This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Cabs in Halifax
Why do Haligonian Cab drivers refuse to turn off their light when they have people in their taxi? Do they enjoy seeing people try to hail a taxi and just staring at them as they drive by? I know from experience how cabs work in Vancouver, Calgary, To
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they don’t get to watch TV so I think this is their form of entertainment. watching drunk people throwing themselves in front of them and smiling as they drive away pointing to the back to the passagers…
someone told me that halifax’s cabs operate on the opposite principle of every other major city in north america: light off = cab available. makes lots of sense when you’re trying to spot one at 2am.
I had read somewhere that back in the 1950s someone was murdered and the killers escaped by hailing a cab. Because the cab was taken, and the light subsequently turned out, witnesses were unable to get the cab number to report it to police (it was night). Long and short, the killers couldn’t be tracked because no one could see what cab company/number it was, and ever since then Halifax cabs leave their lights on all the time.