Abraxi Taxi zone rates

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The Abraxi Taxi Taxicopter

The Fourth of July fireworks in St. Augustine are rather impressive, and thousands flock to the Ancient City to enjoy the display.

Unfortunately, traffic soon backs up, and even the most knowledgeable hackney driver can become lost in a labyrinth of gridlock.

To avoid these delays and provide timely service, Abraxi Taxi has decided to park our taxi vans and introduce the new Nissan Taxicopter.

Our taxi pilots are reasonably familiar with these innovative air taxis, so there is little reason for concern.

As an added safety feature, each vehicle will have pontoons attached. In case of pilot error, we can make an emergency landing in the Matanzas River.

For your enjoyment, we will provide an open bar, complete buffet and assorted party favors.

Passengers are encouraged to dress appropriately and wear very comfortable shoes. I promise to hover as close to your destination as possible before dropping you—our taxi fare.

So when you're sitting at the Tini Martini Bar watching bumper-to-bumper traffic crawl through downtown, be assured that Abraxi air transportation is only seconds away.

Visit our website for rates, reviews, helipad locations and a complete directory of safe grassy knolls near your home.

Mr. Scott will be our dispatcher.

If all else fails, we will put the transporter into service.

Scotty, beam me up. The taxi services in St. Augustine are overloaded, we're off the grid, and I'm running out of dilithium crystals, Captain.

Meanwhile, Back on Planet Earth...

Abraxi Taxi does not currently own a taxicopter.

We don't own a transporter either.

But on the Fourth of July in St. Augustine, there are times when I sincerely wish we did.

Enjoy Independence Day in the nation's oldest city. Expect long waits and difficult traffic. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk.

For those we're able to take into town, we'll do our best to get you safely back home.

And if Nissan ever actually builds the Taxicopter, Abraxi wants the first one.

Abraxi Taxiom: When traffic becomes impossible, invent a helicopter.

Abraxi Taxi: A Safe Harbor in St. Augustine

Back in 2014, this was how we described Abraxi Taxi:

• Registered with the State of Florida

• Compliant with applicable St. Augustine regulations

• City medallions displayed on the proper vehicles

• Proper commercial insurance and current licensing

• Drug- and alcohol-free workplace

• Timely service

• Knowledgeable—and mostly friendly—drivers

• Clean cars and cold air

• No strangers riding shotgun

• Comfortable taxi vans

• A longtime independent St. Augustine taxi company

• Local business licensing

• Corporate taxes filed

• Money spent right here in St. Augustine

Operating a legitimate taxi company wasn't cheap.

Commercial insurance, vehicle maintenance, licensing and other requirements were part of the cost of doing business. Abraxi Taxi believed those expenses were part of providing professional transportation.

Competition is the American way. It can be healthy for businesses and good for consumers.

My argument back then was simply that competition works best when businesses providing similar services operate under clear and consistently applied rules.

Admittedly, I didn't always express that opinion quite so calmly.

This was St. Augustine, after all, so the old blog occasionally suggested hanging transportation pirates from the gallows and making others walk the plank.

No pirates were actually harmed in the operation of Abraxi Taxi.

The transportation industry has changed enormously since this was first written. Technology changed. Rideshare companies arrived. Regulations evolved. Some taxi companies disappeared.

Abraxi Taxi kept driving.

The old post ended with a line I still rather like:

A storm may be brewing, but Abraxi Taxi is a safe harbor to moor your ship to.

After all these years, I'll let that one stand.

Abraxi Taxiom: A storm may be brewing, but Abraxi Taxi is a safe harbor to moor your ship to.

Uber

Saint Augustine taxi service http://abraxitaxi.blogspot.com/2014/04/saint-augustine-taxi-service_21.html

Why use Abraxi Taxi

Saint Augustine Taxi Service

904-599-MOON: An Old Abraxi Taxi Video

Abraxi-Taxi: http://youtu.be/Q9Ts6WjfhfA

Here's a little piece of Abraxi Taxi history from 2014.

Long before today's website, social media and online transportation apps became such an important part of the business, we were experimenting with YouTube and finding different ways to get the Abraxi Taxi name—and telephone number—in front of St. Augustine customers.

One of them was pretty hard to forget:

904-599-MOON.

The number was 904-599-6666, but MOON made a considerably better taxi slogan than four sixes.

The original Abraxi-Taxi video from those days survives below.

More than a decade later, the technology has changed considerably.

The strange sense of humor has not.

Abraxi Taxiom: When I park, I think up snark.

Abraxi-Taxi: http://youtu.be/Q9Ts6WjfhfA

The Abraxi Taxi Driver's Commandments — 2014

Back in 2014, I wrote some rules for Abraxi Taxi drivers.

Reading them today, I apparently believed taxi dispatch required a combination of technology, discipline and divine intervention.

Some things have changed. Smartphones are better. GPS is better. Payment systems are certainly better.

But some of the old taxi commandments still hold up.

I. The Dispatcher Is a God. Worship Accordingly.

A good relationship with dispatch can make or break your shift.

Give the dispatcher useful information and keep it brief. The better dispatch knows where you are, the better chance they have of matching you with the next fare.

And remember: whining before the gods rarely produces miracles.

II. Your Phone Is Your Best Friend

Next to the taxi itself, a good smartphone was one of a driver's most important tools.

Can't find the pickup and dispatch is busy? Use your maps.

