The new voucher system will allow passengers and airport guests to choose taxi rides at a predetermined and standardized price, regardless of the time spent on the road and the number of kilometers driven – thus avoiding any potential 'scalping' or other dubious activity on the part of the driver.
However, passengers can only use the vouchers in taxis of the carriers that have received special license cards to operate on airport territory — "XTaxi" and "TaksiLV". These taxis are located on the first rank at the exit of the arrivals terminal. Vouchers cannot be used as payment with other carriers' vehicles.
Before the ride, passengers should present the voucher to the taxi driver, who will validate it. The voucher is valid for one ride from the airport to any destination within the voucher zone – which includes many of the most popular hotels for tourists. If the final destination of the ride is further outside the voucher zone, the passenger pays for the onward ride in the usual way, using the taxi meter.
It is expected that the majority of users of the voucher service will be international guests, such as tourists or business travellers, for whom the taxi service will be purchased in advance by the hosting party.
Roughly, the zone covered includes the territory between Krišjāņa Valdemāra, Skanstes, Lāčplēša and Valmieras Streets to Tallinas Street across a broad swath of the center of the capital, as well as the territory from Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve to Kurzemes prospekts in Pārdaugava. See the attachment to this story to see the exact zone.
The RIX Riga Airport Visitor Center is located in Arrivals Hall E. The price of one voucher is not particularly cheap at 33 euros and 50 cents. The distance from Rīga Airport to the Freedom Monument in the city center is about 10 kilometers. Taking the Number 22 bus from the airport to the same destination will cost you a mere 1.81 euros (more details here).
It is not possible to use the voucher partially or repeatedly and the validity period of the purchased voucher is three months from the moment of purchase. In the future, it will be possible to purchase vouchers on the Airport's e-commerce platform – but not yet.
