Prague introduces ‘fair’ taxi stands
The Associated Press August 1, 2007, 2:18PM ET PRAGUE, Czech Republic
Tourists visiting one of Europe’s most beautiful cities often face an ugly reality — some Prague taxi drivers like to rip them off.
But City Hall wants to put a stop to that. It is introducing dozens of taxi stands — marked with thumbs-ups signs — that will guarantee passengers a fair fare, a city official said Wednesday.
The city’s fight against price-gouging cabbies intensified two years ago when the mayor himself was ripped off royally. Disguised as a tourist, Mayor Pavel Bem was charged six times the regular fare for a trip between the Old Town Square and the Prague Castle — two major tourist attractions.
By the end of next week, 49 stands in Prague will be certified as “Fair Taxi Places,” said City Hall spokesman Jiri Wolf. They will be checked frequently by city officials to ensure passengers are charged proper fares, Wolf said.
City officials say the situation has improved since the mayor’s undercover escapade. Last year, nearly 14 percent of taxi drivers checked were found to be cheating. For the first six months of this year, the number was 7.5 percent.
“The numbers are optimistic, but we remain realists,” deputy mayor Rudolf Blazek said in a statement. “Those less than eight percent of taxi drivers who cheat still harm the profession’s image here in Prague, in the Czech Republic and even abroad,” he said.
