Welcome to Latest Entry of Taxis in Accra...TOP CAB!

 It was bound to happen sooner rather than later: a new taxi service that would rival Gold Cab, which I have been patronising since 2006, when it broke out on the Ghanaian market.

Interesting thing, though, is that this taxi service has most of its employees coming directly from...Gold Cab!

The downs: No uniform; some 3GHC more expensive than Gold Cab; not all the drivers speak good English; they don't charge per half-hour, meaning ten minutes after an hour, you pay for TWO hours!; very little publicity yet

The upsides: you can ride discreetly in a car with private number plates (white), like GOLD CAB. Only thing is a passing glance might make others feel you're in a limousine BMW 5-series!!; the 15GHC, or roughly US$10.5 for a drop, and an hour, they charge is almost akin to regular  yellow-plated taxis; the car is spacious and more discreet than GOLD CAB's UK Cab, which is too conspicuous; you can pay at the end of the month when you patronise their services

So far, so very Chinese for a car! The Chinese are not coming; they're already here!

These guys at TOP CAB have a fleet of some 16 cars--all black-like "BRILLIANCE" cars.

Ghana's "Gold Cab" Service Gets a Face-Lift, UK-Style!

On February 26, I wrote on my ghana blog "Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen" of the entrance of British Black Cabs landing on the shores of Ghana to be used by the "Gold Cab" taxi service I have been patronising for 4 years now. You can see how it first started--as a white car in 2006. In any event, this is what I wrote in February:

For the past almost-four years, I have been patronising the services of "Gold Cab", located in the centre of town (Kokomlemle). Though I have never been to their head offices, they have always been a phone call away. They are useful because they can go where commercial vehicles are unable to go, because they have WHITE number plates, which are the preserve of private cars (unlike yellow ones that dominate the taxi landscape).

Only this week, their fares per hour went up from GHC10.00 to GHC12.00, which is, respectively, US$6.66 to US$8.00. Not bad per hour, considering normal taxis have now gravitated towards that amount.

What makes them even more special is the fact that the cars are all new, or fairly new (roughly 1-2 years old) and are all air-conditioned. They first started with this fiat in the captured picture in this post, went to TOYOTA YARIS (no funny thoughts, pls!!) some 12 months ago...and will now go to...the Black Cabs of the UK.

Two GOLD CAB drivers have confirmed independently that the British Black Cabs will not be as big as in the UK, and will be converted from right hand- to left-hand drive. Another driver told me yesterday that they are currently at the ports.

I seriously look forward to seeing a slice of British cabbies here in Ghana very soon! If you're ever tempted to patronise Gold Cab's services, let me know and I'll pass you the info. Frankly, their communication strategies are poor. Despite the fact that they have a fleet of some 25 cars (painted in inimitable GOLD), they do NOT have a website!

I am pleased to say that on Tuesday, I was able to finally get to use the British Black Cab-Turned-Gold Cab Ghana! Here are two shots of it. The first picture shows the front, and the second the side.


I found out today that Gold Cab does have a website; I look forward to knowing what it is!

If you're driving this weekend, keep safe--wherever you are!