A taxi driver told me once, that there are over 13,000 taxi's in Kuala Lumpur. They all have meters, but sometimes
there are not used. Before you hop into a taxi, you better deal about the fare. On Penang most of the taxi's don't have meters and if they have, they won't use them. For us, tourists, that's bad, because you have to deal
about the fare. Taxi's in KL and Penang are air-conditioned. My advice: don't get into the taxi before you have seen the meter and when it's not running ask him to put it on ......... or deal about thefare! Coming for the first time to Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, you can buy a taxi ticket at a counter when you have passed the
customs. You mention the name of your hotel and you pay for the ticket (coupon), with the name of your hotel on it. Outside the arrival hall there are
taxi's waiting for you to bring you to the right hotel. Here's no dealing about the fare Generally, city taxis in KL use the meter system but at some places such as the airport, KL Sentral and KL Tower they use the coupon system.
If you're taking the ERL high speed train to the city center, you can buy a taxi coupon at the KL Sentral station counter just as you come out of the barriers. Flying to Penang there's at the arrival hall a big sign, telling you the fares you have to pay to your hotel. Here you can also buy a ticket for a
taxi at a counter. Here's also no dealing about the fare.
The sign at Bayan Lepas (Penang
If you want to take a taxi out of Kuala Lumpur to another state, go to thePudu Sentral Bus Terminal on Jalan Pudu (Level 2). Fares are negotiable, depending on distance. But the taxi won't leave the terminal until it has four passengers. Malaysians use this service only at
peak travel periods, so you could be waiting for some time for a cab to fill up. You can, however, pay a fee equivalent to a full load. Full load fares are (approx.) RM180 to the Cameron
Highlands, RM200 to the city of Malacca, R350 to Johor Bahru, and RM350 to Penang and to Kuantan. The terminal is open 24 hours.
City taxis are metered and yellow and black colour or the new red and white colour. Flag fall is RM 3.00 for the first
two kilometers and RM1.15 for every km there after. There is no extra cost for air-conditioned taxis, but there is a 50 % surcharge on the fare from
midnight to 6 am. Some taxi drivers use the regular fixed price from RM 15.00 to RM 20.00.
Your best bet is to get the bell boy of your hotel to call you a taxi. He will give you an idea what the fare will
be. Note that this only applies in Kuala Lumpur. In the rest of the country you will find queues of taxis willing to take you most places,
although the standard of driving is not perhaps suited to the hotels timid of heart.
This blue taxi is an executive taxi. They are standing at the hotels and are mostly driving to the airport. It's a large taxi. You can
also hire them for a trip in Kuala Lumpur, but they are more expensive than other taxi's. These taxis use a meter without asking, however the prices are higher. The meter is starting at RM6.
