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Taxicab
Taxicab, short forms taxi or cab, is a type of public transport for single passenger or small group of passengers, typically for non-shared ride.
Contents
1 History and etymology
2 Vehicles
3 Wheelchair accessible taxis
4 Livery
5 Regulation
6 Hiring
7 Dispatching
8 Fares
9 Navigation
10 International Trade Association
11 Taxis around the world
11.1 Australia
11.1.1 First Motorised Taxis In Australia
11.1.2 Ascot Taxi Service
11.1.3 Yellow Cab Company
11.1.4 Previous Cab Companies
11.1.5 Blue And White Taxi Company
11.1.6 Black And White Taxi Company
11.1.7 Brisbane Cab Company
11.1.8 Country Queensland Taxi Companies
11.2 Germany
11.3 Paris
11.4 London
11.5 United States
11.6 New York
11.7 Washington, D.C.
11.8 Hong Kong
11.9 Jakarta
11.10 Seoul
11.11 Glasgow
11.12 Luton

History and etymology
Horse-drawn for-hire hackney carriage services began operating in both Paris and London in the early 17th century. Royal proclamations in both cities regulated the number of carriages--the first example of taxicab regulation. In the 19th century, Hansom cabs largely replaced the older designs because of their improved speed and safety.
Although battery-powered vehicles enjoyed a brief success in Paris, London, and New York in the 1890s, the 1891 invention by German Wilhelm Bruhn of the taximeter (the familiar mechanical and now often electronic device that calculates the fare in most taxis) ushered in the modern taxi. (The "taxi" in "taximeter" is related to the word "tax," or "rate.") The first modern meter-equipped taxi was the Daimler Victoria, built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1897; the first motorized taxi company began operating in Stuttgart the same year.
Petrol powered taxis began operating in Paris in 1899, in London in 1903, and in New York in 1907. The New York taxis were imported from France by businessperson Harry N. Allen, who adapted the French word taxi-m�tre and coined the word "taxicab" to describe the vehicles he was importing. In time, the shortened term "taxi" came into common usage. (Allen was also the first person to paint his taxis yellow, after learning that yellow is the colour most easily seen from a distance.)
The yellow taxicabs of New York City.Taxis proliferated around the world in the early 20th century. The first major innovation after the invention of the taximeter occurred in the late 1940s, when two-way radios first appeared in taxicabs. Radios enabled taxis and dispatch offices to communicate and serve customers more efficiently than previous methods, such as using callboxes. The next major innovation occurred in the 1980s, when computer assisted dispatching was first introduced.
There has generally been a legal struggle concerning the certification of motor vehicles to be taxis, which take much more wear than a private car does. In Britain, they were additionally required to meet stringent specifications, for example, as concerns turn radius, which resulted for a time in having only one make legally usable. In the US, in the 1930s the cabs were often DeSotos or Packards. General Motors offered a specialized vehicle for a time, named the General. The firm Checker came into existence then, and went out of business in the 1970s. Its cars were specially built to carry "double dates." But now New York City requires that all taxicabs be ordinary cars. They are usually large Fords. In the 1960s in Europe, Mercedes Benz and Peugeot offered diesel taxicabs. This form of engine is now quite common there.
(Sources: BBC America: Ask a Cabby; The New York City Taxicab Fact Book (2003), p. 22; Today in Science History).

