2 December 2007

Hitchhiking in the ACT - better than Taxis?

| simbo
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Last night, was driving towards Civic after dropping some friends off in Kingston, when happened across three young men walking along the bit where Wentworth Avenue turns into Bowen drive (map 69 , grid L15 for those of you playing along with the Yellow Pages)

As I was in a good mood, I decided to pick ’em up. My good mood was sustained enough to drive them out to Watson, on the basis that I wasn’t really in a hurry to get back to Civic.

Even better, the three young guys gave me $5 each, enough to pay my cover charge at the bodgy nightclub I went to afterwards with enough change to contribute to a drink…

In conversation as I was driving them, the local of the three guys (the other two were his mates from out of town) said that he usually does this, and usually gets a lift home fairly easily.

This sorta surprises me, as I’m not usually the kind of person who picks up hitchhikers (again, good mood and no urgent need to be anywhere probably helping).

So do other riotacters do this, and if so, do you usually get cash for your efforts? Or have I just got lucky?

And are there other riotacters who use hitchhiking as an alternative to the, ahem, troubled Canberra Taxi service?

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What tightasses! Only $5 for a lift that far?

Read the story properly. $5 each. For three of them. $15 total (well, actually, one of them gave me $6, so it was $16)

I’ve been pushing the Cab Xpress mob to the folk at work, to upset Aerial’s un-earned monopoly. And was very sad to hear today that one bloke has had them fail to turn up when booked TWICE. Very discouraging to hear that.

If they offerred better public transport late on Friday nights, and there were more taxis, they would clear up a heap of drunk driving.

Absent Diane5:05 pm 04 Dec 07

I have only ever hitchhiked once.. I would have been about 5 or 6.. myself and a friend went for an adventure to queanbeyan. He wasn’t convinced hitchhiking was dangerous and was older and bigger I couldn’t really argue. Needless to say it caused a lot of trouble.

i used to hitch from sydney cbd at all odd hours of the morning – usually from abour 0200hrs onwards – out to western ‘burbs and one week had four nights in a row got a lift to my door, never walking past victoria park (glebe pt rd turn off)

also hitched regularly between cbr and sydney with regular success. always try to pick up hitchers but i see so few of them these days, esp intra-city. surprising to hear of these instances above, but mostly cycle and most hikers wouldn’t fit in me panniers!

call me a tight arse, but i never offered money when hitching for short rides. figured it was my sparkling wit and company was payment enough! does everyone else pay? so why not get a cab??

I was in a hurry, so sue me.
This is exactly the kind of errant pedantry up with which we should not put.

Normally I would say 0300hrs, but then you’d probably be “Argh I can’t read teh twetnyfuor hour timex0rs!!1 Use teh am\pm morning\afternoon times like teh nomral ppl, omg wtf bbq”.

Thanks for introducing pedantry into the mix el. I find people using the redundant construction “5am in the morning” so often these days. Jesus, it’s “five in the morning” or just “5am”!

Elvis Las Canberras11:32 pm 03 Dec 07

Yeh Canberra cabs is a monopoly joke!

No wonder there are late night punch ons in Civic!

What tightasses! Only $5 for a lift that far? If a friend is driving or picking me up from Civic I always give them $10 – $20. I’ve never hitch hiked… Then again I’ve never attempted the walk from Civic to Weston Creek either.

what’s up simbo….did you have to settle for a bodgy nightclub because they won’t let you into Cube or is it that Cube is a bodgy nightclub?

The second one. Although they do have free softdrinks if you’re prepared to name yourself a designated driver

el ......VNBerlinaV88:53 pm 03 Dec 07

Brakes people, brakes.
(/pedant mode off. Sorry)

Deadmandrinking, does swerving towards one count? haha

I’ve never been tempted to stop for one, but then they normally look like the dodgiest people going around.. but if I ever come across a young blonde in the rain i’ll be jumping on the breaks 😉

Next time I come back to Canberra Airport and have parked my car, I am sorely tempted to pull up in the taxi line on the way and offer rides to any of the poor suckers queued up until they die waiting for a cab, who then get to multi-hire for the privilege of waiting. I wonder what would happen? (I expect I would be swarmed by a mob of orange-jacketed security guys, dragged from my car and beaten severely for daring to attempt to pick up a passenger from outside the ‘arrivals’ hall …)

noituudenaika5:40 pm 03 Dec 07

My friend felt sorry for two girls walking home in the rain so she picked them up, and they stole her wallet! Be careful. I was tempted to hitch hike home the other day as I had called a taxi (it was a short distance but I don’t like walking along the “rape paths” of O’Connor/Lyneham at night alone. 4 separate people had called taxis after me and theirs had arrived before I managed to flag down a random.

Deadmandrinking5:06 pm 03 Dec 07

I’d pick you up, Evil….once….

For some funny reason whenever I wear my Nazi SS uniform out on a Friday/Saturday night I always have trouble getting a taxi to pick me up, let alone hitching a lift with someone else.

People are so unfriendly and narrow minded in this town!

Deadmandrinking4:11 pm 03 Dec 07

I think alot of people have problems with picking up a 6″5 tank of drunk stumbling along Barry Drive at 5am in the morning these days…

You do, don’t you? Bastards.

When I was a teenager walking home pissed from Civic to Dickson, people used to stop and give me lifts all the time. Without me even asking!

I once made $50 coming home from Civic by stopping my car near a random very wet person at 3am in the morning, and dropping them three streets away from my house.
I think he meant to give me $5, but it was dark and he was very drunk, as evidenced by the fact he thought he could easily walk from Civic to Weston Creek in the rain.

V twin venom12:23 pm 03 Dec 07

what’s up simbo….did you have to settle for a bodgy nightclub because they won’t let you into Cube or is it that Cube is a bodgy nightclub?

I picked up some people from out of town earlier in the year – they were attempting to walk from Civic to Manuka, and they were already tired before they’d even made it to Comm Ave Bridge. I was headed southside so four of them jumped in the car, I dropped them off at the Bentley Suites, and they chucked in $10 petrol money. I’d do it again… would have to suss them out before letting them in my car though.

I had such a a horrible taxi driver on friday night. All he did the whole time was complain about all the “bad things” that had happened to him that night and instead of taking my money when I was 20c short and having no change to speak of he took a bigger note so the expensive ride was made over $3 more expensive 🙁

Haven’t actually tried it, but I did stupidly decide to walk home from Civic once (no intention of hitching, just hiking) and had a surprising number of people stop on Belconnen Way to offer lifts.

Vic Bitterman10:43 pm 02 Dec 07

You’re braver than me simbo!

That said, I have picked up hitchers and may well do so, when on a long solo drive say between CBR and Melb…. have never done so locally.

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