91 Fun Facts About Taxi Cab

In which city did gasoline-powered taxis begin operating in 1899?

Gasoline-powered taxicabs began operating in Paris in 1899, followed by London in 1903, and New York in 1907.

One etymology traces the 'hackney' cab to the French 'haquenée', which meant what?

The origin is disputed: many attribute the word to the London borough of Hackney, while others favour the French haquenée, an easy-riding horse that was often let out for hire.

In what year did New York City order every licensed taxi painted yellow?

In 1967 New York ordered every licensed cab painted yellow so official taxis could be told at a glance from unlicensed 'gypsy' cabs.

Who played Travis Bickle, the 'You talkin' to me?' cabbie of Martin Scorsese's 1976 Taxi Driver?

Robert De Niro improvised the mirror scene's 'You talkin' to me?'; the script only said that Travis talks to himself in the mirror.

Which of these is decided by the passenger rather than worked out by a taxi's meter?

A Driver's tip is whatever the passenger chooses; the meter itself combines a starting charge, the distance travelled and time spent waiting in traffic.

Who took the wheel on January 1, 1915 as New York City's first female taxi driver?

Russey had spent more than a year as a car mechanic at a West 50th Street garage first, and became known for driving in a leopard-skin hat and stole.

What nickname did Walter Bersey's 1897 London electric cabs earn from their noise?

Bersey's battery cabs, on London streets from August 1897, were nicknamed 'Hummingbirds' for the hum of their electric motors.

The Daimler Victoria, the first motorised taximeter cab, began operating in June 1897 in which city?

Friedrich Greiner's Daimler Motorized Cab Company put the taximeter-equipped Daimler Victoria into service in Stuttgart in June 1897, the first motor taxi.

When did horse-drawn hackney carriage services begin operating in both Paris and London?

Both cities had horse-drawn hackney services in the 1600s: London had about 20 hackney coaches for hire by 1625, and Paris's fiacres took their name from the Hôtel de Saint-Fiacre, where they were hired out in the mid-1600s.

Who played Alex, the veteran cabbie at the heart of the sitcom Taxi?

Judd Hirsch played Alex, the one driver in the garage who admits cab-driving is his real job; the role won him two Primetime Emmys, in 1981 and 1983.

London black-cab drivers must pass 'The Knowledge', covering roughly how many central London streets?

The Knowledge covers roughly 25,000 streets within six miles of Charing Cross, plus some 320 set runs and thousands of landmarks; most candidates take three to four years to pass.

What does UK law call a taxi licensed to ply for hire on the street?

Unlike private hire vehicles, which must be pre-booked, a hackney carriage may cruise the streets looking for passengers.

Which two-wheeled London cab, patented in 1834 by a York architect, was light enough for a single horse?

The hansom cab was designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom as a significant improvement on the old hackney carriages, being lighter and requiring only one horse.

The TAXI sign on a London black cab's roof lights up and goes dark; what is it there to do?

The sign is lit to show whether it is available for hire: light on means the cab is free, light off means it is taken or off duty.

In 1907 Harry N. Allen started the New York Taxicab Company by importing how many gasoline cars from France?

Allen launched the New York Taxicab Company in October 1907 with 65 gasoline-powered cabs imported from France, the first metered motor taxis in the city.

Travis Bickle, the insomniac cabbie of Scorsese's 1976 Taxi Driver, is a former Marine who served in which war?

The Vietnam War is where Travis served as a Marine before driving nights through a decaying New York; his spiral ends with him turning vigilante.

In taxi jargon, what is the fixed amount added to the fare the moment you get into the cab?

The drop is where the fare starts before the wheels turn; after it, everything is metered by distance and waiting time.

Which city's taxi fleet is famously known for its 'black cabs'?

London's black cabs are officially hackney carriages, and Transport for London's rules even fix their turning circle, which is why they can U-turn on a narrow street.

What legal term covers taxi companies, airlines and railroads because they offer transport to the general public?

Common carriers hold themselves out to carry anyone who pays the fare, which is what distinguishes them from private carriers who choose their customers.

New York's 1937 Haas Act froze the yellow-cab fleet and created which transferable licence?

