Las Vegas: By Taxi

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By Taxi

Las Vegas is heavily covered by 16 taxi companies. You can find cabs waiting at the airport and at every hotel in town. If you dine at a restaurant off the Strip, the restaurant will call a cab to take you home. Cabs aren't allowed to pick up passengers on the street, so you can't hail a cab New York - style. You have to wait in a hotel taxi line or call a cab company.

The fare is $3.20 on the meter when you get in, plus $2 for every mile. Also, in slow traffic, a $0.25 charge may be incurred every 41 seconds. Taxis are limited by law to carrying a maximum of four passengers, and there's no additional charge per person. No fees are assessed for luggage, but taxis leaving the airport are allowed to add an airport surcharge of $1.20. Drivers should be tipped around 15% for good service. Drivers cannot accept credit cards and carry only nominal change with them.

If it's busy on the Strip (and most often, it is), ask your driver to take the Industrial Road shortcut. It runs parallel to the Strip and can cut your fare substantially. Some drivers may advise you to take I-15 instead, but this is almost always more expensive than Industrial Road. Be sure to specify to your driver that you do not want to take I - 15 or the airport tunnel on your way to or from the airport. This is always the longer route distance-wise, which means it's the most expensive, but it can sometimes save you 5 to 10 minutes on the trip, if traffic is heavy on the Strip.You have every right to ask your driver about the routes he or she is using; don't be afraid to speak up. If you have trouble with your cab driver, be sure to get his or her name and license number and call the Taxi Cab Authority to report the incident.

Taxi Companies

Checker/Yellow/Star (702/873-2000). Desert Cab (702/386-9102). Taxi Cab Authority (702/668-4000. www.taxi.state.nv.us). Whittlesea/Henderson Cab (702/384-6111).