It can take two or three hours to get across Sao Paulo at the height of traffic. From the relative luxury of a back seat, passengers can check their e-mail, send instant messages, catch up with the news online, and all for no extra charge over the regular taxi fare. The Internet taxis are similar to ones introduced last year in San Francisco and last month in New York City .
Cabs are traditionally white.
A cross-town drive can take hours when the streets are at their most jammed. But she said she was sold on the idea. Passengers operate laptops fixed on a small table behind the front seat and permanently connected to the Net through a mobile phone. Given Sao Paulo's high crime rate, the computers are fastened down with metal cords. That's what the Net's all about.