All the taxis in Lagos are part of a co-operative which has a monopoly.
I know a young Portuguese man who works a second job as a local taxi driver at night and I offered to put his own number on my blog to help him get business. He said he was not allowed to privately tout for work and all business had to come through the co-op.
It is an absolute rip off. I live in Meia Praia and when I need to get a cab into or out of town, not only are the prices ridiculous but often the taxis will not come here as they don't make enough on it!
When I have to get an early morning train to Faro or Lisbon, I have to make sure I travel with a suitcase I can wheel to Meia Praia Halt as dragging it all the way to Lagos Station is not on.
Unfortunately,neither the local Camara nor the regional tourism authorities appear to be aware or want to be aware of a problem that causes a lot of hassles for tourists.
Liberalisation of the local taxi system would reduce prices, would reduce costs of getting to and from Faro Airport, and would create jobs.
Prices here are also crazy when compared to the prices of taxis in Lisbon.
There may be a case for referring the taxi price monopoly in Lagos and other towns throughout the EU with similar problems through to the competition authorities in Brussels but that's beyond my competence to say.
That's also why it is usually much more cost effective to hire a car at Faro Airport on arrival and drive to, from and around Lagos.