Medallions, the transferable licences created by the 1937 freeze, became the scarce asset: the fleet size barely changed for decades, so the licence rather than the car carried the value.

In the sitcom Taxi (1978-83), the drivers work the night shift out of which fictional garage?

The Sunshine Cab Company garage was the drivers' base; most treated the night shift as a stopgap while chasing other careers under dispatcher Louie De Palma.

Who played Louie De Palma, the caged-in dispatcher who bullies the drivers on the sitcom Taxi?

Danny DeVito won the part by walking into his audition, asking 'Who wrote this shit?' and throwing the script on the table. Louie was the show's villain for five seasons.

On Taxi, Andy Kaufman's Latka developed a smooth-talking lounge-lizard alter ego who went by what name?

Vic Ferrari was Latka's swaggering alter ego; the writers gave Latka multiple personality disorder so Andy Kaufman could play other characters on the show.

Who played the burnt-out 1960s casualty 'Reverend' Jim Ignatowski on Taxi?

Jim first appeared as a guest star in 1978 and joined the main cast the following year, a few years before Lloyd became Doc Brown in Back to the Future.

After ABC cancelled Taxi in 1982, which network picked the sitcom up for its fifth and final season?

NBC picked up Taxi for the 1982-83 season after ABC dropped it; for a while it had looked as though a premium cable channel would rescue the show instead.

Across its five seasons, how many Primetime Emmy Awards did the sitcom Taxi win?

Taxi won 18 Primetime Emmys across its five seasons, including Outstanding Comedy Series three years running from 1979 to 1981.

Who composed 'Angela', the mellow instrumental theme of the sitcom Taxi?

Bob James wrote 'Angela' for a scene in the third episode, 'Blind Date', and the producers liked it more than the up-tempo theme they had planned.

The opening titles of the sitcom Taxi show a Checker cab crossing which East River bridge?

The Queensboro Bridge shot of a Checker cab ran through all five seasons, making the bridge one of the most-seen pieces of New York infrastructure on 1970s and '80s television.

On Taxi, Marilu Henner's Elaine Nardo only drives part-time; what is her day job?

Elaine's day job is gallery receptionist at a Manhattan art gallery; a divorced mother of two, she was the rare driver with a real career outside the garage.

Which future co-developer of The Simpsons was one of the four co-creators of the sitcom Taxi?

James L. Brooks created Taxi with Stan Daniels, David Davis and Ed. Weinberger, all Mary Tyler Moore Show veterans; he later developed The Simpsons with Matt Groening and Sam Simon.

Luc Besson's 1998 French action-comedy Taxi follows a speed-loving cabbie in which city?

Marseille is the setting: Samy Naceri's cabbie Daniel races his secretly souped-up cab through the city, and the film spawned four sequels plus a 2004 American remake.

Which supermodel made her film debut leading a bank-robbing gang in the 2004 remake Taxi?

Gisele Bündchen played Vanessa, whose gang of Brazilian bank robbers is chased through New York by Queen Latifah's cabbie Belle Williams and Jimmy Fallon's demoted detective.

Which stand-up comedian drove the cab and asked the questions on Discovery's Cash Cab, starting in 2005?

Ben Bailey pulled over and ejected passengers after three wrong answers; Cash Cab won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show three years running.

On which network did the hidden-camera series Taxicab Confessions air from 1995 to 2006?

HBO's Taxicab Confessions used hidden cameras; passengers only learned they had been filmed at the end of the ride, when they were asked to sign a waiver.

In Michael Mann's Collateral (2004), who plays Max, the LA cabbie forced to drive Tom Cruise's silver-haired hitman around all night?

Jamie Foxx got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Collateral in the same year he won Best Actor for Ray.

Which of these is one of the five cities in Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991)?

Helsinki is the fifth city, alongside Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Rome; Roberto Benigni drives the Roman cab and Tom Waits scored the film.

Which top prize did Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver win at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival?

Taxi Driver took the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1976 from a jury chaired by Tennessee Williams; the film also earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Toyota's JPN Taxi was developed to meet Japan's universal-design goals ahead of which event?

Toyota launched the JPN Taxi in October 2017 with a wheelchair ramp and sliding door, aiming for a universal-design fleet before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo; it replaced the Comfort and Crown Sedan taxis.

