Subnostr

I’ve got a long layover in Barcelona and I was looking for a taxi to go in to the city. The signs all say AMB instead of Taxi. Apparently AMB is an acronym for the city administration which regulates the taxis, amongst other things.

But nobody knows this arriving at the airport who needs the taxis, because they aren’t locals who take the metro.

The solution is there are a ton of scruffy guys with taxi jackets who’s job is to tell people who are lost that they should follow the AMB signs. The funny thing is in airports everywhere else the sketchy guys pitching taxis are scam artists. Since Barcelona is famous for pickpockets and scammers, you’d think the city wouldn’t try and make things even more confusing.

I’m sure there is a story as to why they didn’t just put up a sign labeled Taxi. The paid guys are clearly a fix for broken UX.

hh 1y ago

I am from BCN and use the airport a lot more than I would like to.

The taxi signs at the arrival lobby in both terminals say "Taxi" and are conspicuous.

There is only one exit at the arrival lobby after baggage claim and it literally funnels you towards the public transport, taxi first and foremost.

It's impossible to miss the signs.

I do commiserate with you if you had to claim any checked in bags. It's one of the worst airports in the world in that department -- thanks to the centralized and politically motivated mismanagement from 600 km away, in Madrid.

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Discussion

rabble 1y ago

There are taxi signs but not as you get closer to point where you’d go down to the taxi level. Then they’re replaced with other signs and the creepy taxi guys.

hh 1y ago

Ah, you mean downstairs. Yes. For some reason recently they switched the queues and made a mess.

Used to be that the general public would use the right hand side ramp, directly to the taxi stand. Now they put a sign on that ramp for "reservations only" and make non-reservation people use the left one, and then turn around and walk right exactly to the same spot anyway. I can see how you would not turn around and walk to the wrong place.

But the creepy yellow vest people have always been there to herd the tourists. They were not added as a patch for the current mess 🤷🏻‍♂️