Long Hauling

I found this map on Google images and thought it would be a good thing to post for anyone coming to our city. What is this map showing you? Well it’s showing you the difference between a honest driver and a dishonest driver.

Believe it or not, we have thousands of first time visitors come into Las Vegas everyday and they have no clue what they have gotten themselves into. Everyone sees Las Vegas in the movies and thinks they know it all. Unfortunately, while Las Vegas is one of the best cities to go to for a Vacation/Holiday, most new-comers (and some returning guests) don’t know how they can be ripped off within minutes of arriving in our great city.

Long hauling is when a driver takes you to a destination and does not take a direct route.  The most common way people get long hauled is when going to and from the airport. They built a Tunnel going under the runways at the airport and it leads you right on to the highway that runs just south of the airport. Most people think that going on the highway with no stop lights is the fastest way of getting somewhere, hints why this tactic works so well.

Airport to Las Vegas the right way (4mi 11mins)

Airport to Luxor Long Haul (6.9mi 14 min)

But as you can see, this is a myth and is only a way for a shitty cabdriver to try and make a few extra bucks. I never long haul my fares and even try to inform people of some of the tricks they may hear while in our town. I’m sure this would make me the most hated driver out there but I feel guests need to know.

As a industry I would say that about 80% of the drivers out there are good hard working drivers, but the other 20% are either shitty people or have just succumb to the pressure in order to keep their jobs. Due to all this, I have some questions. Some have been brought up to the TA and others are just my brainstorms.

1. Why doesn’t the TA enforce this more then a few times a day? (I would guess only 1 in 10 cabs going through the tunnel are really going south of the airport)
2. Why doesn’t the airport inform travelers of this with a sign or brochure (the airport loves their signs)
3. Why don’t the companies really take action against these drivers (it’s easy to spot them)

So until the powers that be really do something about this I will keep doing whats right and informing as many of these guest as I can.

Things to keep in mind when in a taxi:

• The tunnel is never the best way to go to the strip
• The highway is only a money saver during the time of day when the strip is full of traffic and you should be able to see if traffic is moving or not.
• The Strip has a few back roads we like to use. (Koval, Paradise, Dean Martin/Industrial, Frank Sinatra) Let us, they really do save time (up to 10 mins) while only costing in most cases a few cents more but no more then a dollar. (it’s about turn over in this industry)
• If you have a way you like to, then go tell us. We all drive our own way and can’t read minds