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A luminous taxi top sign A taxicab, also known as a taxi or a cab, is a type of with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. Fox Body Mustang Patch Panels. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice. This differs from other modes of where the pick-up and drop-off locations are determined by the service provider, not by the passenger, although and provide a hybrid bus/taxi mode.

17th century hackney coaches in Sir 's Early Carriages and Roads (1903) Horse-drawn for-hire services began operating in both and in the early 17th century. The first documented public hackney coach service for hire was in London in 1605. In 1625 carriages were made available for hire from in London and the first appeared on outside the Maypole Inn in 1636.

An International Driving Permit (IDP) allows motorists to drive in most countries outside of North America, when accompanied by a valid Canadian driver's. Mainland Residents: To save time, you may choose to visit our Burnaby - Lougheed (Solo District) or Vancouver - SW Marine Drive locations for shorter wait times.

In 1635 the Hackney Carriage Act was passed by to legalise horse-drawn carriages for hire. Coaches were hired out by innkeepers to merchants and visitors. A further 'Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the places adjacent' was approved by Parliament in 1654 and the first hackney-carriage licences were issued in 1662. A similar service was started by Nicolas Sauvage in Paris in 1637. His vehicles were known as, as the main vehicle depot apparently was opposite a shrine to.

(The term fiacre is still used in French to describe a horse-drawn vehicle for hire, while the German term Fiaker is used, especially in Austria, to refer to the same thing). Drawing of a The was designed and patented in 1834 by, an from as a substantial improvement on the old hackney carriages. These two-wheel vehicles were fast, light enough to be pulled by a single horse (making the journey cheaper than travelling in a larger four-wheel coach) were agile enough to steer around in the notorious traffic jams of nineteenth-century London and had a low centre of gravity for safe cornering. Hansom's original design was modified by and several others to improve its practicability, but retained Hansom's name. These soon replaced the as a. They quickly spread to other cities in the United Kingdom, as well as continental European cities, particularly,, and.

The cab was introduced to other British Empire cities and to the United States during the late 19th century, being most commonly used in. The first cab service in, 'The City', was established in 1837 by, an ex-slave whose escape when captured in Detroit was the impetus for the Blackburn Riot. Modern taxicabs [ ]. 1897 Victoria was the first gasoline-powered taxicab battery-powered taxis became available at the end of the 19th century. In London, Walter C.

Bersey designed a fleet of such cabs and introduced them to the streets of London on 19 August 1897. They were soon nicknamed 'Hummingbirds’ due to the idiosyncratic humming noise they made.

In the same year in New York City, the Samuel's Electric Carriage and Wagon Company began running 12. The company ran until 1898 with up to 62 cabs operating until it was reformed by its financiers to form the. The modern was invented and perfected by a trio of German inventors; Wilhelm Friedrich Nedler, Ferdinand Dencker and.

The Victoria—the world's first gasoline-powered taximeter-cab—was built by in 1897 and began operating in in 1897. Gasoline-powered taxicabs began operating in Paris in 1899, in London in 1903, and in in 1907. The New York taxicabs were initially imported from France by Harry N. Allen owner of the Allen-Kingston Motor Car Company.

Their manufacturing took place at Bristol Engineering in Bristol, Connecticut where the first domestically produced Taxicabs were built in 1908, designed by Fred E. Moskovics who had worked at Daimler in the late 1890's.

Rockwell was the owner of Bristol and his wife suggested he paint his taxicabs yellow to maximise his vehicles' visibility. Fred was one of the organizers of the first Yellow Taxicab Company in New York. Taxicabs proliferated around the world in the early 20th century. The first major innovation after the invention of the occurred in the late 1940s, when first appeared in taxicabs. Enabled taxicabs and offices to communicate and serve customers more efficiently than previous methods, such as using.

The next major innovation occurred in the 1980s, when was first introduced. [ ] As military and emergency transport [ ]. Paris taxis carried 6000 soldiers to the front during the Paris taxis played a memorable part in the French victory at in the. On September 7, 1914, the Military Governor of Paris,, gathered about six hundred taxicabs at in central Paris to carry soldiers to the front at Nanteuil-le Haudoin, fifty kilometers away. Within twenty-four hours about six thousand soldiers and officers were moved to the front. Each taxi carried five soldiers, four in the back and one next to the driver. Only the back lights of the taxis were lit; the drivers were instructed to follow the lights of the taxi ahead.

The Germans were surprised, and were pushed back by the French and British armies. Most of the taxis were demobilized on September 8 but some remained longer to carry the wounded and refugees. The taxis, following city regulations, dutifully ran their meters.

