I’m an American, generally chatty. With traditional cabs, it depends on my mood, my sense of whether the driver looks approachable, and whether I’m away from home and want to learn more about where I’m visiting.
When I travel with groups (which is fairly often), we usually have a hired car and I inevitably take the front. You learn a lot of interesting stuff that way.
Bolding mine.
This! All of it. Bolding, Exactly.
Over here (Paris) sitting in the front isn’t really an option unless there are enough passengers to fill up all seats. So, always back seat. I like it better anyway. Not a problem to chat, and you can always ask to push the front seat if you want more legroom.
Sydney. Male or female, don’t climb in the back if you’re travelling by yourself or the cabbie will be offended from the get-go.
Me either, except maybe when there are three or more passengers; the back seats of most sedans – even large ones – aren’t very comfortable for more than two people on account of the transmission housing that runs lengthwise along the floor of the interior. Just about all the taxis around here were ordinary four-door sedans for many years, well into the years when these had become less popular as private cars. In recent years I have been seeing quite a few minivans in service, as well as compact cars.
Here in L.A. (and elsewhere in the country I guess) the cabs do have distinctive coloring according to the company, e.g. Yellow, Bell, Taxi-Taxi!, etc., along with the usual hat. Lately I’ve noticed the odd taxi or two quietly biding its time parked on a residential street, obviously not on a call. I assume the drivers of these live nearby waiting for the call if their needed.
I took a taxi this morning (sat in the back), and I asked the driver his opinion on the matter. He said, essentially, “It’s all good. Front, back, whatever.” Los Angeles area.
Yeah. Every cab I’ve been in in LA was that way too, with the bulletproof glass between the front and back seats. It was weird leaving and seeing in some places (Chicago being among them) a cab is just a car with a light on top. But still, barrier or no barrier, you sit in the back. You can’t just sit in the front seat of a cab. That’s crazy. Australians are crazy.
Well, based on this thread, you’re going to have to add “And Germans. And some people in the UK. And some people in the US. And possibly some other people. Dammit, People are crazy.” And then we’ve only established the obvious! 
For some reason, I’m very amused by the fact that drivers in LA are being asked this question because of this thread. On the other hand, I’m generally very easily amused, so perhaps that’s not very surprising.
Here, even that isn’t true. The taxis do have stickers to indicate what company they belong to, but that’s about where the similarity ends. Brand, model, colour, interior - it’s all very varied.
Exactly! I had a great chat just this morning about the history of the airfield which was converted into a business park where I was staying - fascinating stuff. He’s a local and really knew his history.
I have generally taken my cue from the driver. Sometimes they have effectively (though maybe non-verbally) invited me to the front seat, other times the back. Both have their advantages. The front seat is better for leg room and view, but does not give you anywhere to put stuff you might be carrying, and gives less privacy. Probably drivers sometimes like to be able to use the front seat for their own stuff, and in a smaller, non-purpose-built car it can be a bit cramped because some of the taxi equipment (radio, meter, etc.) may encroach a bit into the front seat area. I suspect they often invite a passenger to the front seat because they feel like being chatty. That is not generally something I like, but some people might, and, anyway, it would be rude to refuse.
Uk, and I always sit in the back seat now. However, when I was younger (I’m 38) I remember that seeming kinda rude, unless it were a black cab. Something’s changed. With private-hire mini-cabs, a lot has changed - more regulation, for a start. Twenty years ago, in small towns, you had to specify if a five-seater-cab was necessary, and now they’re standard.
So back in the old days when some people drove three-door cars as mini-cabs, it was different.
To someone who asked before - mini-cabs here can be any car, with no paintwork necessary. These days they all have stickers in the window.
My limited experience in the US, the front seat was full of papers, logs of the driver and not available.
In Mexico I always open the front door, slide the seat back and sit down. The drivers like to converse and I have a better view. And the driver can pick up other fares along the route, which is common here.
In the States I’ve always sat in the back seat. In Scotland, however, I usually sat in the front, unless I was travelling with others and someone beat me to the front seat.
Front seat. I can more easily point to where I need to go from the front and it feels less classist. I can also get better airflow from the aircon which is sometimes important in the hotter parts of Australia.
From what I’ve seen of Scotland (outside Glasgow…) I’d sit in the front seat just for the view. Some stunningly beautiful scenery up there - it’s a dream of mine to take a couple of months one summer and just drive all over Scotland. Unlikely to happen any time soon, but still a dream.
The classist angle is certainly part of my logic - I hate the feeling of acting all high-and mighty with a “Home, James, and don’t spare the horsepower” attitude, but I hadn’t considered the air-con. One more good reason!