Tag Archives: taxi life

It’s a fundraiser for immigrants. Via DNA Info: Call it socially minded sexiness. The 2016 New York City Taxi Drivers Calendar is now out, and features a dozen of the city’s steamiest (and good-humored) yellow cab drivers in provocative positions. A portion of the proceeds from calendar sales will go to the University Settlement Society of New York, a city …

Uber has temporarily slashed its rates to just below those of New York City’s licensed yellow cabs. “UberX is now cheaper than an NYC taxi,” Uber proclaimed on its website on Monday. “From Brooklyn to the Bronx, and everywhere in between, UberX is now the most affordable ride in the city.” The move — an aggressive bid to capture an …

Via the Guardian: Several major European cities ground to a halt on Wednesday as licensed taxi drivers took to the streets in mass protests against the smartphone taxi app Uber. Demonstrations in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan and Rome caused travel chaos and long tailbacks, as taxi drivers protested against the app, which they argue is unregulated and threatens …

CBS Chicago reports that a trade newspaper for the local taxi industry is threatening to out five “closeted homosexual” Chicago city aldermen over their support for ride-sharing services like Uber. But this is probably all a prank. In an editorial in The Chicago Dispatcher, publisher George Lutfallah said the trade publication “has learned that five of the city’s 50 aldermen …

Yes, this is also a thing. We took to the streets of New York to photograph some of the city’s best-humored taxi drivers. These gentlemen put a face to one of the most dedicated workforces in NYC, driving day and night to transport New Yorkers and our guests alike. 100% of net sales proceeds will go to University Settlement, America’s …

Promo clip by Nissan. I will always miss the Crown Vics.

USA Today reports on taxi fares around the nation. At USA TODAY’s request, TaxiFareFinder.com calculated estimated one-mile, five-mile and 10-mile fares in the 60 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Fares in Honolulu, San Jose and San Francisco are among the highest. Fares in Detroit, Dallas and Pittsburgh are among the lowest. The most expensive one-mile estimated fares are $8.01 in San …

Always a clusterfuck.

As New Yorkers well know, it’s illegal for cab drivers to refuse fares to the outer boroughs. But we also know that it happens all the time. One such refusal has just lost a longtime driver his hack license after surveillance video showed him physically ejecting his Queens-bound passenger onto the street. Somehow the driver hasn’t been charged with assault.

NYC’s new taxi design removes the last vestige of the old checkered cabs. Even the oft puzzled over “AXI” is going away. The New York Times reacts: What’s next? “T Driver,” starring Robert De Niro? Not likely, even though the new logotype for medallion taxis, which is beginning to appear on New York streets, has eliminated the word “taxi” in …

Most of my cab issues have to do with hundreds of people hailing at the same post-event time, so I can’t see this being much help in Manhattan. But it could be great in the outer boroughs. So far, out of more than 13,000 yellow taxis on the road, 1,000 drivers have signed-up for the app and say they’re excited. …

New York City’s cab fares may go up by 20% before the start of summer. The city Taxi & Limousine Commission will consider a proposal next week to boost taxi fares for the first time since allowing a 24% increase in 2006. “The fare hasn’t changed since 2006, so it is reasonable for taxi drivers and fleet owners to put …

Gothamist points us to this handy app.

As I blogged about several times last year, New York City held a contest to replace its fleet of Crown Victoria taxis, which are no longer being built. My personal favorite, the futuristic entry from Turkey, was not selected. The winning Nissan entry debuted this week at the New York Auto Show. The city’s first purpose-built cab will host myriad …

Bad news for lots of people: Global Payments—a massive international credit-card processor—has confirmed that it suffered a massive security breach. Hackers managed to acquire customer information from up to 1.5 million accounts across North America. As far as we know, every major credit card provider is affected. Worse news for New Yorkers: In this case, it seems those most at …

The “Off Duty” light on NYC cabs means the vehicle is out of service. Except for when you are going the same direction as the cabbie’s route home. Or except for when the cabbie wants to make sure you aren’t going to, horrors, Brooklyn. All that is about to end. Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman David Yassky said Tuesday medallion …

Probably. The city may ditch the blaring taxi TVs that drive passengers and cabbies nuts and replace them with iPads, officials said yesterday. A private company has proposed a pilot program that would remove the current screens — which run a continuous loop of local news segments and commercials from TV stations — and install the tablet computers, city officials …

Upstreaming is the tactic of walking past the person who has been waiting for a cab longer than you have. It’s also the cause of a lot of late night street fights. But according to one etiquette expert, upstreaming is sometimes permissible. From Henry Alford’s new book: That New Yorkers cut in lines and steal cabs is not, on the …

These days the safest investment might be a New York City taxi. A New York City taxi medallion is a tin plate that grants a person the right to operate a yellow cab. On Wednesday, two medallions were sold for $1 million each, the highest price ever. In 1937 when the first medallion was issued, it went for $10. New …

With all of mass transit out of service, today New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission ordered livery cabs and taxis to switch to a zoned fare system. Zoned fares begin tomorrow morning and metered rides will continue until then. Twitter users have already begun reporting major cab fare ripoffs since the subways closed down at noon. As in “$50 …