13th August: New York Taxis

On this date in 1907, the first taxicabs took to the streets of New York. Today, the New York Yellow cab is an iconic feature of the city. Here are some things you might not know about them.

1. They were not always yellow. Up until 1968, each fleet of taxis had its own colour scheme. There was, however, a big problem with illegal cabs, and so the City Council decreed that all licensed cabs should be painted yellow by 1970.
2. In order to legally pick up passengers in the street, a cab must have a CPNC (Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience) commonly known as a medallion (possibly because the official name sounds like something that would be issued to a public toilet). The medallion is attached to the bonnet of the car. Because the city imposes limits on how many taxis there can be (around 14,000), medallions are at a premium and therefore very expensive. They can cost up to a million dollars. So how does a cab driver afford to pay for this? Some take out a loan, rather like a mortgage. Others lease the medallion from an investment company.
3. There are more than 13,000 taxis operating in New York.
4. Taxicabs are licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), a New York City government agency. The TLC also regulates car services, or taxis which are not allowed to pick up passengers in the street, but take customers who have called the company to order a car.
5. Up until 1954, the taxicab regulations demanded that a taxi must be able to carry five passengers behind the driver and have a trunk-mounted luggage rack. There was also a regulation that there must be a grill in the trunk (or boot) so that dead bodies couldn't be transported in there.
6. The Ford Crown Victoria accounted for 92% of all taxicabs in 2005. However, a few years ago New York City Mayor Bloomberg declared that the city would select its type of taxi for the next ten years. The "Taxi of Tomorrow" contest was won by the Nissan NV200, so this will be changing.
7. According to the The New York City Taxicab Fact Book Published in 2006 (it hasn't been updated since then - but it is crammed with facts and information for the taxi nerd and can be found at http://www.schallerconsult.com/taxi/taxifb.pdf) 91% of New York taxi drivers are immigrants, largely from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, but many other countries are represented including Afghanistan, Haiti, Egypt and even Russia. Only 1% of drivers in 2005 were women.
8. More figures from 2005 - New York City taxicabs travelled a total of 811 million miles that year, that's 64,600 miles per cab. They generated $1.82 billion in fares (including surcharges and tips) and accounted for a quarter of the revenue of any type of public transport in New York (including buses, the subway and other car services). In the borough of Manhattan this rose to 45%. The drivers earned an average of $158 per shift.
9. 71% of taxi rides are taken by people who live in Manhattan. An adult resident of Manhattan will take on average 100 cabs a year. The rest of the customers are people from the rest of New York, visitors from the rest of the US and foreign tourists. 50% more people take a taxi from the airport than to it.
10. A New York cab is available for hire when the centre light on the roof is lit. This light shows the medallion number. When the lights on either side of this light are lit, it means the driver is off duty and not taking passengers. If the round yellow light at the rear of the cab is lit, it indicates that the driver needs help.