Buenos Aires - Argentina - page 67

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Tips T raveling by Taxi

At the risk of sounding repetitive, we strongly recommend that if you need a taxi,
you call in advance for a remise or radio-taxi (see “By Taxi,” above, for numbers).
Even better: Ask an employee of your hotel, restaurant, or other venue to call on
your behalf, as a representative of that establishment, which ensures greater
accountability from drivers. If you must hail taxis off the street, use only those
with plastic light boxes on their roofs, indicating that they are radio-taxis. Since
the economic crisis began, robberies by street taxi drivers have increased sharply.
Remises are only slightly pricier than street cabs, but far safer. Most hotels have
contracts with remise companies, and they're accustomed to calling for patrons.

between stations. Be aware that wildcat strikes are common on the system, though work-
ers rarely stop trains between stations.
BY BUS Buenos Aires has about 140 bus lines that r un 24 hours a day. The fare is 90
centavos and up , depending on distance trav eled. Pay y our far e inside the bus at the
electronic ticket machine, which accepts coins only . Many bus driv ers will tell y ou the
fare for y our destination and dir ect you where to get off , but most speak S panish only.
Locals are just as helpful and sometimes make an almost comical effor t to ensur e you
don't get lost. The Guia T is a compr ehensive guide to the city bus grid and bus lines.
Buy it at bookstores, newspaper kiosks, or on the subte or sidewalk from peddlers.
BY TAXI The streets of Buenos Aires are swarming with taxis. F ares are generally low,
with an initial meter r eading of 3.80 pesos incr easing 38 centavos every 200m (656 ft.)
or each minute. Remises and radio-taxis are much safer than street taxis (see “Traveling by
Taxi,” below). Most of what the av erage tourist needs to see in the city is accessible for
$3 to $7 (£2.05-£4.80). Radio-taxis, when hailed on the str eet, are recognizable by the
plastic light boxes on their rooftops, though not all will hav e them. If a cab is av ailable,
the word libre will flash in r ed on the windshield. O rdinary taxis, more likely to be r un
by members of Buenos Aires's infamous taxi mafia, do not have these special lights at all.
I personally have had few problems, but it's always best to err on the side of caution. I f
you speak English loudly with fellow passengers, identifying yourself as a tourist, expect
your ride to take longer than it should, with strange div ersions ensuring a higher far e
than normal. You can prevent this by being vigilant, having a general idea where you are
going, and keeping in mind the one-way street system. Drivers often use traffic problems
as their excuse for the runaround. A rarely enforced law means taxi drivers can stop only
if their passenger side is facing the curb . If available cabs are ignoring y ou, cross to the
other side of the street and hail again. Though the vast majority of taxi drivers are honest,
a substantial number of tourists hav e been ripped off r ecently by dishonest driv ers. A
common scam is saying that you gave a smaller-denomination bill to the driver than you
actually have. One way ar ound this is to kno w in S panish the v alue of y our bill, and
announcing it to the driver when requesting change. (Or make sure to have exact change
and lots of coins and small bills.) Tips are not necessary, but many locals normally round
up to the near est peso for the far e. To request a taxi b y phone, consider Taxi Premium
( & 11/4374-6666 ), the service used by the Four Seasons Hotel.

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