City officials are raising taxi fares by 17 percent, which has made cabbies very happy.
In the spirit of this ever-changing institution, we would like to present 15 things you didn’t know about taxis.
Definitely not in perfect chronological order…
15: It’s electric!
The first cabs were battery powered, and these electric cells weighed up to 800 pounds!
14: Till Death Do Us Park
Henry H. Bliss was the first guy in the U.S. to get struck fatally by an automobile in September 1890 — and the vehicle turned out to be an NYC cab.
13. Speed Racer
Jacob German, NYC cabbie, might have been the first American jailed for reckless driving. He was thrown in the slammer on May 20, 1899 “‘for driving his electric taxi at the ‘breakneck speed’ of 12 mph,” Wired writes.
12. Get Money, Get Paid
The first metered taxis hit the streets in 1907.
11. Something Corporate
In July 1897, the first taxicab corp in the City, The Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, released 12 “hansoms” (which probably freaked out the horses that made up most of the traffic.)
10. Potty Talk
Cabbies who have to get gas or get, er, relief, might be SOL: There are only 41 gas stations in Manhattan.
9. It’s Hard Out There for a Hack
But why are cabbies called “hacks,” you might ask? The term comes from London, where those black taxis are called a “hack” or “hackney carriage.”
8. Strike Out
In 1934, 2000 drivers took to Times Square to protest bad labor practices. At the time, this was thought to be the biggest strike in the City’s history.
7. Safety First
Responding to rampant street crime, the first bulletproof partitions started showing up in the 1970s.
6. Color Wars
Some of the first cars-for-hire had red and green panels.
5. Mellow Yellow
Officials eventually ordered cabs be painted yellow in the 1967, however, so that passengers could tell the difference between legal and illegal drivers.
4. Fare Game
Iconic Checker Cabs was started by Morris Markin, who came to the U.S. from Russia at a young age. The company grew to be the most successful in the city, outcompeting General Motors and Ford-owned fleets.
3. Arrested Development
In 2004, Mike Wallace was cuffed on charges of disorderly conduct when investigating the treatment of his taxi driver.
2. I’ve Got Sunshine
In 1936, a fleet of “Sunshine” cabs — which featured sunroofs – circulated the city.
1. Horniness
The taxi of tomorrow, which replaces the Crown Vic, has a low-annoyance horn. According to Car and Driver: “This castrated sound emitter is accompanied by an exterior light that illuminates to tattle on the driver to nearby honkees.” Also awesome: “honkees” is apparently a word.
By Victoria Bekiempis
1. taxi of tomorrow where politian put their foot in their mouth, the goal is to go green and taxi of tomorrow is fully gas power, it is a secure income for all gas station where none of the driver will be benefit.
2. sunroof is good but today’s taxi is fulll of roof top advertising and narrow the sunroof view.
4. checker cab is the best of all taxi, not only can sit 6 passengers, with lots of leg room plus a huge trunk
5. Today is clearly yellow and black to seperate legal and illgal street hail, the black is more active than the yellow and TLC can’t do a thing about this.
7. I am not sure today’s partition can be bullet proof. it is too thin.
8. today there are no strike will occur since all taxi driver are independent contractor, not employed by any taxi company, they are strike against themself if they do.
7. Safety First – > Since than, how many passengers and cab drivers got injured because that mandated partition in cabs? And cabbies hard eaned money still being taken away by criminals and credit-card companies. Partition is kept open in every cab, and even if the cabbie keeps that closed, does make the passenger less angry? – He’ll leave the cabbie without paying the cab-fare. That happened to you? That’s why we need a security camera in every yellow cab!
Interesting is the history of crime and cabs. The worst one was using rate 4 . Total stolen $400,000 within 5 year period. That’s $1 a day per cab. Second one was using zappers-device which made the meter to go a little bit faster.Cab with benefits -it’s how it’s been called. Total loss $0.50 a day/cab. And the last one charging Japanese turists $150 to get to JFK Total loss 25cents a day/cab.
Cont’ Drivers also last some money. 10 billion dollars to be precise. $100 per shift for 10 year period.
A horse pulling a buggy is a hackney, and the harness is a hackney harness, and the carriage it pulls (carriage meaning carrying) is a hackney carriage. It started in London and continued to the United States, and to this day, regulators around the US are called hackney departments. It did not come from a London Motorized Taxi, it came from the hackney horse. Say! How much ‘horsepower’ has your taxi engine got?