Alaska Cab number

This is even better than New York, the ultimative cab destination where there is a rented bus for 149 persons - like a cab, a shuttle or a Livree-Auto. "It is probably by far the highest per capita rate of cabs in the United States," said Alfred LaGasse of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association.

This is the major cause of the large cab fleet: Bethel, encircled by a thousand lakes in a low plateau, cannot be reached by car. Bethel has very, very practical cabs. Consequently, cabbies - many of them non-Alaskan, especially Koreans and Albanians - have come here to close the loophole.

Taxis are apparently everywhere, crunching travellers who are paying $4 to drive somewhere in the bulk of the City, and $6 to the airport three miles away. It was a big shock when Wally Baird came here from Nebraska two years ago to take a position as urban executive.

72-year-old Gim Jong-ihn visited his home town in South Korea when he saw a television tale about the many cab drivers in Bethel. Two years ago, he came here to take a cab after he retired from New York City' work on the remediation of some of the city' s major plagues of asbesty. Arriving in Anchorage, he asked foolishly where he could get a Greyhound to Bethel.

The Bethel is largely a compilation of functional structures on stilt pillars, houses and huts, with above-ground plumbing and sewerage, as the frost beneath the surfaces is rock-hard. Bethlehem also has a considerable number of educators, policemen, physicians and other specialists who remain only a few years before continuing.

Often cab riders do not get their own cab. Beginners will soon notice that riders make continuous stopovers and passenger boarding. In a recent shifts, Jay Saliu drove patients to the hospitals, schools and shops. The Kwethluk inhabitant John Fisher, 24, got a 30-second drive after he bought nappies at a food-shop.

Since the taxis are divided, regular guests like the Bethelerin Joanna Simeon know that they have much spare for the journey. "You see a great deal of Bethel. "Despite the flourishing economy, taxi riders say the ever-increasing fuel prices are depressing their revenues. At the beginning of this year, taxi riders started an ineffective bid to increase interest levels by one US Dollar.

Killing at night numbed the city and caused many taxi drivers to work only in broad daylight. As a result, the city was not able to cope with the night-time killing. Overall, however, Bethel fits many, Gim included, very well.