A taxi stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers.
In some cities--such as London and New York--some older taxi stands are marked by special lamps with "TAXI" painted on the sides of them. Usually, however, stands are marked by simple painted signs.
Stands are usually located at high-traffic locations such as airports, hotel driveways, railway stations, subway stations, bus depots, ferry terminals, shopping centres, and major street intersections.
Stands generally work as a first-in, first-out queue, so that the first taxi to arrive on the stand (the one at the front of the line) serves the first passenger to arrive, and as the first taxi leaves, each taxi behind it moves ahead one spot, with the last taxi to arrive taking the last spot.
Some major stands are divided into separate queues. For example, at the Nagoya railway station in Japan, small- and large-capacity taxis line up separately; while at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, short- and long-distance taxis use separate queues. In Hong Kong, different kinds of taxis line up separately, as some of their service areas overlap.
Alternatively, to allow competition, passengers can choose a taxi.
