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Metered NYC Taxis Celebrate 109 Years!

Posted by NYCYellowCabTaxi.com on August 16, 2016

NYC_Taxi

We might think of the taxicab as a commonplace occurrence, however the iconic yellow cab hasn’t been around forever.

Over 109 years ago, businessman Harry N. Allen invented the metered fare idea after he was hit with a five dollar cost for a quarter mile ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

In 1907, Harry N. Allen introduced the first fleet of imported gasoline-powered taxicabs into the streets of New York City.  Each vehicle was equipped with “taximeters” to charge fees based on mileage.

Allen started his business with a loan from his father and a handful of successful backers (William Randolph Hearst among them).

The cars were initially painted red and green, and the stereotypical yellow taxi color came about in 1967 when New York created a law stating that all taxis should be yellow in order to make them more readily identifiable.  This yellow color also prevented fraudulent drivers, since they either had to already own a yellow car or else pay money to have their cars painted.

The original fare was $.50 a mile, which was really only affordable to the wealthy population.

Drivers were required to wear uniforms designed to mirror a West Point cadet and Allen encouraged them to be courteous to all passengers and to offer good customer service.

Within a decade, several more taxi cab companies opened in the footsteps of Allen.

Today, more than 12,000 licensed yellow cabs operate in Manhattan alone, but the fleet has been historically wrecked by labor disputes, racial strife, fierce competition and political maneuvering since it overtook the initial horse-drawn cabs in the early 20th century.

Today, the taxi industry remains critical to transportation around urban areas, especially New York City, where the yellow taxi acts as a global representation of the city at large.

By Stephanie

YellowCabNYCTaxi.com Staff Writer

 

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5 thoughts on “Metered NYC Taxis Celebrate 109 Years!”

  1. Anonymous on August 20, 2016 at 12:55 am said:

    Why would you drive yellow now,Let TLC loose medallions.if you want us pay you full lease why would you let uber lyft and others to come in..stupid drivers still paying lease..hell .get out and do something.deliver pizza free risk and cash money ,no tickets no hustle and free pain ,get you a bike and cycle it to the end and put those cabs on side walks .

  2. FairShare on August 20, 2016 at 10:56 am said:

    Delivering pizza is next thing for uber drivers earning nothing.

  3. Dumbfounded.... on August 20, 2016 at 1:23 pm said:

    Why Does Any Uberfool Drive For a Boss that Says I Will Be Firing you When Driverless Cars Are Here….Are YOU that Stupid ?

  4. Nycxab on August 20, 2016 at 3:31 pm said:

    Driverless car. Won’t fire drivers but police .and traffic agencies.also it will affect lawers income city ticketing income.and it will kill car makers .driveless car will open a big gate to prostitution and drug dealers .passengers will put inside the cars what ever they want and terrorist and criminals will use it easily .as you know you can activate an uber app just by providing a credit card and personal information and criminals don’t care for that ,at the end they can declare it as stolen identity or wouldn’t care..but having a driver is like a security for public toilets.in addition people with credit history and illegals with no bank account will never get a ride and that is against humanity.computers can’t feel things they calculate things so they will never replace humans..just place a cone in front of this self drive car and won’t move .if a criminal at night stops in front of this driverless car it won’t move..this technology will lead to big wave of confusion and problems.

  5. Nycxab on August 20, 2016 at 3:56 pm said:

    These tech companies are collecting money wirelessly and don’t care for public,they want easy money .without facing the client and heat ,they want easy transfer money straight to their bank accounts with an air conditioning..if a driver is a self employed then he has right to stop transfering money to his broker or uber but only pay lease .they want money that why they were made these apps and telling drivers don’t worry we gonna take care of your money and passenger and you the driver just drive and dont worry…
    What’s??is this an other religions thing and haven promising??
    Is this modernization??
    No,,I drive ,its my car,it’s my risk ,it’s my time ,Driver has the right to transfer money to their own account.Or we have to stop. it dosent work and it won’t work .because drivers not here to do free work.

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Adrienne Zernich: Waiting in line for over an hour at LGA airport. It’s not a holiday and there are literally no taxis. You wonder why every calls Uber and Lyft.

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