Keep your communication device with you while working and make sure you have reliable service.

That was good advice in 2014. It's even more important today.

III. Leave the Entourage at Home

The taxi is a workplace.

Drivers should not bring significant others, friends or other unauthorized passengers along for the shift. Customers are paying for professional transportation, not admission to your social life.

IV. Communicate With the Almighty

Suppose you have a passenger going from downtown to the beach.

After the drop-off, tell dispatch something simple:

“Clear on beach, headed downtown.”

When you reach downtown:

“Clear downtown.”

If you want to remain at the beach looking for another fare, that's fine too.

Just let the Almighty know.

V. A Call Accepted Is a Call Committed

When you accept a fare, you've made a commitment.

Don't abandon it because another fare suddenly looks more profitable. Customers depend on us showing up, and dispatch depends on drivers doing what they said they would do.

Failure to complete your quest may result in consequences of biblical proportion.

VI. Avoid the High Sins

Among the great taxi sins:

Sneaky. Greedy. Whiny.

Play fair with the other drivers.

Some shifts will be busy. Others will be painfully slow. When business is slow, don't simply complain to dispatch. Generate some business of your own.

Get to know customers. Provide good service. Become the driver they call again.

VII. Even Taxi Drivers Are Mortal

Nobody should drive forever.

We tried not to work more than about twelve hours in a day. Fatigue isn't good for the driver, the passenger or anybody sharing the road.

If one of your regular customers needs transportation while you're sleeping, work with another driver or have the customer call dispatch.

Being somebody's favorite driver doesn't require being awake 24 hours a day.

VIII. Thou Shalt Be Able to Take Payment

By 2014, Abraxi Taxi accepted credit cards, and drivers were encouraged to establish an account with services such as Square or Intuit.

Mobile payments were still evolving, but customers were already expecting alternatives to cash.

Taxi technology has changed enormously since then.

IX. Take Care of the Chariot

Pick up a clean cab and return a clean cab.

Check the vehicle's fluids and general condition regularly. If you notice dents, dings or damage before beginning your shift, report it and have it entered in the daily log.

That's not bureaucracy.

That's protection for the next driver—and for you.

X. The Final Commandment

Communicate. Be fair. Keep the cab clean. Take the fare you accepted. Treat passengers properly. Don't make dispatch hunt for you.

Do those things and you'll probably make more money.

Break enough commandments and you may discover that the dispatcher really does possess the power of God.

Abraxi Taxiom: The dispatcher is a god. Worship accordingly.

Saint Augustine taxi service

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A Level Playing Field for St. Augustine Taxi Companies

There was a time when traffic and safety checkpoints were fairly common around St. Augustine.

As a taxi driver, I didn't particularly enjoy them. Getting stopped while trying to make a living could be a pain in the butt.

But there was another side to those checkpoints.

They meant I needed to have my driver's license, insurance and whatever permits and documentation the city required for my taxi. Abraxi Taxi spent considerable money over the years maintaining commercial insurance and complying with local vehicle-for-hire requirements.

My argument then was pretty simple: if one taxi company has to follow the rules, competing companies should have to follow them too.

Commercial taxi insurance wasn't cheap. Neither were vehicles, maintenance and the other costs involved in operating a legitimate transportation business. When I believed competitors were operating without meeting the same requirements, I wasn't shy about complaining to the city.

Actually, “wasn't shy” may be putting it mildly.

I contacted city officials, kept records and eventually hired an attorney while considering remedies under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Then COVID arrived and changed the transportation business—and just about everything else—almost overnight.

Looking back, some of the language I used on the old Abraxi blog was considerably hotter than I would use today. At one point I suggested repeat offenders might be drawn and quartered and dragged behind St. Augustine's horse-drawn carriages.

For the historical record: that was sarcasm, not a proposed transportation policy.

But the principle behind all that anger hasn't changed much.

Competition is healthy. Small businesses should compete on service, reliability, price and reputation. And when government establishes rules for an industry, those rules should be understandable and applied consistently.

That's all I was really asking for.

It just took me quite a few more words—and considerably more profanity—to say it back then.

Abraxi Taxiom: If you make everybody play by the rules, make sure everybody is playing by the same rules.

Remembering St. Augustine's Celtic Festival and St. Patrick Parade

For many years, March meant a booming weekend in St. Augustine.

The St. Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival brought music, kilts, Highland Games, food and plenty of Celtic spirit to Francis Field. The St. Patrick Parade filled the streets of the historic district with spectators and made an already busy downtown even busier.

For a taxi driver, that meant traffic.

Lots of traffic.

My advice back then was to book a hotel, bring your dancing shoes and make your transportation plans before arriving. Parking around the parade and festival could be difficult, and thousands of visitors descending on streets designed centuries before the automobile made for some memorable weekends behind the wheel.

I also recommended a few favorite local watering holes, including Ann O'Malley's, Barley Republic, Meehan's Irish Pub and the St. George Tavern.

Sadly, this old blog post has now become a small piece of St. Augustine history.

After a 15-year run, organizers announced the end of the St. Augustine Celtic Music & Heritage Festival and St. Patrick Parade. For years these events brought musicians, Highland athletes, Celtic families and visitors from around the country to the Ancient City.

St. Augustine will continue to celebrate its many cultures and traditions, but those March weekends will be missed.

I'm glad Abraxi Taxi got to drive through some of them.

Abraxi Taxiom: When I park, I think up snark.