Melbourne taxis are numerous and easy to spot – they are all uniformly yellow. As well, drivers must always wear a neat uniform and have an identity card on show at all times.

Hailing a cab
Cabs often wait in designated ranks that are clearly signposted at central locations like major hotels in the CBD, or busy spots such as Flinders Street Station. You can also hail a taxi in the street – if the rooftop light is illuminated, it means the taxi is available for hire – or book a taxi by telephone. Outside Melbourne, taxis widely operate in Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, with additional cabs at country towns throughout the rest of the state.

Taxi totems
Melbourne has recently launched a number of ‘taxi totems’ around the city and in some regional centres, which will be lit and will make it easier to hail cabs and for cabs to notice you. The totems will feature your location name and the nearest cross street, a list of local taxi services and booking numbers  including numbers for wheelchair accessible taxis and connections to train, tram and bus services where relevant.

Fares and surcharges
Taxi meters are usually clearly visible, so you can keep check of your fare. Late night taxi trips must be paid for in advance. Between 10pm and 5am in Victoria, the driver will ask you for an up-front deposit, based on a table of point to point estimates. You can use the fare estimator to work out what your up-front costs are likely to be. Melbourne cabs attract additional charges like a late night surcharge from midnight to 5am, a fee for phone bookings, a fee for using the Citylink freeway and even a fee for taxis waiting at the airport rank.

Melbourne’s major taxi companies include:

• 13 CABS (13 22 27 – within Australia only)
• Arrow (13 22 11 – within Australia only)
• Embassy Taxis (13 17 55 – within Australia only)
• Silver Top Taxis (13 10 08 – within Australia only)