Taxi pinball rules and strategy
The Strategy
Taxi is a passenger-collection game. Plunge Spinout to spot a passenger, lock one ball at the right eject, then shoot the left Airport ramp to start Multiball. Collect Express Lane 1 at the right eject and Express Lane 2 at Drac, then use the remaining balls to collect passengers. Complete a passenger bank to light Carry Passengers; the fifth passenger lights the timed Jackpot at the Gorbie shot.
The goal
Lock one ball in the right eject and shoot the left Airport ramp for Multiball, complete both Express Lanes, then use the second ball to collect and carry passengers toward the timed Jackpot.
Start Multiball
On ball 1, plunge Spinout for 25,000 plus Spot Passenger. Lock a ball in the right eject marked Lock, then shoot the left Airport ramp to start Multiball.
How to collect passengers
Shoot the right Lock eject for Express Lane 1, then the center-left Drac hole for Express Lane 2. Collect Gorbie through the upper/right semi-orbit entrance to Joyride, Pin•Bot at the right drop bank, Drac at the center-left hole, Lola or Marilyn at the center drop bank, or Santa through the lower entrance to Joyride.
Carry passengers and collect Jackpot
Complete either passenger drop bank, then hit the small upper-left Carry Passengers target while it flashes to hold your passengers for the next ball. After the fifth passenger, shoot the upper/right semi-orbit entrance to Joyride before the Jackpot timer expires.
- On the last ball, collecting lit Carry Passengers instead adds an extra 20,000 per passenger to your end-of-ball bonus.
- If Jackpot times out, complete the center drop bank to collect Lola or Marilyn again, then shoot the upper entrance to Joyride while Jackpot is lit.
- After collecting Jackpot, follow the flashing passenger shots again. Completing the next passenger sequence relights Jackpot; collect it at the upper entrance to Joyride.
Need to know
- L-3 and L-4
- L-3 names the center-bank passenger Marilyn; L-4 names her Lola. The rules below call out that difference where it matters.
- Airport difficulty
- Airport Million is untimed on Medium. Hard and Extra Hard use 20- and 15-second timers.
- Lock stealing
- Lock starts lit at the beginning of the game. After Multiball, any flashing passenger relights it. Another player's locked ball can leave the left ramp ready to start your Multiball.
Taxi uses its right Lock eject and left Airport ramp to start Multiball, where the two Express Lanes support the harder passenger pickups. Plunge Spinout to spot a passenger, start Multiball, collect both Express Lanes, then use the remaining balls for the timed Pin-Bot and Lola or Marilyn banks. Complete either bank and backhand Carry Passengers so collected passengers survive the drain; the fifth passenger lights the timed Jackpot at the Gorbie shot. When both ramps are reliable, raise an Airport value to 100,000 and shoot Joyride for Airport Million.
The goal
On ball 1, plunge Spinout to spot a passenger, then lock at the right eject and shoot the left Airport ramp for Multiball.Collect both Express Lanes, use the remaining balls for difficult passenger banks, light Carry Passengers, and collect the fifth-passenger Jackpot at Gorbie.
- On ball 1, plunge Spinout for 25,000 plus Spot Passenger. On later balls under the default Medium setting, choose between Spot Passenger and the ball-number-multiplied 100,000 award.
- Lock a ball in the right eject marked Lock, then make the left Airport ramp to release it and start two-ball Multiball.
- During Multiball, shoot the same right Lock eject for Express Lane 1, then shoot the center-left Drac hole for Express Lane 2. The second lock scores 300,000 and lights both ramps for 100,000 Airport Rides until Multiball ends.
- After both Express Lanes, collect the flashing passenger: Gorbie through the upper Joyride entrance, Pin•Bot at the right drop bank, Drac at the center-left hole, Lola or Marilyn at the center bank, or Santa through lower Joyride. Use Multiball especially for the timed target banks.
- Complete either passenger drop bank, then hit the small upper-left Carry Passengers target while it flashes. This holds your collected passengers for the next ball.
Complete either passenger drop bank, then hit the small u…
- On the last ball, collecting lit Carry Passengers instead adds an extra 20,000 per passenger to your end-of-ball bonus.
- The fifth passenger lights Jackpot. Shoot the next Gorbie/Jackpot shot before its timer expires. After Multiball, collect any flashing passenger to relight Lock, then take Multiball again as soon as it is available.
The fifth passenger lights Jackpot.
- If Jackpot times out, complete the center drop bank to collect Lola or Marilyn again, then shoot the upper entrance to Joyride while Jackpot is lit.
- After collecting Jackpot, follow the flashing passenger shots again. Completing the next passenger sequence relights Jackpot; collect it at the upper entrance to Joyride.
Top-player proof
- At Pinburgh 2011, Keith Elwin used Spot Passenger at the plunge, started Multiball, completed the Express Lanes, and collected remaining passengers only when their banks were controlled.
- At Pinburgh 2025, Aleksander Kaczmarczyk completed both Express Lanes before collecting all five passengers and the timed Jackpot; Paul Englert chose ramps when passenger targets were unsafe.
Sources and references13 references13 source links and outbound references.
- PinballCards
- Original playfield image
- PAPA Taxi tutorial with Bowen Kerins
- Taxi full rulesheet
- Robert Gagno at INDISC 2018
- Taxi at Pinburgh 2011
- Planetary Pinball Taxi ROM archive
- Williams Taxi operations manual
- Williams Taxi instruction card
- Taxi L-5C community Competition MOD record
- Backhand technique reference
- Spinout short-side control technique reference
- Physical caution reference