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