The French treasury reimbursed the total fare of 70,012 francs. The military impact of the soldiers moved by taxi was small in the huge scale of the Battle of the Marne, but the effect on French morale was enormous; it became the symbol of the solidarity between the French army and citizens. It was also the first recorded large-scale use of motorized infantry in battle. The on 21 November 1974, which killed 21 people and injured 182, presented emergency services with unprecedented peace time demands. According to eye witness accounts, the fire officer in charge, knowing the 40 ambulances he requested were unlikely to be available, requested the Taxi Owners Association to transport the injured to the nearby and.

Vehicles [ ]. Taxicab in Singapore Taxi services are typically provided by, various, (such as the ) and (such as the ) or even boats (such as or ) are also used or have been used historically. In Western Europe,, and to an extent, Australia, it is not uncommon for expensive cars such as to be the taxicab of choice. Often this decision is based upon the perceived reliability of, and warranty offered with these vehicles. These taxi-service vehicles are almost always equipped with four-cylinder engines and relatively low levels of equipment, and are not considered luxury cars.

This has changed though in countries such as Denmark, where tax regulation makes it profitable to sell the vehicles after a few years of service, which requires the cars to be well equipped and kept in good condition. This section does not any.

Unsourced material may be challenged and. (July 2011) () In recent years, some companies have been adding specially modified vehicles capable of transporting -using passengers to their fleets. Such taxicabs are variously called accessible taxis, wheelchair- or wheelchair-accessible taxicabs, modified taxicabs, or 'maxicabs'. Wheelchair taxicabs are most often specially modified. Wheelchair-using passengers are loaded, with the help of the driver, via a lift or, more commonly, a ramp, at the rear of the vehicle. This feature is however a subject for concern amongst Licensing Authorities who feel that the wheelchair passenger could not easily exit the vehicle in the event of accident damage to the rear door. The latest generation of accessible taxis features side loading with emergency egress possible from either of the 2 side doors as well as the rear.

The wheelchair is secured using various systems, commonly including some type of belt and clip combination, or wheel locks. Some wheelchair taxicabs are capable of transporting only one wheelchair-using passenger at a time, and can usually accommodate 4 to 6 additional passengers.

Wheelchair taxicabs are part of the regular fleet in most cases, and so are not reserved exclusively for the use of wheelchair users. They are often used by able-bodied people who need to transport luggage, small items of furniture, animals, and other items. Because of this, and since only a small percentage of the average fleet is modified, wheelchair users must often wait for significantly longer periods when calling for a cab, and flagging a modified taxicab on the street is much more difficult. A 'bicitaxi' (identified by its license plate) in, Mexico Taxicabs in less developed places can be a completely different experience, such as the antique French cars typically found in.

[ ] However, starting March 2006, newer modern taxicabs entered the service operated by various private companies. Taxicabs differ in other ways as well: London's black cabs have a large compartment beside the driver for storing bags, while many fleets of regular taxis also include wheelchair accessible taxicabs among their numbers (see above). Although taxicabs have traditionally been,, and even taxicabs are becoming increasingly common. In many cities, operate as well, usually in competition with taxicabs and at higher fares. Recently, with growing concern for the environment, there have been solar powered taxicabs. On April 20, 2008, a 'solar taxi tour' was launched that aimed to tour 15 countries in 18 months in a solar taxi that can reach speeds of 90 km/h with zero emission. The aim of the tour was to spread knowledge about environmental protection.

Toyota Crown taxicabs lined up in front of Kowloon Waterfront in Most places allow a taxi to be 'hailed' or 'flagged' on the side of the street as it is approaching. Another option is a taxi stand (sometimes also called a 'cab stand,' 'hack stand,' 'taxi rank,' or 'cab rank'). Taxi stands are usually located at airports, railway stations, major retail areas (malls), hotels and other places where a large number of passengers are likely to be found. In some places—Japan, for example—taxi stands are arranged according to the size of the taxis, so that large- and small-capacity cabs line up separately. The taxi at the front of the line is due (barring unusual circumstances) for the next fare. In the United States, a nut is industry slang for the amount of money a driver has to pay upfront to a taxi for a specific period of time. Once that amount is collected in fare, the driver then begins to make a profit.

A driver 'on the nut' is trying to earn back the initial cost. This varies from city to city though, in, all taxicabs are owned and operated by the companies and all drivers are (hence no initial cost and earn a percentage of each fare). So 'on the nut' simply means to be next in a taxi stand to receive a passenger. Passengers also commonly call a central dispatch office for taxis. In some jurisdictions private hire vehicles can only be hired from the dispatch office, and must be assigned each fare by the office by radio or phone. Picking up passengers off the street in these areas can lead to suspension or revocation of the driver's taxi license, or even prosecution.

A recent method for ordering a taxi is through a 'Push Device.' This method can be seen with devices such as the Taxi Butler and the Taxi Button. This new approach has created a shortcut to getting a Taxi for consumers, with the push of a button. The push generates an order in the dispatch system and sends out a car to the location of the button push.

Other areas may have a mix of the two systems, where drivers may respond to radio calls and also pick up street fares. Is a system whereby passengers hire the taxi using mobile devices. While not directly involving the call center, the taxis are still monitored by the dispatcher through GPS tracking. It is used by services such as,, and. Dispatching [ ].

Taxis waiting for customers in. The activity of taxi fleets is usually monitored and controlled by a central office, which provides, accounting, and human resources services to one or more taxi companies. Taxi owners and drivers usually communicate with the dispatch office through either a 2-way or a (called a ). Before the innovation of radio dispatch in the 1950s, taxi drivers would use a —a special telephone at a taxi stand—to contact the dispatch office. When a customer calls for a taxi, a trip is dispatched by either radio or computer, via an in-vehicle, to the most suitable cab.

Drivers Tdk Lpcw-50. The most suitable cab may either be the one closest to the pick-up address (often determined by coordinates nowadays) or the one that was the first to book into the 'zone' surrounding the pickup address. Cabs are sometimes dispatched from their taxi stands; a call to 'Top of the 2' means that the first cab in line at stand #2 is supposed to pick someone up. In offices using radio dispatch, taxi locations are often tracked using magnetic pegs on a 'board'—a metal sheet with an engraved map of taxi zones. In computerized dispatch, the status of taxis is tracked by the computer system.

Taxi frequencies are generally licensed in duplex pairs. One frequency is used for the dispatcher to talk to the cabs, and a second frequency is used to the cabs to talk back. This means that the drivers generally cannot talk to each other. Some cabs have a in addition to the company radio so they can speak to each other.

In the United States, there is a Taxicab Radio Service with pairs assigned for this purpose. A taxi company can also be licensed in the Business Radio Service. Business frequencies in the UHF range are also licensed in pairs to allow for repeaters, though taxi companies usually use the pair for communications.

Some companies do not operate their own radio system and instead subscribe to an Specialized Mobile Radio system. The conventional radios are most suited to companies that operate within the local area and have a high volume of radio traffic. The SMR is more commonly used by black car services that cover a wider area, and smaller companies who use less airtime and do not want to run their own radio systems. With the advent of in the 1990s, operators are beginning to use and advanced mobile phones for dispatching and tracking functions in lieu of the traditional radio.

Some small car services do not use a dispatcher at all. Instead the customers' calls are forwarded to the cell phones of whichever drivers are on duty at the time. In many countries however, the influence of mobile telecom operators through 8294 premium short code or alikes, which direct millions of mobile calls to the TAXI companies contracted (as 8.2.9.4 shortcode means T.A.X.I on any mobile phone worldwide), do influence the business trends when hailing for a TAXI, already impacted initially by the emergence of large radio dispatching private or virtual networks. Also independent taxi owners, as well as TAXI companies started in response to advertise long vanity phone numbers including 8294 number as vanity code for TAXI, for customer easy remembering of their commercial line when in need for a TAXI. Because of the overwhelming possession and use of mobile phone, the battle has moved to smartphone related marketing and mobile services CRM for taxi, through mobile universal directories of TAXI details, available worldwide on any mobile phone downtown or at the airport, as mobile directories such as www.8294.tel alternatively to yellow pages paper book edition, and also in competition with the launch of multiple mobile apps offering location services, taxis fare calculation, as well as direct call to TAXIs contracted by app editor. The ongoing trend of mobile usage is reshaping progressively the taxi business initially born as a nearly fixed infrastructure business regulated and ruled by City Halls. Taxi dispatch is evolving in connection to the telecom sector with the advent of smart-phones.

In some countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK and USA smartphone applications are emerging that connect taxi drivers directly with passengers for the purpose of dispatching taxi jobs, launching new battles for the marketing of such apps over the potential mass of Taxi users. Taxi Fares are set by the State and City where they are permitted to operate. The fare includes the 'drop', a set amount that is tallied for getting into the taxi plus the 'per mile' rate as has been set by the City. The taxi meters track time as well as miles in a typical taxi fare. Navigation [ ]. The inside of a Japanese taxicab in with on board.

Most experienced taxi drivers who have been working in the same city or region for a while would be expected to know the most important streets and places where their customers request to go. However, to aid the process of manual and the taxi driver's (and the customer's as well at times) a cab driver is usually equipped with a detailed of the area in which they work. There is also an increasing use of driven navigational systems in wealthier countries. In London, despite the complex and haphazard road layout, such aids have only recently been employed by a small number of 'black cab' taxi (as opposed to minicab) drivers. Instead, they are required to undergo a demanding process of learning and testing called.

This typically takes around three years and equips them with a detailed command of 25,000 streets within central London, major routes outside this area, and all buildings and other destinations to which passengers may ask to be taken. Environmental concerns [ ]. A Brazilian taxi in runs as a or as a with Taxicabs have been both criticized for creating pollution and also praised as an environmentally responsible alternative to private car use. The results, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment in January 2006, showed that the level of pollution that people are exposed to differs according to the mode of transport that they use.

The most risky method of transport was the back seat of a taxicab, followed by travelling by bus, cycling, walking, with a private car exposing people to the lowest amount of pollution. Alternative energy and propulsion [ ]. In Australia, nearly all taxis run on, as well as the growing fleet of. [ ] and the main cities of Brazil have large fleets of taxis running on.

Many Brazilian taxis are vehicles running on, and some are equipped to run on either natural gas or as a flex-fuel. At least two Brazilian car markers sell these type of.

And have many of their taxicabs running on compressed natural gas (CNG). San Francisco became in 2005 one of the first cities to introduce hybrids for taxi service, with a fleet of 15, and by 2009 the original Escape Hybrids were retired after 300,000 miles per vehicle.

In 2007 the city approved the Clean Air Taxi Grant Program in order to encourage cab companies to purchase, by providing incentives of USD2,000 per new alternative fuel vehicle on a first-come, first-served basis. Out of a total of 1,378 eligible vehicles (wheelchair-accessible taxi-vans are excluded) 788 are alternative fuel vehicles, representing 57% of the San Francisco's taxicab fleet by March 2010. Gasoline-electric hybrids accounted for 657 green taxis and for 131.

As of mid-2009 New York City had 2,019 taxis and 12 vehicles, representing 15% of New York's 13,237 taxis in service, the most in any city in North America. At this time owners began retiring its original hybrid fleet after 300,000 and 350,000 miles per vehicle.

Two attempts by the to implement policies to force the replacement of all New York's 13,000 taxis for hybrids by 2012 have been blocked by court rulings. Is following New York City's lead by proposing a mandate for Chicago's entire fleet of 6,700 taxicabs to become hybrid by 1 January 2014. As of 2008 Chicago's fleet had only 50 hybrid taxicabs. In 2008 mandated that its entire taxi fleet must be converted to hybrids by 2015. Also has a small fleet of 85 environmentally friendly hybrid cabs introduced in early 2008.

The taxi expansion is part of a county campaign known as Fresh AIRE, or Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions, and included a new all-hybrid taxi company called, which became the first all-hybrid taxicab fleet in the United States, and the first carbon-negative taxicab company in the world A similar all-hybrid taxicab company,, was launched in in October 2009. In Japan, electric taxicabs are becoming increasingly popular. In 2009, battery-swap company teamed with the Japanese government to trial a fleet of electric taxis with the battery-swap system in. In 2010, the taxi company Hinomaru Linousine Company launched two electric taxicabs in Tokyo. Both taxicabs had female drivers and were branded under ZeRO TAXI livery.

Hybrid taxis are becoming more and more common in Canada, with all new taxis in being hybrids, or other fuel efficient vehicles, such as the. Hybrids such as the Ford Escape Hybrid are slowly being added to the taxicab fleet in Mexico City.

[ ] Other cities where taxi service is available with hybrid vehicles include Tokyo, London, Sydney, Rome and Singapore. Introduced the first taxi in December 2009. The runs on (LPG) as a fuel. In 2010, China introduced electric taxis. A trial run began in March, 2010 with taxis being cheaper than their regular gasoline counterparts. International trade association [ ] The (TLPA) was established in 1917 in the United States, and is a non-profit trade association of and for the private passenger transportation industry.

Today its membership spans the globe and includes 1,100 taxicab companies, executive sedan and services, fleets, non-emergency medical transportation companies, and services. In April 2011, TLPA announced a nationwide 'Transportation on Patrol' initiative. The TOP program gives local police departments the materials they need to train volunteer taxi drivers to be good witnesses and watch out for criminal behavior. Occupational hazards [ ] Taxicab drivers are at risk for at a far higher rate than the general working population in the United States (7.4 per 100,000 and 0.37 per 100,000, respectively). In efforts to reduce homicides, bulletproof partitions were introduced in many taxicabs in the 1990s, and in the 21st century, security cameras were added to many taxicabs. Security cameras have been shown to be more effective when implemented by cities and not taxicab companies.

Regulation [ ].