Taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice. This differs from public transport where the pick-up and drop-off locations are decided by the service provider, not by the customers, although demand-responsive transport and shared taxis provide a hybrid bus/taxi mode.[1]
Contents
Types
There are four distinct forms of taxicab, which can be identified by slightly differing terms in different countries:
- Limousines, specialized vehicles licensed for operation by pre-booking
- Private hire vehicles, also known as minicabs or private hire taxis, licensed for pre-booking only[2]
- Hackney carriages, also known as public hire, hailed or street taxis, licensed for hailing throughout communities
- Taxibuses, also come in many variations throughout the developing countries as jitneys or jeepneys, operating on pre-set routes typified by multiple stops and multiple independent passengers
Hiring
Most places allow a taxi to be "hailed" or "flagged" on the side of the street as it is approaching. Another option is a taxi stand - sometimes also called a "cab stand," "hack stand," "taxi rank," or "cab rank". Taxi stands are usually located at airports, railway stations, major retail areas, hotels, and other places where a large number of passengers are likely to be found.[3] 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. The taxi at the front of the line is due for the next fare.
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.[4] 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.
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 request 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.[5] There is also an increasing use of GPS-driven navigational systems in wealthier countries.
References
- ↑ Hailing the History of New York's Yellow Cabs : NPR
- ↑ Why does every city seem to have a Yellow Cab company?
- ↑ Taxirit Airport Servië | Belgrado Nikola Tesla | Niš Konstantin Veliki
- ↑ Are Our Taxi Cabs About To Switch From Hybrid To Electric? | Drive
- ↑ Phenomenology of being a safe taxi driver - PMC