Vehicles
A traditional New York City taxi, the Crown VictoriaTaxi service is typically provided by automobiles, but various human powered vehicles (such as the rickshaw) and animal powered vehicles (such as the Hansom cab) or even boats (such as water taxis or gondolas) are also used or have been used historically. In Western Europe it is not uncommon for expensive cars such as Mercedes-Benz to be the taxi of choice. Often this decision is based upon the perceived reliability of, and warranty offered with these vehicles. These taxi-service vehicles are often equipped with four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines and low levels of equipment, and are not considered luxury cars. (This often surprises Americans, who are used to seeing only the upmarket trims and associate Mercedes-Benz cars with luxury.)
Taxis in less developed places can be a completely different experience, such as the ancient French cars typically found in Cairo, however starting March, 2006 new yellow modern taxi entered the service operated by various private companies. Taxis differ in other ways as well: London's black cabs have a large compartment beside the driver for storing bags, while many fleets of regular taxis also include wheelchair accessible taxis among their numbers (see below). Although taxis have traditionally been sedans, minivan and even SUV taxis are becoming increasingly common. In many cities, limousines operate as well, usually in competition with taxis and at higher fares.

Wheelchair accessible taxis
In recent years, some companies have been adding specially modified vehicles capable of transporting wheelchair-using passengers to their fleets. Such taxis are variously called accessible taxis, wheelchair- or wheelchair-accessible taxis, modified taxis, and so on.
Wheelchair taxis are most often vans or minivans which have undergone special modifications. Wheelchair-using passengers are loaded, with the help of the driver, via a lift or, more commonly, a ramp, at the rear of the vehicle. The wheelchair is secured using various systems, commonly including some type of belt and clip combination, or wheel locks. Most wheelchair cabs are capable of transporting only one wheelchair-using passenger at a time, though most can accommodate up to four additional able-bodied passengers.
Wheelchair taxis are part of the regular fleet in most cases, and so are not reserved exclusively for the use of wheelchair users. They are often used by able-bodied people who need to transport luggage, small items of furniture, animals, and other items. Because of this, and since only a small percentage of the average fleet is modified, wheelchair users must often wait for significantly longer periods when calling for a cab, and flagging a modified cab on the street is much more difficult. This can result in several hazardeous conditions.

Livery
Originally, hackney carriage companies were distinguished from each other by their drivers' livery (uniforms) and by the colours of their carriages. For example, at the end of the 19th century in Paris, Compagnie Generale carriages were painted blue, while those of Abeille were painted green ("The Paris Cabman"). During the early years of the twentieth century, private cars were usually black because paints of other colours were not durable. Taxis were the exception, as they would be touched up or worn out. Around the world today, taxi companies are still distinguished by the way their cars are painted.
Yellow taxicabs in Kolkata, India.In North America, many older taxi companies are named according to their paint schemes. Thus, "Yellow Cabs" are painted yellow, Checker Cabs have a distinctive black-and-white or black-and-yellow checkerboard stripe around their bodies, "Blue and White Cabs" might have blue bodies and white roofs, and "Black Top" and "Red Top Cabs" have black and red roofs respectively. In the 1920s, a famous company named "Brown and White" lost a lawsuit to prevent other taxi drivers from painting their cars these colours.
Some localities require their cabs to be particular colors. Mexico City's ubiquitous VW Type 1 (Beetle) cabs are green and white by law.
Taxis of Hong Kong have three colours based on service area. Red for urban Hong Kong, green for New Territories and blue for Lantau Island. The colours are to prevent service imbalance between less densely populated areas and urban centres of the territory.
In a slightly different sense of livery, the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers became a City of London Livery Company in 2004.

Regulation
Taxi!It is often the case that people in general use the term "taxi" to refer to both the black cab and the minicab. This is incorrect, and when a minicab company uses the word taxi on their livery it can lead to prosecution by the local government body. A cab that cannot be flagged down on the street is known as a private hire vehicle (in North America, a livery car or for-hire vehicle). Both taxis and drivers are regulated to greatly varying degrees in different places, from free-for-all to highly restrictive licensing schemes. In many countries, the number of taxis and the areas where they may operate are strictly controlled by a regulatory body. (Paradoxically, taxis are often most heavily regulated in wealthy, laissez-faire economies--as exemplified by the strict systems in London and New York, which are discussed below.) In such systems, a person must purchase a license or medallion if he or she wishes to own a taxi. In many jurisdictions, both owners and non-owning drivers of taxis are also tested and licensed by the police or the regulatory body. Police checks and more extensive background checks, training courses and chaperones are often used when drivers are asked to deal with special needs customers on a regular basis.

