Panama’s new metro recently opened and while passengers are loving the fast transportation system, taxi drivers are not a fan.
Before the metro opened, Panama’s infamous taxi drivers used to either drive around the city piling as many people as they could in a car or they would stop and say “No Voy” (I’m not going there) after stating your destination. But the tables have turned and now they are actually desperate for passengers.
According to La Prensa, with the introduction of the metro more passengers have elected to use that and the metro bus to get around instead of the taxis they once depended on.
Taxi Drivers are now driving around the city everyday of the week honking at passengers to try and get people to ride with them when they used to only search for passengers on Sundays.
Now the taxi drivers want to go. – claimed an annoyed user.
Some users have also claimed taxis are charging discriminatory prices to people who request to get dropped off at a Metro station. One user claimed that a taxi driver made her pay $4 for a trip that used to cost $2.
People don’t want to use the taxis anymore, their fares are higher than the metro and it takes longer. – Analida Chirº.
The taxi drivers don’t believe this is going to last since the metro is currently free to use. They believe that once the metro fares are announced people will resume using taxis like before.
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