If the city's map of ward 41 can be trusted, between the river (ie right after the 90/190 split) and the railroad tracks just before Mannheim is out of the city. Pretty sure that'd be in Rosemount (eg at the River Road exit).

I travel almost weekly to O'Hare very early Monday morning. I used to use Yellow Cab, but changed to Dispatch recently. IMO, Dispatch has better service.

I've tried to report cabbies twice, once via phone, and another time online. In both instances, a few days later I received a blank form in the mail asking me to describe the issue, even though I had provided all the details previously.

It wasn't worth the additional effort to give them the information a second time.

Yes. Just take the El now.

Depends on whether the purpose of a business is to actually serve the customer or just cater to the the whims of a municipality or the business itself by jacking up costs and restricting competition and providing a source of funds to bribe politicians.

I prefer to cater to customers; guess I'm just funny that way.

Same reason unions suck.

The last time I took the El in from the airport, I nearly tossed my cookies.
It was 50 minutes of being jolted from side to side. I kept sticking my head out the doors to get some fresh air and calm the nausea. Da Mayor really needs to do something about those tracks.

Every now and then, I'll grab a cab at Union Station to go north of the River.

My most recent outing was in a god-awful stench of a cab, driven by a guy who spent the entire drive whispering into his Bluetooth device in god knows what language. I was attending a meeting at the Four Seasons. Delaware Street was blocked off just west of the hotel and it was clear that he had no idea how to work his way around the detour and get to the hotel (here's a hint: If Rush Street is one way northbound, going west on Walton from Michigan isn't going to help). He ran at least two red lights when he got messed up and I bailed on him at Rush and Walton when it was clear that the ride was going to involve trial and error for 15 minutes. He got the exact meter for being an idiot.

For a brief while, it actually appeared that the City cared about the taxi system and customer service. That seems to have gone away in favor of doling out hack licenses to anyone with the cash to spare, regardless of language, driving, or navigation ability.

NYC taxis are a notch better, but not by much. I've had a few winners there too (like the guy who was determined to go down a street that the NYPD had blocked off and almost got his window busted in by the cop).

I've been to London a number of times. They have the absolute best cabbies. These guys put out serious money for the business and can lose it all in a moment. They are tested regularly and their cabs are gone over with a fine tooth comb. The fares are not cheap, but I would pay for a clean, safe, stress-free experience in the Loop.

I had a guy in Brussels not pull the flag when we left a train station. When we got to the hotel -- surprise! The meter showed about double what it was going to the train station in rush hour. And his command of English was suddenly non-existent. I had the night manager at the hotel speak with him and got the fare reduced.

So cabbies can be bad just about anywhere.

When was your last time? Those tracks have been getting a complete overhaul starting last summer.

I've been in Chicago for business for the last week and I haven't had many problems with cabs.

One problem I have had (and I might have this everywhere) is that they cheat you when you're from out of town. For instance:

Last night heading from my hotel near the Hancock Building to a restaurant on the Westside (outside of the loop) near the L....

Getting there: $15
Getting back: $11

Hmm....someone took the long way.....

The second, is the credit card issue. I don't like carrying cash and I know that cabbies have to take it. So if I know the cab ride should be $10 or more I ask them if their machine is working. If they say no I wait until the next cab comes by. If they say yes, but "suddenly" it malfunctions at the destination I give them the option of figuring out how to make it work or having just given me a free ride....Amazing how quickly they get the machine working again....

That's not a huge difference, sure you were cheated? Was the traffic heavier when you were heading over and it was still rush hour?

In my experience, Chicago cabs are the worst of any city I've ever been to. The drivers are always on the phone, the cabs are often dirty and smelly, and (except in winter) they are always too hot inside. I now try to use limo services as much as possible to avoid the cabs.

Say what you will about Chicago cabbies, but they are NOT cheaters. You were not cheated for $4. Different routings, time of day, traffic conditions, making/missing lights can make a difference in short distance fares. Also prices are different based on how many people you have in the cab.

As for the credit card issue, well, that is a legitimate gripe to be sure.

Don't the cab stand assistants put your bags into the trunk now?

Wasn't that the new service thing at O'Hare?

That lasted about 12 minutes. Then they stopped doing it.

Well...I'd argue that the $4 is a good sized difference. The dinner was late, after rush hour. The number of people in the cab remained the same. Traffic was about the same. The route was different. $4.00 is a couple of miles/minutes difference. I also thought I may have been cheated because I have not always had the cabbies take the same route in my trips but the fares are usually within a dollar or two. But, not really worth fighting over...(here or in the cab)

The credit card issue is worse. The only cab that has not given me any trouble was at the airport....But it's amazing how fast the machines work when they are told that they just gave you a free ride if they are expecting cash!