Share a taxi in Sri Lankawith travellers going your way
A taxi costs the same with one person in it or four. Find travellers already making your trip, agree the fare between you, and split it. Nothing is paid through AlsoGoing.
No account needed to look
The short answer
What is a share taxi?
A taxi, car or van hired for one journey and shared by travellers who are going the same way, each paying part of the fare. In Sri Lanka it usually means backpackers and surfers splitting the ride between towns, like Kandy to Ella or Ella to Arugam Bay, where the train is slow or does not go. Some operators also sell single seats in a van on a fixed route.
Why share
The car costs the same. The share is yours to split.
A taxi is paid for the journey, not for the seats. Every traveller who joins lowers what everybody pays, and a long road with no train, like Ella to Arugam Bay, becomes one ride instead of a chain of buses.
An illustration, not a price. What the car costs is agreed between the people in it.
How it works
Three steps, and the money never passes through us
Where travellers share
Shared taxi routes
Colombo ⇄ Kandy
Colombo is where almost every visitor arrives, by air or by sea.
Kandy ⇄ Ella
From Kandy the road climbs into tea country.
Ella ⇄ Arugam Bay
Arugam Bay is one of Sri Lanka's best-known surf towns, on the east coast.
Ella ⇄ Mirissa
Mirissa is one of the south coast's main beach towns, known for whale watching and its curve of sand.
Colombo Airport ⇄ Kandy
Almost every visitor lands at Colombo Airport (CMB), at Katunayake north of the city, and many skip Colombo and head straight inland.
Colombo Airport ⇄ Sigiriya
Sigiriya's rock fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is at the heart of what's called the Cultural Triangle, with Dambulla's cave temples and the ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura within reach.
The honest picture
Where people already find a taxi share
Sharing a taxi started with backpackers and surfers, and most shares are still arranged the old way. Those ways work. Use them alongside this.
Before you get in
Five things to settle first
Travel forums give the same advice, thread after thread. A share usually goes wrong when one of these was left vague.
Never pay in advance
Settle up on the day, in person. Nobody on AlsoGoing will ever ask you for money.
Agree the most you will pay
And how it is split, in the chat, before the day, so nobody is surprised at the other end.
Ask what vehicle it is
A car, a van or a tuk-tuk changes how many people and how much luggage fit.
Meet somewhere you can both name
A railway station or a junction. Every route page suggests one for each town.
Keep a plan B
Travellers change their plans. Know the train or the bus for the same day, in case somebody drops out.
Questions about sharing a taxi
What ride share is used in Sri Lanka?
PickMe and Uber are the apps for booking a car, mostly in and around the cities. Both book a car for you alone. To share one with other travellers you first have to find them: in hostel and WhatsApp group chats, Facebook groups, on signs in places like Ella and Arugam Bay, or on AlsoGoing, where travellers post the trips they are taking.
Is there a Sri Lanka taxi share WhatsApp group?
Not one official group. Hostels, surf camps and Facebook groups for travellers share WhatsApp group links, which change often, and many carry more offers from drivers than from travellers. They are quick, but a message scrolls away within the hour. A trip posted on AlsoGoing stays up until the day it leaves.
How much does a taxi share cost in Sri Lanka?
There is no set price. A taxi is paid for the car, not the seat, so each person pays the fare divided by how many of you there are: half each for two, a quarter each for four. The fare itself depends on the car, the distance and the season, and is agreed before you set off. Some operators also sell single seats in a van on fixed routes.
Who drives a shared taxi on AlsoGoing?
Whoever the traveller who posted the trip arranged: often a taxi or a driver they booked, sometimes a car they hired. Nobody on AlsoGoing drives for a fare. Every trip is posted by a traveller.
How is the fare split?
However you agree between you, usually evenly, and settled in person on the day. AlsoGoing takes nothing and no money passes through it.
Is it safe to share a taxi with strangers?
Everyone who posts a trip, asks for a seat or writes to anyone has proved their phone number on WhatsApp. After the trip, everybody in the car can rate everybody else.
What if nobody is going my way?
Post your own trip. Anyone looking for the same route and day will find it and can ask you for a seat.
Can I book a private taxi here?
No. AlsoGoing is not a taxi company and has no cars to book. It puts travellers sharing the same journey in touch with each other.
Somebody may already be going your way
Look at the trips first. No account needed.