Hey,
In all the taxis I have been through they all been good and went the shortest way but i am not sure if I didn't actually tell them where to go. One time before one taxi driver let me use his mobile as I was stuck in the middle of no where.
About sitting in the front yeah in Sydney you can sit in the front. But sometimes here some taxis have this plastic shield which protects them and also wired with cameras.
Eddy