They're cheaper ?

Well, not really.

I spent a few years driving a maxi-taxi (a minibus converted to carry wheelchairs), and still occasionally drive one. On taxi ranks -- especially at night -- these eight-foot-tall, 20-foot-long taxis can be invisible as people walk straight past them and get into the sedan that's ranked behind them.

I was second on the Albert Street rank, right behind a maxi, last night when a young Malay Chinese student walked straight past the maxi and got into my cab. I thought about sending her up to the maxi, but it had been a quiet night and it was 40 minutes since my last passenger, so I decided to take her to her Kangaroo Point destination instead (just over a $10 fare).

But I had to say this when we got to Kangaroo Point:

"I saw you walked past the maxi back in the city."

"Yes" (she said).

"Do you know they're cheaper than sedans?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, their meters run a little bit slower, and you'd have saved about 50 cents on this trip."

All bullshit, of course, but she wasn't to know that.

I reckon she'll look for the maxi-taxis on the rank next time. :)