About time. I've read some of John's "taxicab confessions" and have considered some of his adventures with deadbeat fares to have put him in real danger. Glad the taxi cab drivers and the police have come up with this solution.

I have always wanted to, but never actually taken a cab in Duluth. When it comes to an unspecified amount of money I always feel I can walk a few miles.

What does a typical cab ride cost? (please give to and from)

I once shared a late night foggy cab ride from the airport along back roads with a box of eye balls.

Thanks for your prices! (now which company do you recommend?)


I may actually think about taking a cab sometime. I've also realized why I don't take the bus, and that is because most times I can walk to where I'm going just as fast or quicker. It just feels so natural walking a couple miles, even if I've had a few beers previously.

Driving x distance is bound to take about 1/5 of the time, however. I wonder how that works out per minute?

I have never missed a flight either. 

It has taken me two hours to get a ride home from the airport though because I had to call for a pick-up a the airport 5 times because every time a cab would pull up some a-hole would jump in it and the idiot drivers wouldn't ask for a name (despite being asked ... and then instructed to ... and then being threatened with bodily harm of they didn't). Eventually I was the only person left at the f-ing place, but guess what, they still didn't ask for my name.

This rule is absurd.  Cabbies need to be paid for services rendered, but in advance!?!  Anyone coming in from outside MN will not give $$$ to a cabbie before the ride!  The only thing this is doing is keeping the cab company's from investing in credit card/debit card machines for their businesses.

That would only work if there was a protective screen or barrier between the back and front seats.

@ Jenny, I see your point. . . I actually had a *terrible* experience once with a Duluth cabbie. I was sharing a ride with a couple I met at DLH who were also waiting for a cab. The cabbie started ranting and raving and just acted hostile to the point where the 3 of us in the back seat were getting pretty worried that he was about to go postal. 

The couple got out at their home, more than a few blocks away from my home, and the woman was so fearful for my safety alone in the cab with that whackjob, she made a big show of giving me her phone number and telling me to call her the minute I got home -- which I did. We both complained to the cab company the next day. I really hope this company is more careful about who it hires, is all I can say.

That is why, Jenny, on reconsideration, after you made your point above, I have to agree with you. Maybe prepayment is the best way to go --though what happens if you have a cabbie like this one was, and want to cut the ride short?

Once, a gal friend and I hopped an Allied cab from downtown to the 40th West Perkins at about 1 AM, and the cabbie was the friendliest middle-aged dude imaginable. Not less than a tenth of a mile into the trip, he plops into my companion's lap the cutest, tiniest puppy imaginable, tells us its name is Teddy (I think I'm recalling that correctly, unless it looked so much like a teddy bear that I just assumed that was its name) and that it's tired out from a long day of playing with customers. This thing was almost impossibly adorable, and made it hard to accept the fact that we had reached our destination in short order. It made it pretty easy, though, to tip generously and genuinely wish the cabbie a great rest of his night.

I've used Allied on quite a few occasions (especially on weekends, no thanks to the DTA's awful Saturday and Sunday hours of operation, bleh), and I've almost invariably had at least a pleasant conversation with the drivers. Nice folks.

Claire:  Thankfully my co understand time is $ and flys me out of Duluth, although I hear good things about skylines service.
Dropkick:  Good for you.  the VERY LAST time I ever stepped foot in an Allied I got in the back and there was a hole in the floorboard the size of a football! I could see the road going by!

Given a choice, I would choose the taxi company that doesn't force me to prepay (or force me to prove I'm good for it).  

I'm so lucky that the Duluth Police and taxi companies have already made that choice for me.

It's ludicrous. If you're gonna take a cab, you better have the money, and if you have the money, why be offended to prove that? Cab drivers are people, too, and they deserve to feel secure. It's not like a retail job. 

These people drive ANYBODY who calls them all over, and without having to show proof of payment, it'd be pretty damn easy to take advantage of them. Maybe YOU wouldn't, but how do they know?

Again, given a choice, I will always choose the gas station that doesn't force me to prepay - especially when I have my kids with me.  It's a hassle to wake them up, get their coats on, walk in to the store (all times 2)

There is usually at least one gas station around that doesn't judge me guilty before being proven so.

It sounds to me from reading John's blog, that there isn't even a choice for me in taxis that don't ask me to prepay.  By police chief edict, ALL taxis must ask you to pre-pay or prove.  Why not let individual taxi companies decide their own policy?  That way I (the potential customer)might get a choice in the matter.

I have taken taxis all over the world and have never been asked to prove I can pay.  What is so special about Duluth taxis?

I don't see any problem at all with the rule, I wouldn't be surprised if other cities start doing it too. 
I run my own business, if I get a client that I've never worked with before, I ask for a percentage of the fee before I start the project. It weeds out the problem clients and the ones who aren't serious about finishing up the project. Very few people are offended by the practice, if they are, there are probably going to be other issues in the business relationship. 

If you're talking about clients you've never met that you pick up outside the bar in the middle of the night, seems like a pretty good idea to make sure they're serious about the service you're going to provide them.

I agree with the pre-pay plan esp. these days when $$ is tight for some folks who may not make the best decisions after a night out. One more round or...actually pay for the cab? 

I rarely take cabs any more, now living in the country but have had scary rides in Duluth before. Allied driver, white supremacist. Made him drop me off on Glenwood long before my house he scared me so badly. Then there is/was Charlie from Yellow. You know the guy, hoarder with tons of junk in the front seat, glasses, bad teeth. Loves to bring the nuns fruit baskets during the holidays or so I was told. 

Most cabs in Vegas take credit/debit cards now. Super convenient esp. when on an expense account!

I loved Cab-A-Ray cabs. I am sad they are no longer around.