What colour are the Hong Kong taxis that serve Lantau Island?

Lantau taxis are blue; red cabs cover Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, green ones the New Territories, and only 75 of the roughly 18,000 licensed taxis are blue.

A 2002 Mexico City decree doomed the Beetle taxis by refusing permits to cars with what feature?

The 2002 rule refused new permits to cars with only two doors, which favoured the four-door Nissan Tsuru; the last 'Vocho' Beetle cabs left the streets after 2012.

After a 2010 San Francisco cease-and-desist order, Uber dropped which original name?

UberCab was renamed Uber after San Francisco regulators sent a cease-and-desist order in October 2010; co-founder Garrett Camp, who also founded StumbleUpon, started the company with Travis Kalanick in 2009.

The price of a New York City yellow-cab licence peaked around 2013 at roughly what figure?

Licences sold for over $1 million at the 2013-14 peak; ride-hailing then crushed the market, and by 2018 one could be had for under $200,000.

The tight turning circle required of black cabs is traditionally attributed to the roundabout at which hotel?

The Savoy's narrow Savoy Court entrance is the traditional reason; the rule survives in Transport for London's Conditions of Fitness, which cap the turning circle at 8.535 metres (28 feet).

Checker cabs, long dominant on American streets, were built in which Michigan city?

Checker Motors built its taxis in Kalamazoo, Michigan; founder Morris Markin formed the company in 1922, and the civilian version of its A12 taxi was sold as the Checker Marathon.

Bajaj Auto, a major maker of three-wheeled tuk-tuk auto rickshaws, is based in which country?

India is home to Bajaj Auto, and the 'tuk-tuk' name is pure onomatopoeia for the putter of a small two-stroke engine.

Which New York mayor signed Local Law 12 in 1971, creating the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission?

John Lindsay, mayor from 1966 to 1973, signed the 1971 law creating the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which took over taxi regulation from the Police Department's Hack Bureau.

Which automaker's NV200 van won New York City's 'Taxi of Tomorrow' competition?

Nissan's NV200 won the 2011 'Taxi of Tomorrow' contest and entered the yellow-cab fleet near the end of October 2013.

The Austin FX4 black cab, launched in 1958, stayed in production until which year?

The FX4 ran from 1958 to 1997, latterly badged as the Fairway; its successors kept the same basic styling, right up to the plug-in hybrid LEVC TX introduced in 2017.

New York's 'boro taxis', launched in 2013 to pick up outside Manhattan's core, are painted what colour?

Apple green marks a cab that may pick up in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan but not in the business district or at the airports; fares match the yellow cabs.

In the 2000 census, which country was the most common birthplace of New York City taxi drivers?

Bangladesh was the most common birthplace in the 2000 census; drivers reported 167 different countries of birth, and 84% were immigrants, up from 38% in 1980.

In which year did New York sell its first new taxi licences since the 1937 freeze?

The 1996 sale added the first new licences since the 1937 freeze: 400 were sold over 1996-97, lifting the fleet from 11,787 to 12,187.

On the sitcom Taxi, Tony Danza's Tony Banta is trying to make it as what?

Tony Banta is a boxer with a losing record who drives a cab between bouts; Danza himself had been a professional boxer before he was cast.

The first hackney-carriage licences in London date from an Act of Parliament in which year?

The 1662 Act of Parliament capped London hackney coach licences at 400 and set up Commissioners, based at Scotland Yard, to regulate them.

Since which year must all newly registered London taxis be zero-emission capable?

From 1 January 2018 every newly licensed London taxi had to be zero-emission capable; by December 2023 more than half the roughly 14,700-strong fleet qualified, led by the plug-in hybrid LEVC TX launched in 2017.

In which year did motor cabs first outnumber horse-drawn growlers and hansoms on London's streets?

In 1910 motor cabs outnumbered horse-drawn cabs in London for the first time; the Public Carriage Office had published its Conditions of Fitness for motor cabs in 1906.

What was the popular nickname for the driver of a London hackney coach?

A true hackney coach had four wheels, two horses and six seats, with the jarvey and a servant riding outside.

The 'cab' in taxicab is short for cabriolet, a carriage named from French for what?

