A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where line up to wait for passengers.
Stands generally work as a first-come, first-served 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. The Commission for Taxi Regulation has deemed that the customer has the right to choose and that the principle of first come, first served is dismissed.
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 Shanghai Hongqiao International 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.
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