A London black cab with the vanity plate "TIIPME".[edit]
Hiring
Taxis are often "hailed" or "flagged" on the street, either by a passenger as a taxi is driving by, or at a taxi stand (sometimes also called a "cab stand" or "hack stand," also "taxi rank" or "cab rank"). Taxi stands are usually located at airports, railway stations, and hotels, as well as at other places where large numbers of passengers are likely to be found. In some places�Japan, for example�taxi stands are arranged according to the size of the taxis, so that large- and small-capacity cabs line up separately. Passengers also commonly call a central dispatch office for taxis. Private Hire vehicles can only be hired from the dispatch office, they have to be given each fare they carry over the radio or from their office. To pick up off the street can lead to suspension and revocation of the driver's taxi license and prosecution. This doesn't always stop it from happening, but people standing at the road side rarely understand why a taxi won't stop for them.

Dispatching
The activity of taxi fleets is usually monitored and controlled by a central office, which provides dispatching, accounting, and human resources services to one or more taxi companies. Taxi owners and drivers usually communicate with the dispatch office through either a 2-way radio or a computer terminal (called a mobile data terminal). Before the innovation of radio dispatch in the 1950s, taxi drivers would use a callbox�a special telephone at a taxi stand�to contact the dispatch office.
When a customer calls for a taxi, a trip is dispatched by either radio or computer to the most suitable cab. The most suitable cab may either be the one closest to the pick-up address (often determined by GPS coordinates nowadays) or the one that was the first to book in to the "zone" surrounding the pickup address. Cabs are sometimes dispatched from their taxi stands; a call to "Top of the 2" means that the first cab in line at stand #2 is supposed to pick someone up.
In offices using radio dispatch, taxi locations are often tracked using magnetic "pegs" on a "board"�a metal sheet with an engraved map of taxi zones. In computerized dispatch, the status of taxis is tracked by the computer system.
Taxi frequencies are generally licensed in duplex pairs. One frequency is used for the dispatcher to talk to the cabs, and a second frequency is used to the cabs to talk back. This means that the drivers generally cannot talk to each other. Some cabs have a CB radio in addition to the company radio so they can speak to each other.
In the United States, there is a Taxicab Radio Service with pairs assigned for this purpose. A taxi company can also be licensed in the Business Radio Service. Business frequencies in the UHF range are also licensed in pairs to allow for repeaters, though taxi companies usually use the pair for duplex communications.
Some companies don't operate their own radio system and instead subscribe to an SMR system. The conventional radios are most suited to companies that operate within the local area and have a high volume of radio traffic. The SMR is more commonly used by black car services that cover a wider area, and smaller companies who use less airtime and don't want to run their own radio systems. Some small car services don't use a dispatcher at all. Instead the customers' calls are forwarded to the cell phones of whichever drivers are on duty at the time.

Fares
For the distance travelled, fares for taxis are usually higher than for other forms of public transport (bus, tram, metro, train). The fare often does not depend on the number of people travelling together in a taxi. Sometimes there is a system where strangers share a taxi and fares are per person. Fares are usually calculated according to a combination of distance and waiting time, and are measured by a taximeter ("meter" for short and the origin of the word "taxi"). Instead of a metered fare, passengers sometimes pay a flat fare. In some countries, when demand is high�for instance, late at night�a taxi will pick up whoever offers the highest fare.
Inside Japanese taxicab in Kyoto with GPS navigation on board[edit]
Navigation
Most experienced taxi drivers who have been working in the same city or region for a while would be expected to know the most important streets and places where their customers might want to go. However, to aid the process of manual navigation and the taxi driver's memory (and the customer's as well at times) a cab driver is usually equipped with a detailed roadmap of the area in which they work. There is also an increasing use of GPS driven navigational systems in the more wealthy countries around the world.

