Hailing a cab in downtown / uptown dallas (Plano, McKinney: how much, hotels)

[sneha_manohar]

How easy is it to simply hail a cab off the street from, say, Ross and Lamar to go short distances - such as McKinney Avenue, etc. Is it like Manhattan or other cities where one can simply go on the street and find a cab within a few minutes?

Do taxi 'call' companies do short-distances such as just a couple of miles? Say from downtown Dallas to Uptown Dallas, such as to a restaurant, etc?

Thanks for your help

[Dallas native]

Taxis in Dallas are not nearly as plentiful as in NYC. However, they are not hard to catch if you are near one of the hotels in Downtown or Uptown. I just keep the number for Yellow Cab on my cell phone and call them whenever I need a cab. Sure, they'll take you short distances.

[FarNorthDallas]

There are cabs downtown. They line up in front of the hotels and high rises. I don't know if I have ever seen one hail a cab in the street like you do in NYC. Usually you are coming out of a building or a hotel and they are just lined up out front.

There is also a free trolly that goes from downtown starting near St. Paul and Ross that travels into Uptown.

[sneha_manohar]

Thank you...

do cabs even take you further - to places like Walmart, etc? How much would it approximately cost to go from Downtown or Uptown Dallas to one of those large 'malls' - to shop for both groceries/house-hold items/clothes/etc?

Also...If one was having dinner at a restaurant somewhere and wanted to take a cab back from Uptown to Downtown - can cabs be called on such short notice? Or do they need to be reserved in advance? I'm just trying to see whether I can still have a night life of sorts without having a car in Dallas....

[vseale]

Sure, they'll take you anywhere in the metroplex.

You should be able to ride the trolley to the Albertson's grocery store on McKinney.

BUT, I'd get a DART pass and ride the train to North Park. There's a shuttle that runs from the Park Lane station to the mall, I think it's every 15 minutes. Check out the DART website for places to visit - Dallas zoo, White Rock Lake, Freye's in Plano (yeah, I'm a geek). You can even catch the TRE to go to downtown Ft. Worth on weekends.

You will want to get a car as soon as possible. I LOVE CarMax. Even if you buy somewhere else they're website is great for checking out prices.

Welcome to Dallas!

[pepper131]

You can call the cab company for a cab anytime. Have some numbers handy. You may even find a cabbie you like and get his number exclusively.

There's a Target right at Cityplace (Lemmon/Haskell at I-75/Central) where you should be able to find what you need. And an Albertson's on McKinney at Lemmon.

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by sneha_manohar

Thank you...

do cabs even take you further - to places like Walmart, etc? How much would it approximately cost to go from Downtown or Uptown Dallas to one of those large 'malls' - to shop for both groceries/house-hold items/clothes/etc?

Also...If one was having dinner at a restaurant somewhere and wanted to take a cab back from Uptown to Downtown - can cabs be called on such short notice? Or do they need to be reserved in advance? I'm just trying to see whether I can still have a night life of sorts without having a car in Dallas....

Yes, cabs will take you anywhere. It would probably be at least $20 to go from Uptown/Downtown to NorthPark Mall. I would take the DART rail line instead. It's quicker and cheaper. I called a cab on Sunday afternoon to my busy 'hood and it took about 20 minutes to arrive. That might have been due to the fact that it was a holiday. It usually only takes about 5 minutes for a cab to get to my house. Anyway, I took the cab about 2 miles from home and the total with tip was $8. Cheaper than a DUI.

I notice that you put quotations marks around the word mall. If that means you are not a fan of malls, I completely understand. However, NorthPark is more of a temple of retail. It is the classiest "mall" I have ever been too. It's quietly elegant with quite a bit of art work (it was developed by the late Raymond Nasher, who gave the Dallas Arts District the Nasher Sculpture Center several years ago). If you need to go to a mall, that is the ONLY one to consider IMO. They also have quite a few good restaurants there and a 15 screen AMC theatre. http://www.northparkcenter.com/index.html

[Bostonian08]

I was shocked by how poor dallas's cab system is. I called two cab companies to try to get a cab at Baylor University Medical Center. The dumbass operator asked me what was the address. I said I don't know what the address is here - it's Baylor University Medical Center - the biggest Medical Center in town? Perhaps you've heard of it? Sorry sir I need and address. So I'm new in town, grudgingly I walk over to the street corner (11pm) and find the street sign - I call back - it's on Gaston Ave at the corner of Washington. What's the street address? I need a street address. Good lord, this dimwit can't do anything except punch numbers into a GPS! What do I got to do, walk around thew whole campus to find a number on the building? I said I don't know the address. She said ok well then call back when you know where you are. I said yeah right. I'll call someone else who knows what they're doing!

So I call another cab company. Voice mail!?? Good lord.

Just make sure you google the address of NorthPark Mall before you go there. Otherwise, you may never get home!

Fares are here:

Dallas Yellow Cab

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

I was shocked by how poor dallas's cab system is. I called two cab companies to try to get a cab at Baylor University Medical Center. The dumbass operator asked me what was the address. I said I don't know what the address is here - it's Baylor University Medical Center - the biggest Medical Center in town? Perhaps you've heard of it? Sorry sir I need and address. So I'm new in town, grudgingly I walk over to the street corner (11pm) and find the street sign - I call back - it's on Gaston Ave at the corner of Washington. What's the street address? I need a street address. Good lord, this dimwit can't do anything except punch numbers into a GPS! What do I got to do, walk around thew whole campus to find a number on the building? I said I don't know the address. She said ok well then call back when you know where you are. I said yeah right. I'll call someone else who knows what they're doing!

So I call another cab company. Voice mail!?? Good lord.

Just make sure you google the address of NorthPark Mall before you go there. Otherwise, you may never get home!

Fares are here:

Dallas Yellow Cab

Because Baylor Medical Center is so big, they probably needed to know the address for the specific entrance at which you were waiting. Anyway, the quality of the cab drivers that I have had here has been consistently disappointing. The one I took on Sunday told me he needed to stop for gas about 2 blocks after I got in the cab. Then I had to give him directions to where I was going. I told him to go left, so he got in the right lane. I kept telling him to turn left and he kept staying in the right hand lane. Finally, I pointed left and he got it. He was obviously foreign and not well versed with Dallas streets. Once I had a driver take me to Love Field early in the morning and he kept closing his eyes and almost falling asleep. It's never boring! But, I've had similar problems in other cities as well.

[pepper131]

I ALWAYS have to tell cab drivers where to go. I know how to get around Dallas much better than they do...especially if going to DFW from East Dallas - they want to go into the canyon and then mixmaster. I have to lead them around all of that. Now I drive myself to the airport.