A taxicab stand is a queue area

Queue area

Queue areas are places in which people queue for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.Queueing is a phenomenon in a...

 on a street or on private property where taxicab

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s line up to wait for passengers.

How stands work

Stands are normally located at high-traffic locations such as airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

s, hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 driveways, railway stations, subway

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 stations, bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 depots, ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 terminals, shopping centre

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

s, and major street intersections. Usually stands are marked by simple painted signs.

Stands generally work as a first-come, first-served

First-come, first-served

First-come, first-served – sometimes first-in, first-served and first-come, first choice – is a service policy whereby the requests of customers or clients are attended to in the order that they arrived, without other biases or preferences. The policy can be employed when processing sales orders,...

 queue, so that the first taxicab to arrive on the stand (the one at the front of the line) serves the first passenger to arrive, and as the first taxicab leaves, each taxicab behind it moves ahead one spot, with the last taxicab to arrive taking the last spot.

In the Republic of Ireland an intending passenger is entitled to choose any taxicab that is available for hire at an appointed taxi stand. Commission for Taxi Regulation has deemed that the customer has the right to choose and the principle of first come, first served is dismissed.

Around the world

In some cities, such as London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and New York, some older taxi stands are marked by special lamps with "TAXI" painted on the sides of them.

Some major stands are divided into separate queues. For example, at the Nagoya railway station in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, small- and large-capacity taxis line up separately; while at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, short- and long-distance taxis use separate queues. In Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, different kinds of taxi

Taxicabs of Hong Kong

Taxicabs of Hong Kong provide a taxi system. Most taxis are independently owned and operated, but some are owned by taxi companies, and the drivers are employees....

s line up separately, as some of their service areas overlap.

See also

• Charging station
  Charging station
  An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point and EVSE , is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric-gasoline vehicles) or semi-static and mobile...
  
  
• Electric vehicle
  Electric vehicle
  An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...