International Trade Association
Established in 1917, the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association (TLPA) is a non-profit trade association of and for the private passenger transportation industry. The membership spans the globe to include 1,100 taxicab companies, executive sedan and limousine services, airport shuttle fleets, non-emergency medical transportation companies, and paratransit services.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Limousine
Cadillac DTS Presidential LimousineA limousine (or limo) is a long luxury car, traditionally black in color. Limousines are often driven by chauffeurs.
While some limousines are owned by wealthy individuals, many are owned by governments to transport senior politicians, by large companies to transport executives, or by broadcasters to transport guests. Most limousines, however, operate as livery vehicles, providing upmarket competition to taxicabs.

The word limousine is derived from the name of the French region Limousin, where the inhabitants wore a hood perceived to be similar to the profile of the car.

Contents
1 Limousine ownership and rental
2 Limousine types
2.1 Traditional
2.2 Stretch
2.3 Stage
2.4 Exotic custom limousines
2.5 Party bus
3 See also
4 External links

Limousine ownership and rental
For the most part, only limousine service and rental companies own limousines. Even the wealthy who use limos as their main mode of city transportation usually do not own the limousine � they contract with a limousine service for long term availability through a lease arrangement. Those in need of a limo will usually contact a rental company to provide transportation on a very short term basis. The most common requirements are for transportation to an airport, proms and weddings.

Limousine types
A limousine typically has a partition between the driver compartment and the rear passenger compartment. This partition usually contains a sliding glass window so that conversations between passengers in the rear compartment may be kept private from the chauffeur.
Lincoln Limousine used by U. S. President Calvin Coolidge, c. 1924[edit]
Traditional
Traditionally, the limousine has been an extension of a large sedan. A longer frame and wheelbase allow the rear passenger compartment to contain the usual forward facing passenger seat but with a substantial amount of footroom � more than is actually needed. Usually then two "jump seats" are mounted, facing rearward behind the driver. These seats fold up when not in use. In this way, up to five persons can be carried in the aft compartment in comfort, and up to two additional persons carried in the driver's compartment, for a total capacity of seven passengers in addition to the driver. This type of seat configuration has however become less popular in recent limousines. Newer limousines such as the Maybach 62 and Lincoln Town Car L Edition do not feature such seats since stretch limousines are usually used to transport more than three passengers, excluding the driver. Vehicles of this type in private use may contain expensive audio players, televisions, video players, and bars, often with refrigerators.

A black Lincoln Town Car "stretch" limousine at a car show in Bristol, England
Stretch
As shown in several of these illustrations, most modern limousines are extended in length far beyond that required for personal use. These are typically used to transport partygoers to and from events such as dances and weddings. These vehicles are typically based upon cars with body on frame instead of unibody construction easing the conversion into a stretch limousine. Rather than the typical transverse seating these will have benches along the length of the extension, either on one side or on both sides. This allows the travelers to face one another, unlike the traditional "stage" vehicle, which uses multiple doors to access rows of forward facing seats. In addition to the traditional black (considered appropriate for funerals, as it is a mourning color in western societies) many white limousines are now operated (considered appropriate for weddings in western societies). These cars are often seen as symbols of wealth by many.
Mercedes S600 Pullman
BMW 740iL
Jaguar XJ
Lincoln Town Car
Stage
Winton Six Limousine, 1915. Note that the driver is in a compartment separate from the passengers, a distinctive limousine feature.Another type of vehicle modified for multiple passenger use is the motorized stage, applied to the same tasks as the earlier stagecoach. It is not considered a true limousine but rather in its design and application is between a sedan and a bus. While a bus will have a central interior aisle for access to seating, a stage has multiple doors that allow access to transverse forward facing seats. Examples of the type were constructed not only from sedans (e.g., Chrysler New Yorker, Cadillac DeVille), but also from station wagons; many of the station wagon conversions sported a large rack, running the length of the roof, for carrying the passengers' baggage.
This type of vehicle was once rather common in some locations. An example of its typical use was in the transport of travelers arriving by railroad at Merced, California to Glacier National Park and Yosemite National Park in the first half of the 20th century. In Glacier National Park, these were referred to as "Jammers" in reference to the nickname of their gear-jamming drivers. In Yosemite, passengers would then stay in rustic platform tent camps or more expensive lodges (both of which are still available) and hike or rent bicycles for movement around the park.
A modern version of the stage is seen in some novelty strech Hummer or Hummer H2 vehicles operated by some limousine companies. Some funeral homes maintain six-door stages to carry the family of the deceased between the church and the cemetery.

