Is a Maxi a Taxi?
Yes. 'Maxi-taxi' is the full name. In other countries it would be called a mini-bus. The Oxford Dictionary defines a mini-bus as 'a small bus for about twelve passengers'.
Some forty odd years ago, so the story goes, public transportation in Trinidad and Tobago was a real mess. Concessions and monopolies were inefficiently run. So the government decided to license these mini-buses to private entrepreneurs.
To get around the law of the time, they declared the buses to be not buses at all, but taxis. The normal taxi was licensed for 4 or 6 passengers. These could transport much more. And so came to be the name !
Today the system is regulated and in fact forms an extension of the public transportation system. The Tobago House of Assembly has given financial aid to the Tobago Association, and they have been procuring a fleet of new vehicles. Out of sheer economic necesity, though, these would ply only the most travelled routes. These taxis are getting maxier, as larger vehicles come to be acquired. Some current ones could carry 25 passengers.
You could use them to get efficiently from one place to the other. They are faster than public busses because buses run only at appointed times. These operators are more flexible as to timing. The driver goes when ready.
From Maxis Return to Getting About
|
