Why do some German cities have a minicar (car service) and some don't?
Replies: 8 - Last Post: May 11, 2012 4:33 AM Last Post By: soylentyellow
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Why do some German cities have a minicar (car service) and some don't?
Why do some German cities have a minicar (car service, you have to phone ahead and order it as opposed to a taxi which you can hail on the street) and some don't?Is it because the rules are different in each state? Or each municipality? Or is it only because some cities have more entrepreneurs than others?
(I ask because in my hometown I usually use the minicar car service, but when I travelled to Saarbrücken I couldn't find any and residents of Saarbrücken had never heard about it)
1
In Stuttgart, the taxis do not drive around looking for customers. They sit at defined taxi stands. Otherwise, if you want a taxi, you phone for one. There are two types of places you can call, one that isn't company specific and ones that are. Two good thing result from this, less air pollution and less traffic congestion.4
Ah, perhaps this is public transportation, and if there are usually no riders, then there is no reason to offer regular service. Therefore, it has to be prearranged, and I imagine you should get some kind of discount for using the service over a regular taxi fare. I've never used such a service, but know in a few places that they exist.5
#5 is absolutely right.The minicar is called "Funkmietwagen". Taxi-Companies usually offer both, the official taxi with taxametre and the Funkmietwagen. Funkmietwagen must be phoned ahead. Simply ask for a fixed rate ("Festpreis") and you will get the Funkmietwagen. The cars for the Funkmietwagen-service are often older ones, former Mercedes-Benz taxis, because some cities do have requirements for regular taxis like color or age.
6
Fixed rate? Minicars are metered just like taxis. Tariff is a bit lower, otherwise they work just like taxis, apart from the taxi ranks in the streets. And it's a different company.Hailing a taxi on the street usually does not work. The usual way is ordering a taxi by phone. If you wave at them they won't stop because they are probably on the way to pick up someone who has phoned. If you find a taxi rank you can grab the first taxi in line there, otherwise the phone is the way to get one. In restaurants and such, best is asking staff to call a taxi for you.
7
Fixed rate? Minicars are metered just like taxis. Tariff is a bit lower, otherwise they work just like taxis, apart from the taxi ranks in the streets. And it's a different company.<<
Not always. Sometimes. I always ask for a fixed rate for my way to the trainstation and the price is about a third of the regularly metered taxi fare. But they always come with an ooooold Mercedes Benz :D
8
i believe mini-car in comparison to taxi is to compare ryanain or easy jet with lufthansa or KLM.
Ryanair adn Easyjet get you there too just as fast so usually that's what I take. Of course Lufthansa is ways better but for me it really depends on the price difference (and since I found out that a minicar is half as much as a cab to the train station and just as reliable that's what I take. If there's two or three more people it's sometimes even cheaper than the bus... (and faster/more direct/runs when I want).
