You think taxis are expensive in Qatar

Actually you hit the nail on the head here, I ordered a limousine the other day to take from A -B and gave the central exact  information on how to get to my home which is comparitively easy if you know that all other streets are blocked.

However, the central office gave the driver other instructions and to take a road that is under construction which helped the driver to arrive over an hour late because he could not find the street. lol.

Very very very expensive.

Thats why i took the bus most of the time..

It is benz bus anywayz.

Never go younger by a month, a hard bod is no substitute for wisdom.

Speakers's wife & Taxi Bills.....

The lady must have put in fake expense bills to lower her tax payment. 

You mean to imply the Speakers wife cannot afford  a car or driver 

for her car (if she doesnt drive)?

AS for Karwa, an average Taxi runs about 10,000Kms a month. If you consider

milage of 10Kms per litre then the vehicle consumes 1000 Ltrs of Petrol. (Usually a Karwa vehicle runs 24 hrs so the Kms should be around 15,000kms)

1000Ltrs of Petrol in Qatar = QR850 (@ Qr0.85/Ltr)

1000Ltrs pf Petrol in India = QR5,500 (@ QR5.5/Ltr) 

Now convert 1000Ltrs into your home cost of petrol and check out how cheap Karwa should have been.  (For Karwa the only thing costlier here is the Rent of land.....NOTHING ELSE). They even have their own workshop for maintainence & servicing. So the Regular Oil+Filter change for every 5,000

Kms would cost Qr 50 for Karwa while for most of the regular cars it would QR150 (at a local workshop) & Qr 200-300 at the Service Centre.

As for the Drivers - They PRETEND not to know the way.  So they can keep the passenger in the car as long as possible & keep the meter running.

They are just meat in the sandwhich. You know, almost every taxi driver i have chatted to has left his country, family and life just to send money to their family for survival.  I chatted to one today who has been here for three years with two kids that he hasnt seen. What a huge sacrifice and it breaks my heart....Not to mention driving on Qatar roads and the potential for accidents...

Your right Alexa its an issue with the company for not providing training

Yeah, I just wish that they were better trained and more reliable.  When you reserve a cab for 7 it should be there at seven, not 8:15.  What's up with the private limos?  It used to cost 50qr to come home from the Sheraton, in move they all went up to 75qr.  Anyone have any news on the alleged monorail system?

Actually i dont mind the taxis here, they are very cheap compared to Australia, and i find the drivers very helpful and friendly and always give

them 5 riyals tips(as i found out that most are very low paid here and tips are what they survive on) but Alexas comments is spot on, most have no idea where you are going and this is very hard for a newcomber to the country who isnt familair with the streets. What ever happened to taxi drivers with street directories or poss naviagation systems.

If they are providing a taxi service they should have tools to ensure they know where to go when given an address...

Certainly, they are too expensive, comparing the kinda service they provide.

Doha is a small place, The meter starts at QR.4 and the increments are also too very quick, i.e. meter runs faster than the taxies!!

It increments for very short intervals. As the city is small, for the starting fair of QR.4, the taxi should at least travel for 2 kms, before the meter starts ticking on.

The driving is hilareous, the drivers not friendly very often, the waly-talky sets in the taxies are irritating, drivers prefer to listen to the music/radio of their choice, than the passangers.

Upon all this, if you don't have exact change to pay, then you loose few extra riyals everyday, which adds on to your monthly expenses, as no driver has the change or even if it is available, it is taken for granted that your bill will be rounded off to drivers benefit!

Hope it improves soon!

^^LiVE LiFE!^^