Mexico Taxi
The origin of modern taxicabs in Mexico started in 1970, when the government took new measures in order to give an affordable, cheap and small taxi transport to Mexican people after years of big and expensive cars which were used through the 50’s and 60’s. Taxicabs are popular in Mexico City with some sources estimating the total number of registered taxi to be 80,000, making it the biggest taxicabs fleet in the world. Additionally, Mexican Taxicabs’ fares are considered very low compared to that in more economically developed countries with about 90% lower.
The Volkswagen Sedán was the first type of car which was selected to serve as taxicabs in Mexico but in the late 70’s, other automobiles such as the Nissan Tsuru and the Datsun 160J were also added in taxicabs operation. Firstly, they were colored with yellow panels and white roofs but in the early 90’s, government decided to change its color to green, in order to give an impression of “ecologic transport”. However, in 2003, the government has changed taxicabs’ color again to a full white colored car with a red stripe on both sides of the panels.
In Mexico, obtaining a driving license is hard and takes high cost. Every would - be cabby must be undergone many tastes such as traffic knowledge tests, physical tests and driving tests on the road. These difficulties have significantly confined the number of taxis on the road. But due to the increasing demand of public taxicabs, there are many illegal ‘pirata’ taxis which are considered high risk for passengers because the lack of background checks for drivers.
