Taxi Drivers

Taxi Drivers are one of the pedestrians found in the GTA series. As the name implies, they are employed to drive Taxi Cabs around the cities and pick up fares.

The Taxi Drivers
Over the years of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the taxi and cabbie drivers have evolved considerably.

3D Universe
The taxi drivers in GTA III are Indian immigrants, who usually try to retrieve their taxi when it is stolen by the player. They are affiliated with the Mean Street Taxis.

In GTA Vice City, the taxi drivers are either of Puerto Rican or Cuban descent. After their taxi is stolen by the player, they will retrieve it back. There are two taxi drivers, one with with a red shirt, who usually drives their taxi on the streets, and the other with a blue shirt that only appears in The Pole Position Club and the Kaufman Cabs missions. The Taxi drivers driving the Taxi and Cabbie are affiliated with Vice City Cabs, while the ones driving Kaufman Cabs are affiliated with the Kaufman Cabs. They listen to VCPR and Radio Espantoso.

There are two taxi drivers per city in GTA San Andreas. In Los Santos, the first taxi driver is a Russian immigrant, while the second taxi driver is a Jamaican immigrant. In San Fierro, the first taxi driver is a Jamaican immigrant, while the second taxi driver is American. In Las Venturas, the first taxi driver is the same Jamaican taxi driver from Los Santos, though his jacket is blue instead of green and has different voice lines, while the second taxi driver is American. Sometimes, regardless of the city, the taxis may be driven by a generic African American pedestrian usually seen in other vehicles. The Jamaican taxi drivers listen to K-JAH West as their default radio station, while the other taxi drivers listen to WCTR instead.

Taxi drivers are very prone to becoming hostile if the player damages their car, exiting their car and retaliating with Fists, Golf Clubs or Shovels, or following the player at speed and ramming them if the player tries to drive off. This also applies when the player steals their taxi, but sometimes they may get in the back seat of the taxi without attacking the player. However, the generic African American taxi driver will always run away. They are affiliated with Sunnyside Taxis.

Like the GTA III version, the taxi drivers in GTA Liberty City Stories are Indian immigrants, but for some reason, they have the voice lines of an African American pedestrian. They listen to Radio Del Mundo, which is evident when the player steals their taxi. They are affiliated with Mean Street Taxis.

The taxi drivers in GTA Vice City Stories are either of Puerto Rican descent or of Cuban descent like the GTA Vice City, and they usually listen to VCPR and Radio Espantoso. They are affiliated with Vice City Cabs.

HD Universe
The taxi drivers in GTA IV are even ruder and more ill-tempered. Most of the cabbies are Greek (in Cerveza Heights and Chinatown, they will be Chinese; In Little Italy, they will be Italian), as indicated by the "Malaka!" (Asshole in Greek) or "Stupid Malaka!" insult they shout when you crash into them (a Greek term for "wanker"). If this occurs when a police officer is nearby, or if they are near a Police Cruiser, they will take immediate action, arresting the driver and taking them away. A rare taxicab driver is a young Russian woman who can be found around Hove Beach and Firefly Island. However she will not speak at all. The same taxi driver can have many different voices like it was another character, it can be easily noted when hopping in and out of a taxi as a passenger. Hispanic cabbies are more common around areas such as East Holland and South Bohan where they are likely to be Dominican or Puerto Rican. Just like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, some taxi drivers also like talk show radio stations, as sometimes when you enter the cab, it will play Integrity 2.0, PLR or WKTT. Some taxi drivers may listen to The Beat 102.7 and/or San Juan Sounds or any other radio stations. In GTA V all taxi drivers appear to be Mexican, and listen to East Los FM.

In the HD Universe, the players are able to use taxis to get to their predetermined location, and not having to drive there themselves, for of course, a fee. In GTA V it is possible to use a taxi as a passenger if pressing the car enter button, if the button is held, the character will jack the taxi. By jacking the vehicle, the character can become a taxi driver in the shape of Taxi Missions by pressing the appropriate button/key.

The Taxi drivers in GTA IV and GTA V won't care if the player pulls out a passenger and then gets in, but run away if the player shoots out the window. Note that the driver won't react if the player smashes the window by clicking the shoot button quickly.

If the player calls 911 and chooses the police after having fought with him, the driver will act like the player has shot him and crawl away and not fight them anymore.

Taxi drivers in the HD Universe are exceptionally reckless drivers, when hailing a cab they often swerve violently onto the sidewalk, hitting parked cars, knocking over things on the sidewalk, downing street lights and even hitting pedestrians.

In GTA V, Franklin is able to purchase Downtown Cab Co. depot, but even as an owner, sometimes it will be required to become a taxi driver for VIP customers.

If the player doesn't have enough money for the ride, the taxis in GTA IV will force the player out when the distance worth the money is reached. In GTA V and GTA Online, however, the taxi will take the player to the destination, but the player will then gain a 1-star wanted level. Also, in GTA Online, the player needs to have the money on hand when calling a cab; money in the bank account will not work.

In GTA V and GTA Online, the player will also gain a wanted level if they bail from the taxi during the journey, unless they ask the driver to stop first.

Trivia

 * In the beta release of Grand Theft Auto III, female taxi drivers can be seen.
 * In GTA IV, it is possible to get a free taxi ride by shooting out the window of the taxi when the player is near the destination, though this requires waiting through the whole drive.
 * After becoming more friendly with Roman Bellic, he will offer Niko a job driving taxis, or Niko can get a free ride from one of Roman's employees, Mohammed, unlocking the "Driving Mr. Bellic" achievement, though Mohammed is short tempered and constantly hurls insults at Niko, calling him a freeloader. He can be killed but will reappear.
 * The player can ask the taxi driver to change the radio station. The player can also change the destination but it may cost more.
 * Getting a lift from one island to another without skipping will unlock the "It'll Cost Ya" achievement/trophy.
 * If the player has a wanted level and is being chased by a cop on foot while in a vehicle, sometimes the cop enters a cab. If the input the wanted down cheat is entered, the cop will still be driving the cab, and will function as a normal cab driver.
 * Very rarely in GTA IV, one of the taxi driver models may be a woman. This woman will never speak, however, meaning that female taxi drivers were originally going to be in the game, but were not completely cut from development. This has been more commonly seen in Hove Beach.
 * In GTA IV, Taxi Drivers will usually attack the player if he/she attacks the taxi drivers' Taxi. However, in GTA V, taxi drivers will almost always run away.
 * The most common Taxi Driver in GTA IV is a man with grey hair with various accents. He can be seen throughout Liberty City and is always hostile if his Taxi is struck but will flee if the player pulls out a gun.
 * One of the taxi drivers in GTA IV may say "This it Niko Bellic, we're here.", when arriving to the destination, despite the fact that Niko never says his name to taxi drivers. The same taxi driver can also say this to Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez.