Taxi Cabs (REQUIRED READING for Transportation Industry Participants.)

Daimler Victoria - First Gas Powered Taxi with Taximeter.
 

Gottlieb Daimler  
Gottlieb Daimler           Wilhelm Bruhn

 Built in 1897 by Gottlieb Daimler, the Daimler Victoria was operated in Stuttgart as the first gasoline powered motorized taxi which featured a built-in taxi meter. It was first used by the Stuttgart Transportation company on June 16th 1897, company owner Friedrich Greiner. His new motor car is said to have reached the frightening speed of 18 miles per hour. The name "taxicab" came from the "taximetre" which had been invented by a German professional inventor Wilhelm Bruhn in 1891. The terms "taxi" to transport, "cab" meaning movable chamber. These have been around for centuries. (See below)

By 1899, the streets of New York City had about 100 taxicabs and the first traffic death is said to have occurred there when an out of control taxicab struck a man named Henry Bliss who was assisting a friend exiting a street car. The first "Yellow Taxi" was created by a man named Henry Allen who painted his vehicles a bright color to stand out from the crowd.  Ford was still selling only black vehicles at the time.

http://www.didyouknow.org/graphics/firsttaxi.jpg      -     
  Sources: about.com:inventors, thelongestlistof thelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com, didyouknow.org, Jordan Knapp - Checker Sedan

In ancient times, rich or powerful people were "taxied" from place to place in rectangular chambers ("cabs"), highly decorated and plush, mounted on two or more long poles. The poles were lifted and carried by a team of footmen or slaves who were trained to march in such a way as to provide the least disturbance to the occupant of the chamber. Then before the gasoline powered cabs, came the horse drawn wagons and stage coaches. The first records of "taxicabs" we could find came from France and England in the 1600's, in Paris and London. They were governed by orders from the royalty of both countries. There were vehicles powered by batteries in those cities and in New York in the 1890's but they were quickly replaced by the gasoline powered rigs because they would go further and could move faster than the electrics. By the end of the first decade of the 1900's, gasoline powered cabs were being used on both sides of the Atlantic. In Mexico a proliferation of "Bicycle Cabs" was seen, as well as Volkswagen Taxi's in the late 1950's. Over the next hundred years the cabs evolved through Packards and DeSotos and GM Generals, and later Checker Cabs. Later the Chevrolet Caprice became the vehicle of choice for both police and taxi industry uses, and then GM quit making them. Ford picked up the slack with Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria, and in some locations the Lincoln Town Car. Of late, the popularity of vans and SUV's has seen the common USA use of Ford Aerostar, Chevrolet Astrovan, GMC Safari, Dodge Caravan and the other Chrysler vans, and the Toyota Sienna. In Europe, the Mercedes-Benz is often used, and of course the London Sterling and its look-alikes.

The next step? Well there are numerous possibilities;  the "speeder" anti-gravity car as presented in the Star Wars films would certainly generate news in the transportation world. The completely driverless coin-operated auto-navigated vehicles of some science fiction stories could evolve. That technology is certainly available now. Only the discontinuation of the use of coins entirely would modify that concept. The Star-Trek style transporter (disintegrator-integrator) device would end the physical movement of people and things from place to place except as energy packets. Don't think that is impending on our industry as yet..

                                     

 

                       HOME PAGE  TAXICABELECTRONICS.COM                                             HOME PAGE FRED STOCK.COM