Cabriolet comes from the French cabrioler, 'to leap', after the light two-wheeled carriage's bouncing ride; its clipped form 'cab' was joined to 'taxi' to make 'taxicab'.

The Thurn and Taxis family, falsely credited with the word 'taxi', ran which kind of service?

The Thurn and Taxis family ran the Holy Roman Empire's imperial postal service from the early 1500s; 'taxi' actually comes from the German 'Taxe', a scale of charges, via the taximeter.

Thornton Blackburn, founder of Toronto's first cab service in 1837, had earlier been what?

Blackburn, an escaped slave from Kentucky, was recaptured in Detroit, sparking the 1833 Blackburn Riots; freed by a crowd, he reached Canada and ran the red-and-yellow cab 'The City' for decades.

America's first domestically built taxicabs were made in 1908 in Bristol, in which state?

Albert Rockwell built the cabs in Bristol, Connecticut; designer Fred Moskovics had worked at Daimler in the 1890s and went on to help organise New York's first Yellow Taxicab Company.

Who suggested Albert Rockwell give his Bristol-built taxicabs their eye-catching colour?

Nettie Rockwell simply liked the shade, and visibility from a distance did the rest; the Rockwell Service Cab became the Yellow Taxicab.

In July 1897 New York's first taxi company started running how many electric cabs?

Samuel's Electric Carriage and Wagon Company put 12 electric hansom cabs on New York's streets in July 1897, the city's first taxi service; the firm later became the Electric Vehicle Company.

In September 1914 Paris taxis rushed troops to the front at which town, 50 km away?

The cabs delivered troops to Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and nearby Silly-le-Long on the nights of 6-8 September 1914; driving with only rear lights lit, each followed the taxi ahead.

The Marne taxis ran their meters; what total fare did the French treasury reimburse?

The meters came to 70,012 francs, which the French treasury paid; the military effect was modest, but the episode became a symbol of solidarity between the army and the citizens of Paris.

How many soldiers did each of the Marne taxis carry to the front in 1914?

Five per cab: four rode in the back and one sat beside the driver, and about 600 Renault taxis shifted several thousand men over the nights of 6-8 September 1914.

After the 1974 pub bombings, taxis ferried the injured to hospital in which British city?

Birmingham's taxi drivers took the wounded from the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town to hospital on 21 November 1974, when ambulances could not cope with the two IRA bombs' 182 injured.

Which car was Mumbai's classic black-and-yellow 'kaali-peeli' taxi for decades?

The Premier Padmini, a licence-built Fiat 1100 made by Premier Automobiles in Mumbai for decades, was the classic black-and-yellow 'kaali-peeli' cab; the last ones were retired in 2023.

In US cab slang, the upfront sum a driver pays to lease a taxi for a shift is called what?

A driver 'on the nut' has not yet earned the lease back; only after covering the nut, plus fuel, does the rest of the shift's take become income.

Grid-based 'taxicab geometry' is also named after which New York borough?

'Manhattan distance' sums the horizontal and vertical differences, exactly as a cab must drive around Manhattan's blocks; Hermann Minkowski formalised the metric.

Driving an electric cab in New York in 1899, Jacob German received America's first what?

German was arrested on 20 May 1899 for doing about 12 mph on Lexington Avenue, America's first speeding ticket; months later a cab from the same company struck Henry Bliss, the first US motor-vehicle fatality.

Henry Bliss, America's first motor fatality in 1899, was hit by a cab stepping off what?

Bliss was stepping off a streetcar at Central Park West and 74th Street on 13 September 1899 when an Electric Vehicle Company cab struck him; he died the next morning.

As of 2012, what flat yellow-cab fare applied between JFK Airport and midtown?

The JFK-Manhattan flat fare went to $52 in September 2012, up from $45, then to $70 at the end of 2022; Newark trips are charged the metered fare plus a surcharge.

'Janie', the last Checker cab working New York's streets, was retired in which year?

Built in 1978 and carrying medallion 1N11, Janie bowed out on 26 July 1999 after roughly a million miles, retired under the city's vehicle-age rules, and was sold at auction that year.

Checker founder Morris Markin got rich in World War I supplying the US Army with what?

