Like most big cities in the world, it’s cheaper to get around Mexico City in someone else’s car than your own. Not owning a car means no payments, no maintenance, no insurance, and no fuel or parking expenses. From my perspective, saving $10,000 per year on auto expenses is the same as earning an extra $10,000 per year.
Mexico City Metro
Mexico is both easy and cheap to get around. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the Mexico City metro system as the cheapest and fastest way to get around Mexico. For about 25 cents you can take the Metro from one end of town to the other. There’s even a connection to a 5 mile long cable car metro.
The Metro is not for everyone and definitely not the best option if you’re carrying luggage, though there is an airport stop. The Metro can be extremely crowded to the point where all parts of your body are in contact with everyone around you as they try to squeeze one more person in. Fortunately, the first two cars on the Metro are exclusively for women and children.
Uber in Mexico City
If the Metro is not for you, I recommend Uber. During non-surge pricing times, they are about the same cost as a taxi. The two biggest benefits for taking Uber are directions and payment. For those who can’t speak Spanish or can’t tell the driver where they’re going, Uber works great because the driver is sent your pick up and drop off locations when you make the request. The other benefit is payment. With Uber, the payment is handled by the app, and you don’t have to deal with a driver who doesn’t have change.
Didi in Mexico
The Mexican alternative to Uber is called Didi. It’s basically the same as Uber except you pay the driver in cash (pesos). Because I don’t want to deal with cash with drivers, I don’t care for this option. People have always told me that Didi is cheaper, but I have not once found that to be the case. I think the only thing that makes it better is that the driver gets a bigger percentage of the fare. While that’s convenient for the driver, it’s not enough of a reason to inconvenience myself.
Mexico City by taxi
The last option worth mentioning is a taxi. There is always the difficulty of trying to explain where I want to go and, of course, I have to have exact change. Another challenge with a taxi can be price. A lot of drivers will quote you high and may haggle with you a bit, which can be fun or annoying based on how much you like negotiating. While you may be quoted higher than a local or fluent Spanish speaker, Uber can also take advantage of you when it applies surge pricing. That’s not a problem I have with taxis. If they aren’t metered, they tend to be the same price regardless of demand.
If I open my Uber app and notice that prices are unusually inflated at that moment, I’ll often opt for a taxi. Surge pricing with Uber happens when the demand exceeds supply. Unless there is a major event happening, there should always be plenty of taxis available in Mexico. I’ve requested an Uber only to be told it was a 20 minute wait. If I see that taxis are readily available, I’ll cancel my Uber request and take a taxi.
Like most cash transactions in Mexico, having the right change is really important. A surprising number of cab drivers claim to not have the right change when I hand them payment. If I expect this to be a problem in advance, like when I only have a 500 peso bill, I may ask the driver initially if he has the change.
The change game can be played both ways, however. There have been times when I know drivers over quoted me so I may hand them a 500, knowing that they can’t make change. When they ask me if I have anything smaller, I will show them the amount of pesos that is closer to what the actual fare should be. More often than not, they’ll take it, which indicates to me they were overcharging me to begin with.
Restricted service areas for Uber
So for me, the choice comes down to Uber or a taxi, and I will choose Uber for my convenience, as long as they aren’t applying surge pricing. Uber is available in many cities in Mexico, however, there are times that they are not allowed to service the area that you’re in. Mexico’s strong taxi unions generally prevent Ubers from picking up at the airport terminal or bus stations, but you can often walk just a short distance to get out of the restricted zone in order to catch an Uber.
Sometimes, it pays to do this for taxis as well. Only taxi drivers who pay for airport access may have access to the front door of the terminal, and they typically pass that cost on to you. By walking outside the restricted zone, you can also get more reasonable prices for a taxi.
While car services are typically restricted from picking up at airports and bus stations, they can usually drop you off at the terminal without any problem. This means when you’re leaving town, you can use Uber to get you to the airport or bus station. They just try to stay low key so as not to be cited by airport police.
The bait and switch
In Mazatlan and Cuernavaca, I’ve fallen victim to the bait and switch by Uber drivers. They’ll accept your request, at what seems like a great price, and then they’ll show up or send you a text and claim that they can’t do it for that price.
Whether or not this is true, you are left to figure out whether it’s worth negotiating price with them. I usually know about how much it should cost, so if we can come up with something agreeable, I’ll agree to it. I’ve always been able to come up with something both reasonable to me and the driver.
At the end of the day, the most important thing to share about Uber, Didi, and taxis in Mexico is that they are all cheap by U.S. standards. I’ve gone all the way across Mexico city, in traffic, for $7.50. No matter what you pay, it’s always going to be cheaper and safer than trying to drive yourself.
A note about safety
While gringos love to share legendary stories about someone they heard of being robbed or kidnapped, I have never had an issue with a taxi. If you want to be sure that you’re safe, I recommend booking a taxi through the authorized taxi vendors at the airport or bus station. And when you’re going around town, flag down the nicer taxis. They may cost more, but they tend to be less fly by the seat of their pants on pricing and routes.