Knocking down the Marilyn (or Lola) & Pinbot drop targets lights carry passengers regardless of whether or not those passengers are lit & yelling at you. Any time you complete a set of those targets you will light carry passengers. A perfectly aimed backhand shot from the left flipper to hit the Carry Passengers target is extremely rewarding.
If you're getting consistent drains straight down the middle from an eject on the Santa hole, make sure your machine is properly levelled. Mine tends to eject the ball towards the far left pop bumper, although it doesn't always contact the popper.

Just in case you haven't already seen it, watch this:
http://pinball.org/videos/tutorials/taxi/

Taxi has improved my game MORE than any other pin. It forced me to practice dead flipper bounces & post transfers. The latter being pretty easy on this game. If you aren't skilled in those techniques, now's your chance! My highest score to date is 11.2 million.

Btw, I've got to call you out for correcting my spelling on the word "levelled" in the quote. (I hate misspelled words!) You made me look it up on google only to find out we are both correct, as either way is acceptable, apparantly.

Nice sys11 lineup you have there. I want a GL in the worst way.

Since you're the OP & you asked, I don't mind going off topic in a Taxi thread.
It's not for everyone, but I freakin' dig it. BG is not as simple as some would have you believe. Well, not if you're after great scores anyway. One of the toughest skill shots in all of pinball for starters. To relight the kickback on the left you have to light 10 standup targets. THAT'S RIGHT, TEN. To relight the gate at the right outlane you must kill a troll on the upper playfield which sounds simple enough, but sometimes isn't. Without the gate & kickback protecting the outlanes, this game is a drain monster & you had better have decent flipper skills & be good at nudging. Entering multiball & lighting the jackpot is easy enough, but actually achieving the jackpot can be elusive due to the short time limit (I use default settings) in which to do so.
Since BG's never were all that popular, and they didn't get played to death like HS for example, you can find very nice ones for a good price. I highly recommend you pick one up & give it a try for a few months. You can always sell it if the two of you don't click. (I don't think mine will ever leave my collection. It's a players pin imho, though some may wholeheartedly disagree.)

Keep in mind that in the PAPA video you are witnessing two seperate games, with two different strategies. The first 11 minutes is all about the upper pf... killing trolls & advancing bonus multipliers which is ridiculously satisfying. Game two starts at the 11:30 mark with the player going for locks, multiball, & jackpots. I try to employ both strategies in a single game when I can, but prefer the upper pf strat to start off with. My personal best so far is just shy of 10 million.

The Bug Guns PAPA vid for anyone interested:
http://pinball.org/videos/gameplay-videos/big-guns/

I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I do know that you can set a minimum (& possibly a maximum?)value for the jackpot.

All it takes is carefully aimed shots from the left flipper. Trust me, you can hit all 3 from there.

Yeah. To hit the lowest target for Pinbot you'll have to time your shot so that it just misses the top of the right sling. Ball will be in the last 1/3 of the flipper (you know, towards the tip of it) when you make the shot. Think of it like making the Drac shot, only with the opposite flipper & you must wait just a tad longer before pressing the button.