When you have to wave frantically at a Toronto cabbie when he's passengerless and stopped in traffic not 10 feet from you, you can almost be assured you aren't dealing with one of the city's best and brightest.

Normally, you don't even have to look at a cab to be honked at.

But still, time was of the essence, so I jumped into this one.

I told the guy, who was quite pleasant and polite, I wanted to go to Innis College at 2 Sussex Ave.

"Where is that?" he asked.

"That's what I'm paying you for," I muttered.

I told him it was on the University of Toronto campus. He nodded sagely and continued to head eastbound on College.

Here's where I screwed up. I should have told him to go to Harbord and St. George (Innis, as it turns out, is just north of there). Most cabbies instinctively head there.

But to my amazement, although I kept waiting for him to turn left into the heart of the campus, this guy kept going east until he hit University -- the avenue!

"Dude, you just drove by the whole university!!" I yelped.

Maybe he only heard the "university" part.

However, to his credit, he capped the fare at five bucks and brought me back a few blocks to the campus.

Still, I thought that the vaunted passenger's bill of rights entitles me to a cabbie who has some knowledge of the city.