Exotic custom limousines
Sometimes a custom coach builder or custom car designer will develop the "ultimate" stretch limo, adding amenities that are in fact somewhat impractical but which make a significant design statement. One such design includes double rear axles to support the weight of an operational hot tub.
Custom coach builders can perform aftermarket extensions on luxury sedans and SUVs. These extensive limousine conversions have been performed on several luxury marques, including: Audi, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Chrysler, Hummer, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, and Rolls-Royce. In the United States the most popular vehicles for stretch limousines conversion are the Lincoln Town Car, Cadillac DTS, Hummer H2, and the Lincoln Navigator.
Most custom coach builders are located in the United States and Europe and cater mainly to celebrities, government officials, and financial executives. Few such vehicles are available for public hire. These custom stretch limousines can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition to luxuries, safety features such as armoring and bulletproof glass are often available.

Party bus
A Party Bus or Party Ride is a large motor vehicle designed to carry 20 or more passengers. Party buses may offer leather couch seating, surround sound stereo systems, CD/DVD player, plasma televisions, laser, disco or strobe lights, smoke machines and more. They are primarily used for, although not limited to, weddings, proms and bachelor and bachelorette parties as well as round trips to casinos, nights on the town, birthdays and city tours.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bus

First bus in history: a Benz truck modified by Netphener company (1895)
TheBus, established by Mayor Frank Fasi, is Honolulu's only public transit system. It was twice honored as America's Best Transit System.A bus is a large, motorized, wheeled vehicle intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver. The name is a shortened version of omnibus, which means "for everyone".
Contents
1 History
2 Types
3 Manufacture and manufacturers
4 Bus line operators
5 Types of bus service
5.1 City transit
5.2 Intercity travel
5.3 Tourism
6 Buses in a social context
6.1 Desegregation busing
6.2 Buses and segregation
7 Miscellaneous
8 See also
9 External links
10 References