Markin, a Russian immigrant clothier in Chicago, won a wartime contract to make army uniforms; he got into cabs by calling in a $15,000 loan to a body maker that could not repay him.

In 1999 TV Guide named which Taxi character the greatest TV character of all time?

Louie De Palma topped TV Guide's 1999 list of the 50 greatest TV characters; Danny DeVito won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing him.

On Taxi, Jim took the surname Ignatowski believing it was what, spelt backwards?

Jim Caldwell renamed himself Ignatowski thinking it was 'Star Child' backwards; he had been a diligent Harvard student with a wealthy father until one drug-laced brownie sent him on his long downward spiral.

Whose Taxi Driver score was his last, finished just hours before he died in December 1975?

Bernard Herrmann finished recording the score on 23 December 1975 and died in his sleep that night; Scorsese called him his 'first and only choice' and dedicated the film to his memory.

To avoid an X rating for Taxi Driver's climactic shootout, what did Scorsese do?

Scorsese desaturated the colours of the shootout so the blood read as muted; that earned an R, and cinematographer Michael Chapman later regretted it because no print with the original colours survives.

John Hinckley Jr. said his 1981 attack on Reagan was to impress which Taxi Driver star?

Hinckley had become obsessed with Jodie Foster after repeatedly watching Taxi Driver, and his lawyers showed the film to the jury during his 1982 trial, which ended in a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Joni Mitchell says she wrote 'Big Yellow Taxi' on her first trip to where?

On her first trip to Hawaii, Mitchell drew back her Honolulu hotel curtains to see green mountains and then a parking lot 'as far as the eye could see', and wrote the song that day.

Harry Chapin's 'Taxi' made history where when its host brought him back the next night?

Johnny Carson brought Chapin back to The Tonight Show the following night, a first for the show, after viewers' calls and telegrams; 'Taxi' peaked at No. 24 on the Hot 100 in 1972.

The Cash Cab game-show franchise originated in which country?

The US version on Discovery kicked players out after three wrong answers, and moved to Bravo in 2019.

In the 1998 French film Taxi, cabbie Daniel drives a white, secretly souped-up what?

Daniel's cab is a white Peugeot 406 that sprouts a spoiler and extra lights at the flick of a switch; the film spawned four sequels, the last in 2018, with Marion Cotillard as his girlfriend Lilly.

Jafar Panahi's 2015 docufiction Taxi won the top prize at which film festival?

Taxi took the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival; banned from filmmaking and travel by Iran since 2010, Panahi posed as a share-taxi driver, and his niece Hana Saeidi collected the prize.

'Rickshaw' comes from the Japanese 'jinrikisha', which literally means what?

Jinrikisha is literally 'human-powered vehicle' (jin, riki, sha); the cart was most likely invented in 1869 after Japan lifted its Tokugawa-era ban on wheeled vehicles.

The Philippine 'jeepney' blends 'jeep' with which older word for a cheap share taxi?

Jitney, an old American word for a cheap share taxi, gave the jeepney half its name; surplus US Army jeeps left behind after 1945 became the template for Manila's decorated minibuses.

The share-taxi name 'matatu' comes from a Swahili or Kikuyu word for which number?

The name recalls the 30-cent fare of the early 1970s, paid as three 10-cent coins; 'tatu' is Swahili for three.

Cuba's three-wheeled 'cocotaxi' takes its name from its body's resemblance to what?

The round yellow fibreglass shell looks like a coconut cut in half, hence 'cocotaxi'; it carries two or three tourists behind a scooter-style driver.

Until November 2005, German law required taxis to be painted what colour?

Light ivory (hellelfenbein, RAL 1015) was compulsory; cream Mercedes-Benz E-Class saloons were the archetype, and after the federal rule was dropped in 2005 the states set their own colour rules.

What did early Lyft drivers attach to the front of their cars as a marketing gimmick?

Riders were also urged to sit up front and fist-bump the driver; a smaller dashboard 'glowstache' replaced the fuzzy version in 2015.

Which motoring show declared the Hindustan Ambassador the best taxi in the world?

Top Gear's taxi test crowned the Ambassador the world's best; built from 1957 to 2014 on the bones of the Morris Oxford Series III, the 'Amby' was Kolkata's yellow taxi for decades.