Calling a taxi in Costa Rica (San José) is being made easier, through three apps users can now bypass the need to call an operator that will then dispatch a taxi. And eliminates the need to provide an address, which as well know are non-existent in Costa Rica.
Using their smartphones and connecting to either Didi, SayTaxi or CR Taxi, users can now connect to a network that will dispatch a taxi, knowing the your address by way of the smartphone’s GPS and check if and when the taxi will arrive.
Gone is the constant need to be on the lookout for the taxi or listening for the beeping horn. Gone is the need to spend minutes describing your location: from the corner, ten paces in one direction, two steps back, hop on one leg, point to the moon and the colour of the grass under your feet (OK, I am overdoing it a bit, but you get the point).
The apps are free for download to iOS devices (Apple) and Android (all others).
According to Didi, some 300 taxis are connected to their network with some 27.000 downloads. We weren’t able to find out the numbers for Stay and CR taxi.
For now the service is only available in the Gran Área Metropolitana (GAM) – greater metropolitan area of San José.
There is no cost to use the service, the cost of the taxi fare is the same.
What makes the apps a favourite for foreigners, in particular from North America, is no language barrier. No operator who doesn’t speak English to talk to.