History
The omnibus, the first organized public transit system, may have originated in Nantes, France in 1826, when a retired army officer who had built public baths on the city's edge set up a short stage line between the center of town and his baths. When he discovered that passengers were just as interested in getting off at intermediate points as in patronizing his baths, he shifted the stage line's focus. His new voiture omnibus ("carriage for all") combined the functions of the hired hackney carriage with the stagecoach that travelled a predetermined route from inn to inn, carrying passengers and mail. His omnibus featured wooden benches that ran down the sides of the vehicle; entry was from the rear.
Whether by direct emulation, or because the idea was in the air, by 1832 the idea had been copied in Paris, Bordeaux and Lyons. A London newspaper reported in July 4, 1829 that "the new vehicle, called the omnibus, commenced running this morning from Paddington to the City". This bus service was operated by George Shillibeer.
In New York, omnibus service began in the same year, when Abraham Brower, an entrepreneur who had organized volunteer fire companies, established a route along Broadway starting at Bowling Green. Other American cities soon followed suit: Philadelphia in 1831, Boston in 1835 and Baltimore in 1844. In most cases, the city governments granted a private company�generally a small stableman already in the livery or freight-hauling business�an exclusive franchise to operate public coaches along a specified route. In return, the company agreed to maintain certain minimum levels of service�though one of these standards was not upholstery. The New York omnibus quickly moved into the urban consciousness. In 1831, New Yorker Washington Irving remarked of Britain's Reform Act (finally passed in 1832): "The great reform omnibus moves but slowly."
"Omnibus," crayon and watercolor drawing by Honor� Daumier, 1864 (Walters Art Museum).The omnibus had many repercussions for society, particularly in that it encouraged urbanization. Socially, the omnibus put city-dwellers, even if for only half an hour, into previously-unheard-of physical intimacy with strangers, squeezing them together knee-to-knee (illustration, left). Only the very poor remained excluded. A new division in urban society now came to the fore, dividing those who kept carriages from those who did not. The idea of the "carriage trade", the folk who never set foot in the streets, who had goods brought out from the shops for their appraisal, has its origins in the omnibus crush.
The (in)famous Chicken Buses of Guatemala.The omnibus also extended the reach of the North Atlantic post-Georgian, post-Federal city. The walk from the former village of Paddington to the business heart of London in the "City" was a brisk one for a young man in good condition. The omnibus offered the nearer suburbs more access to the inner city.
More intense urbanization was to follow. Within a very few years, the New York omnibus had a rival in the streetcar: the first streetcar ran along The Bowery, which offered the excellent improvement in amenity of riding on smooth iron rails rather than clattering over granite setts, called "Belgian blocks". The new streetcars were financed by John Mason, a wealthy banker, and built by an Irish contractor, John Stephenson. The streetcars would become even more centrally important than the omnibus in the future of urbanization.
When motorized transport proved successful after ca 1905, a motorized omnibus was for a time sometimes called an autobus.

Types
Tour buses are a common tourist attraction in larger cities.
MAN G&S NL222, Vienna
An articulated bus operated by the CTA in Chicago.
A Greyhound bus.
Laidlaw School Bus.
Modern Scania buses in Helsinki.Articulated bus
Double-decker bus
Guided bus
Gyrobus
Low-floor bus
Midibus
Minibus
Motorcoach
Party bus
Rubber tired tram
School bus
Shuttle bus
Trolleybus

Manufacture and manufacturers
Further information: Category:Bus manufacturers

Bus line operators
Further information: List of bus companies

Types of bus service
Buses are an intrinsic part of everyday life, and play an important part in the social fabric of many countries.

City transit
Most urban public transportation systems in North America rely chiefly on a bus network to provide services. The largest single city bus fleet in North America is in New York City.

Intercity travel
Intercity bus services have become an important travel connection to smaller towns and rural areas in the United States that do not have airports or train service. A new phenomenon in intercity bus travel has been the Chinatown bus.

Tourism
Some places have buses that resemble streetcars in order to attract tourists or otherwise look nice (see right). A similar phenomenon is Duck Tours, which uses DUKWs converted into buses/cruise boats for tour purposes.

Buses in a social context

Desegregation busing
Main article: Desegregation busing
In some areas of the United States, a forced busing system has been used to achieve racial desegregation of public schools. Under a busing plan, children do not necessarily go to the nearest school geographically, but to such a school where there is an appropriate mix of racial diversity.
Buses and segregation
Main article: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Bus services were also a focal point in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. In the period after the American Civil War ended in 1865, racial segregation in public accommodations, including public transport such as rail and bus services, was enforced through Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. These were made to prevent African-Americans from doing things that a white person could do. For instance, Jim Crow laws required bus drivers to enforce separate seating sections. These laws and enforcement varied among communities and states.
In 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus, bringing attention to the injustice of differential and degrading treatment based solely upon race. This incident, boycotts of bus services, other protests, and court challenges led a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on public buses and helped lead the U.S. Congress to the pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act which clarified the unconstitutionality of public racial segregation laws.

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