World Taxi Service Rankings: Taipei Ranks 18th

Reported by You T-Ru / Taipei

What detail do you care about the most when taking a taxi? A well-known international online hotel booking website has released its latest global taxi service survey for 2013. The results show that London’s taxis have claimed the title of the world’s best taxi service for the sixth consecutive year with 22% of the vote, closely followed by New York and Tokyo, which received 10% and 9% of the votes respectively. Taipei’s taxi services also earned high praise from many travelers, ranking 18th.


▲ The hugely popular Matsu Eyelash Taxi. (Photo / Reporter You T-Ru)

The survey was conducted in 30 countries around the world. London’s iconic black cabs, known for their cleanliness, drivers’ knowledge of the roads, and overall driving quality, received nearly a quarter of the votes from respondents globally. Berlin’s taxis ranked fourth with 5% of the vote, while Madrid, Mexico City, and Amsterdam tied for fifth place with 4% each.

London taxis were also voted the friendliest, though interestingly, “friendliness” is the service aspect that passengers care least about. Nearly a quarter of respondents cited safety as their top priority when taking a taxi, and London taxis also topped that category. In terms of price, respondents considered taxis in New York and Bangkok to be the cheapest, both receiving 20% of the vote—but Bangkok did not make it into the top five for best taxi services. Additionally, New York’s yellow cabs ranked first in terms of prevalence.

The survey also revealed the activities passengers most often engage in while in a taxi: nearly 20% said they send or receive messages or emails, sleeping came in second as the most favorite activity, followed by eating and kissing. When it came to the most “passionate” passengers, 14% of British respondents admitted to engaging in intimate behavior in the back of a taxi—10% higher than the global average of 4%.

In addition, having WiFi in the taxi was selected as the most important in-car feature, receiving more votes than a radio or music system. The driver behavior that passengers dislike the most is taking unnecessarily long routes. The questionnaire also mentioned the “most bizarre items” found in taxis, including wigs in the U.S., birds in cages, prosthetic limbs and ex-boyfriends in Australian taxis, trombones in Finland, Rubik’s Cubes in Italy, and dentures in Germany.