The above taxi is the most common mode of transportation in the USVI. Some are small like the one above, while others have 5 or even 6 rows of seats. Most are decorated up very colorfully. Many are airbrushed with pictures and portraits on the side and back - think pimp my Island Taxi type stuff. On St Thomas, there are Safari buses. These are just like the above but bigger with 6 rows that the seat 6 people in each row....side by side and at times practically sitting in your neighbors lap depending on the size of the people in your row. The Safari buses look just like the tourist taxis but Safari Buses are what the locals use and cruisers. Tourist taxis cost anywhere from $10 to $20+ per ride. Safari Buses $1 or $2 if you ride the entire line - thus cruisers use them!
 |
| Custom door - most jeeps were new, 4 door models |
The most common mode of transportation on St John Island (aside from tourist taxis) is the Jeep. They are everywhere. This makes a lot of since with the steep hills. There must be a dozen places to rent jeeps so the tourists not riding the tourist taxis were all roaming around St John Island in rented Jeeps - all the while trying to remember to drive on the left side of the road. This made all our walking on the roads very exciting and at times a tad scary. And yes, the US Virgin Islands are left hand driving. I read an attempt to change that several years ago was strongly put down by the taxi drivers association. Left hand driving intimidates some people enough that they won't rent cars and thus will need taxis.
 |
| We took this for our friends Wayne and Jan |
I was surprised by the lack of scooters and motorbikes. We have visited other islands (Bermuda) where the island is overrun with scooters but not the Virgin Islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment