Taxi! Next Time you call for “petit Taxi” in Casablanca, don’t be surprised to be told where to GO! Petit Taxi or Small Cabs (red cars) in Casablanca continue to pick and chose who they want to serve. The private network of these cabs or so called Petit Taxi (stands for small cab in french) provide a vital role for residents and tourists, this is the preferred method to travel within Casablanca if you don’t have the time or the energy to muscle your way into a public bus.

The way this work is the same as in any other town in the world, you wave them in, you tell them the destination and voila! They supposed to take you to your destination, you pay the rate on the visible meter inside the cab! But not so fast! The Can drivers in Casablanca are now discriminating and refuse to do what they are supposed to do but:

• They refuse to serve groups of two or more, they rather pick singles to maximize revenue.
• They charge for luggage and carry on, this is against the law.
• They refuse to take to “your destination” they tell you where “they are going”
• They refuse to serve over weight people.

Eye witness from casablanca report that the situation is getting out of control, these cab drivers know they are violating the law but the public is too busy and under educated to push for reform. ” I waited for hours on the side of the road, I waived multiple Taxi’s and nobody wants to take me to my destination. I was willing to pay them my cab fair but they look me in the eye and say, I am not going there!” States Mrs Lahmoune from Sidi Moumen. One otion they have is to involve the local police but that is not a guaranteed resolution. Local Moroccan Police are not known to be fair to the public and easily influenced by briberry.

We hope that exposing this new phenomenon to the public and local authorities that it will lead to fast resolution. The industry is governed by local Police and transportation industry, the situation is clearly driven by greed and public ignorance of the law. His majesty Mohammed VI is making great stride in turning Morocco into a democracy but thugs like these cab drivers are sucking the life out of hard working people.

Please help the Casablanca residents fix this vital transportation issue by simply enforcing the law and calling on the Ministry to look into the issue.