rate for all of Hoboken. I have personally met two good friends on these cab adventures, one of whom was in my major at my college, though we had never officially met before. Because of my Hoboken habits, I also try to share cabs in the city and think of yellow as a carpool-friendly color. I have found it does work well in airports, outside the major mass transit terminals, and (oddly enough) when exiting PATH. I definitely believe that as more people who do it, it will become more of a typical practice!
January 23, 2013 at 2:38 pm
In long island, NY, cab fares run per person in the cab rather than per destination so when cabs pickup from the train station you let the drivers know where you are going and they designate certain cabs for those going to the same area as you. There are set rates for certain distances away from the station and that is that. So, whether both my neighbor and I get dropped off at the same stop, we would both pay the same amount. I almost prefer NYC cabs where you can split a fare with someone when it is along the way and just drop them off. However in the case to save gas, these Long Island cabs have it down pat, but I’m pretty sure it’s because they are trying to make the most money in the most efficient way possible.