How/What is the cab service in Austin? Good, bad, inconvenient? (Waco: leasing, house)

[NextstopAustin]

As someone who'll be moving there in August and living car-less (and Zip Car) free for a while, I can't believe I never asked about this.

I don't intend to indulge like I do in nyc but was hoping to rely on cabs for those initial trips set-up to Wal-Mart, Ikea, and those once-every-six-weeks mega grocery trips.

How is it? Reliable? Quick?

A town of Austin's size I'm assuming that it's a call-for-pick-up system?

Thanks for any info!

[CarnivalGal]

It's fairly reliable and relatively quick, but it is crazy expensive. It may even be cheaper to rent a car for one day a month to run errands.

[kiacook]

Agreed. Reliable and fast, but expensive.

[chuck_steak]

reliable, yet expensive. Renting a car on the weekend is the cheapest idea, beside taking the bus.

[centralaustinite]

For something like IKEA, you need to rent a car!

We use cabs quite a lot because my spouse travels extensively but we live central, downtown is less than a $10 cab drive away, the airport about $20. But to get to my house to IKEA? That would be 100 bucks, maybe more! (just one way)

You need Enterprise Leasing, they will pick you up (and drop you back off), and you can lease a car for $30-60 a day.

As far as cabs go, we rely on American Yellow cab.

[someguyatx]

You are the person with no drivers license aren't you? I highly suggest researching bikes with cargo racks and baskets. There are quite a few options out there that will be great for normal grocery store trips. Ikea and other furniture stores have delivery services.

[Trainwreck20]

One comment about cabs - you pretty much have to call a cab company, they don't generally just cruise around or hang out, except at a few select places (airport, maybe convention center?).

[RadioMite]

Hate using cabs in Austin... waaaay to expensive for a simple 'ride' somewhere.

[NextstopAustin]

This expensive thing is cause for concern. How expensive are we talking about here? Approximation for those who know; say North of UT to erm, HEB? Or Whole Foods?

Or just UT to downtown/6th street?

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

One comment about cabs - you pretty much have to call a cab company, they don't generally just cruise around or hang out, except at a few select places (airport, maybe convention center?).

Is there a main one people call all the time or a confluence of little ones and private companies? If so, which one is less likely to get robbed and dropped in Waco?

Originally Posted by someguyatx

You are the person with no drivers license aren't you?

Boy, how easy is it to get a reputation around here....

[centralaustinite]

Hands down the best cab company in Austin is American Yellow Cab, you can order service on line and even price a route ahead of time!
Yellow Cab Austin Taxi Service | Austin Taxi | Austin Airport Transportation

I see that they are just yellow cab now, American cab company bought out Yellow cab in Austin maybe 15 years ago, they used both names for a while.

You can play around with your fare options, a two mile, one-way ride from near UT to the Hancock HEB on Red River will run you about $7, or $14 round trip.

Yellow Cab Austin | Austin Taxi | Austin Airport Transportation