New Orleans requires drivers to go through classes and pass a test if they want to apply for an Airport Permit.
Philadelphia is ok in Center City, San Francisco wasn’t a problem. There are always plenty of cabs around in DC.
In San Francisco there are cabs where you’d expect them to be- near hotels, downtown, drinking spots. But few live in the city and expect to use cabs exclusively. There are too many areas where you wouldn’t be able to find one.
I think cost is also a factor. In NYC, cabs were generally cheap enough that with a small group it’d cost less than taking the subway. In other cities they tend to be a lot more expensive.
Regarding Cities where you commonly hail a cab, in my experience these are
- New York,
- Chicago,
- DC
- Las Vegas,
- New Orleans
This is just from my own experience. I haven’t spent much time in Philadelphia or Baltimore
I would put Boston and San Francisco in the “sometimes” category. Sure, there are cabs lined up outside hotels, and outside a club at closing time, but I lived in Boston for a year, and I’ve been to San Francisco a lot (and lived there for a summer once) and I recall only a handful of times that I took a cab in either city. Compare that, to say, New York or Chicago, where I wind up taking a cab several times every time I go there.
Regarding a test for knowledge, as other posters have noted, in both NY and Chicago I would say there is a WIDE variance in terms of knowledge of the city. Some drivers are experts. Others are barely competent. For whatever reason that has NOT been my experience in Vegas. Those drivers tend to be far more knowledgeable.
In Cincinnati, at least the last time I was living up that way, it was illegal for taxis to cruise for pickups. They had to be at specific cab stands outside hotels or by museums or theaters.
The law was passed because specific roaming taxis were offering prositutes in the back of the cab. They were being used at driving brothels.