Trams, taxis, and bikes

Tram Tricks
Don’t buy your tickets on the tram and pay the full price of €1,60. The day pass (€7), although convenient, is also a bad deal. A Strip ticket (strippen-kaart), at €6,90 for 15 strips (most trips require two strips), means rides cost 90 cents for most trips. This includes an hour of free transferring and everyone can share the same ticket. Buy the strip ticket at Albert Heijn grocery stores and news stands. Board near the back of the tram with the conductor. On tram 5, use any door and stamp your ticket in the yellow machine.

Inexpensive sightseeing: Try the quirky Stop/Go. This eight seat bus bounces along the beautiful Prinsen-gracht every 12 minutes in both directions (unless it is detouring around deliveries and construction). Hail the short bus anywhere on the route and pay only €1 cash (or two strips). The complete ride takes 30 minutes from Waterloo-plein/Stopera to Central Station. It’s great for sightseeing in bad weather and for meeting Amsterdam’s elderly. Daily 9:00 to 5:30.

Taxis
Taxi liberalization has been a mixed success. On one hand, there is no shortage of cabs any more, but too many taxis mean drivers don’t make enough money. The less scrupulous ones try to maximize the fares from these fewer riders by any means necessary.

TCA cabs (tel: 777 7777) are the most reputable. At a TCA-less taxi stand, pick the nicest car. The better the car -- usually -- the more reliable the driver. Get ready for sticker shock. You pay €7,50 to step into an Amsterdam cab (gasp!), but that includes the first 2km of travel and the meter never moves in traffic. If you want to “just run in” somewhere, you have to negotiate a waiting fee with the driver. 50 cents a minute is standard.

One final quirk is not all cabs have a permit to ride on the tram tracks, which is essential during rush hour. Look for the permit on their dashboard; it is a card with writing and traffic signs. All TCA taxis have this permit. At the Airport don’t just pick the first taxi in line, but choose a branded taxi. In addition to a better ride, you reduce your chance of being ripped off by a fly-by-night operator. Look for (or ask) if they have that permit to ride on the tram tracks in rush hour. Although you don’t pay to sit in traffic any more, why spend another 10-15 minutes on the Overtoom if you don’t have to? The fare should be around €40.

Bike Taxi
A fun (but bumpy) way to get around. Price is negotiable and interesting
conversation is included! 0628 247 550

Get on the Bike Path!

Here is the best advice in this paper: Rent a bike (fiets) and explore on your own. It’s more fun than taking the trams and it beats walking. The beautiful countryside filled with windmills really exists and is only 30 minutes out of town by bike.

We recommend Mike’s Bikes, a fun, reliable company that rents mostly incognito bikes (€7 a day + €3 for optional theft insurance) (622 7970, Kerkstraat 134). They also give daily tours of the city and surrounding areas (March-Nov). Call for times.

Thanks to a police crackdown, higher fines, and a gradual shift in attitudes, there are fewer junkies selling stolen bikes on the street. Despite the bad karma, however, many young people still buy their bikes this way for about €15. This leads to the Amsterdam paradox of complaining your bike was stolen, but you’re most unhappy about “losing a €50 lock.”

If you see a shady-looking type peddling slowly by, it’s a good bet he’s trying to unload his bike. If he asks you “Fiets?” you can be sure he’s not proposing an ecologically friendly solution to Amsterdam’s traffic problem.

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