KEY POINTS:
Two cash-strapped reporters are pleasantly surprised by the helpful courtesy they experience out in the city
Chivalry is alive and well among Auckland taxi drivers, an undercover operation by the Weekend Herald has discovered.
This week, a woman wrote to the Herald complaining about a taxi driver who she said had dropped her off two roads short of her house late on Saturday night because she didn't have enough money to get the whole way home.
The Weekend Herald decided to test - in a somewhat unscientific manner - some of Auckland's taxi drivers to see whether they would go an extra block or two after the customer's money ran out.
This reporter, who is 23 weeks pregnant, caught five random taxis this week during daylight hours and was pleasantly surprised with the findings.
I told the taxi drivers I had only $10 and asked them to take me as far as my money would go towards the specified destination.
Getting to the destination would cost slightly more than $10, and the plan was to ask to be taken a couple of blocks further once the $10 had run out.
The first taxi company was Reliable Cabs, which passed with flying colours.
My $10 ran out on a hill a few hundred metres short of my destination of Ponsonby Rd, but the taxi driver - without any prompting - offered to take me all the way.
The second company, Auckland Co-operative Taxis, also passed with flying colours.
The taxi driver took me right to my destination of Britomart. The fare was $14.40, but he accepted the $10 and farewelled me with, "Have a nice day".
Feeling good about the kindness of strangers, I approached a Budget Taxis cab.
But the driver refused to transport me after I told him I had only $10 and he would have to stop when the meter reached that sum.
I waddled down to a National Cabs taxi, who took me a couple of blocks further after my $10 ran out on Ponsonby Rd.
My last taxi ride was from near Ponsonby Rd to lower Queen St. I caught another Auckland Co-operative Taxis cab.
The driver suggested I take a bus, which would cost only $1, but agreed to take me as far as my $10 would go.
Part-way down Queen St, he got a call to go to a job at Auckland Airport, so dropped me on Queen St for free.
But would the taxi drivers pass the test at night with a non-pregnant customer? Herald reporter Alanah May Eriksen put them to the test, with top results.
She caught a NZ Black Cabs taxi on Queen St and asked the driver to take her towards Ponsonby and let her know when the bill reached $10.
It did that as the taxi turned on to Ponsonby Rd, but the driver offered to keep going along the street to where she said she was meeting a friend outside a bar.
The driver seemed worried, as it was past 10pm and said: "Are you sure this is where you're meeting them?" She handed over her $10 for the $12 ride.
She then picked up a Summit Taxi and asked the driver to go towards Britomart.
When the fare reached $10 near the Auckland Viaduct, the driver told her not to worry.
"You will be all right with $10, I won't charge you. You are a good person."
OUR RATINGS
* Thumbs up:
Reliable Cabs.
Auckland Co-operative Taxis.
National Cabs.
NZ Black Cabs.
Summit Taxis
* Thumbs down:
Budget Taxis.
