And Just Imagine How Great It Would Be If Plácido Domingo Was Still Telling You To Wear A Seat Belt Everytime You Got In

Isn’t it strange that a cab driver will drive someone from Queens to Arizona but not from Manhattan to Queens? Yes, yes it is:

Betty and Bob Matas are set to move next week from their current home in Queens to a new one in Sedona, Ariz.

They arranged to send their belongings, but they were in a quandary about how to transport themselves. The native New Yorkers don’t drive, and they were concerned that their two cats might not make it on a plane.

A solution presented itself in the form of taxi driver Douglas Guldeniz, whom the Matases met when they hailed his cab after a Manhattan shopping trip several weeks ago.

They got to talking about their upcoming move, and “we said, ‘Do you want to come?”‘ said Bob Matas, 72, a former audio and video engineer for advertising agencies. “And he said, ‘Sure.’

It was initially “a gag,” Matas said, but it became a real plan over the ensuing weeks. Guldeniz plans to drive 10 hours a day and charge a flat fee of $3,000 for the trip. The Matases also are to pay for Guldeniz’ gas, meals and lodging.

The standard, metered fare would come to about $5,000 — each way, according to David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a drivers’ group. But city Taxi and Limousine Commission rules direct drivers and passengers to negotiate a flat fare for trips outside the city and a few suburban areas.