those $2 taxis...

They're called "taxis"

They're called "taxis". Nothing else. When you mention it by name, to avoid confusion with the expensive taxis, you might want to say the "regular taxi" or the "$2 taxi".

On St.Thomas they are $1 and are called: dollar ride, or safari.

Chad, you can't miss them.

They are the (usually) white vans with a taxi sign on the roof and a taxi license plate, and make frequent stops to let passengers out in the middle of the road. (The passenger doors for the vans are on the right side of the vehicle, which drives in the left lane. The vans pull over as far as possible to the side of the road, but it still means you will need to watch for the occasional impatient driver who zips around the taxi instead of waiting for the riders to get out and get safely out of traffic.)

Oh, and from what we've seen, most of these taxis have some type of religious slogan on a front or rear mud flap, and a black and yellow bumper sticker that say,. "We support the {graphic of a vehicle} that support us!"

HC

There is a subtle difference (again here on St Thomas) between those that are $3. rides that take cruise ship passengers from town to Havensight and for more money on an island tour. They will NOT stop for you.

And speaking of stopping you need to 1. best bet is to be at a place where they normally stop to pickup passengers - any of the bus stop signed areas for example and 2. it doesn't hurt to signal.........which here is to raise your hand and point to the road next to ground or up the road in the direction you're going.

Here on St.Thomas they only run in a counter-clockwise route on the East End between Red Hook and Tutu Park Mall.................you need to ask when boarding if they are going to "town" if you want to go into Charlotte Amalie or "country" if you're trying to get to Red Hook from the mall.

At the Tutu Park Mall you soon learn that those going into town are headed west and stop across the road from the entrance to the mall, those that are going to country, stop on the curbside, also at the entrance to the mall.

HC, that bumper sticker you're talking about says "We support who support us". It's basically a message to senators saying that taxi drivers will vote for whoever has supported them while in office.

Thank you for the translation, Dominic! We kept trying to figure out if that image of the vehicle was part of the message or not. At one time we thought it could have been a message to other drivers ('we'll drive nice with you if you don't mess with us'), or perhaps a unity message by the drivers and the taxi owners ('we drivers support the employers that support us'). My hubby will be happy to hear that we have a definitive, informed answer!

HC