MetaFilter posts tagged with Taxi

Grand Theft Auto - cab driver

paleyellowwithorange — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:07:10 -0800

What's a Girl Doing Here?

femmegrrr — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:06:27 -0800

What's a Girl Doing Here? Short documentary about two female taxi drivers in NYC.

I’m done for the night

Potomac Avenue — Sat, 19 May 2012 11:13:59 -0800

Since 2007 (or 1997) Dmitry Samarov has been writing and drawing the highs and lows (mostly lows) of driving a cab in Chicago.

Upon a fight in Darien

marienbad — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:36:32 -0800

The Cabbie v. the Morgan Stanley Executive "Those of you who have any degree of contact with the financial blogosphere no doubt caught the news today that one William Bryan Jennings, the co-head of fixed income for the Americas for Morgan Stanley, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, theft of services and intimidation by bias or bigotry and released on bail of $9,500. He has been put on leave." [Via].

Human GPS

vidur — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:15:39 -0800

"Piloting London’s distinctive black cabs (taxis to everyone else) is no easy feat. To earn the privilege, drivers have to pass an intense intellectual ordeal, known charmingly as The Knowledge. Ever since 1865, they’ve had to memorise the location of every street within six miles of Charing Cross – all 25,000 of the capital’s arteries, veins and capillaries. They also need to know the locations of 20,000 landmarks – museums, police stations, theatres, clubs, and more – and 320 routes that connect everything up." Acquiring The Knowledge changes the brains of those who acquire it.

"I'm no pusher. I never have pushed [taxicab medallions]."

obscurator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:33:47 -0800

Last month, The Atlantic reported that since 1980s, the price of a metallic NYC taxi license has grown four-times faster than the average home or a brick of gold, claiming it to be a wonderful "inflation hedge." This report proved prescient; on Friday two such medallions (which merely represent the taxi's license) just sold for $1 million apiece — a 42% increase just since August. Also on Friday, mere hours after reading the newsstand headlines, Midtown Manhattan resident Tom Poteat looked down to see a medallion, unattached to its taxi, lying on the sidewalk.

Australians actually love Indians

vidur — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:40:41 -0800

Faith in Taxis

Something great and fun and serious and magical.

xowie — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:43:53 -0800

New York to L.A. By taxi. For $5,000. Now they're headed home.

Zahida Kazmi, Taxi Driver

bardophile — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:43:44 -0800

For the past two decades, Zahida Kazmi has been driving a cab in Pakistan.

Lost in the Dregs

zarq — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:02:00 -0800

The sitcom Taxi was inspired by two non-fiction articles that appeared in New York Magazine in September, 1975: Night-Shifting for the Hip Fleet and The Word from Belmore, both by author, writer and journalist Marc Jacobson. (Google Books: Original layout and photos.) In 2004, he checked in with local cabdrivers to see how things had changed for them after 30 years. As predicted, leasing did spell the end for the artist/writer/actor cabbie. Jacobson also wrote the article which inspired Ridley Scott's film, American Gangster: The Return of Superfly, and his work has been highlighted previously on Mefi: "The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll" and "The Lampshade"

Twenty bucks, same as in town!

vidur — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:07:20 -0800

World taxi prices: What a 3-kilometer ride costs in 72 big cities. From Lowest to Highest.

The Taxi Gourmet

jontyjago — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:05:07 -0800

The Taxi Gourmet Every week, I get in a taxi, ask the driver to take me to his or her favorite restaurant. Layne Mosler tests the recommendations of cab drivers in Buenos Aires, Berlin and New York, where she is also a licensed cabbie herself. Want to cut to the chase? NY & Buenos Aires have a Top 5.

not those kind of mods

infini — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:55:11 -0800

Motorcycle modification means something entirely different across the developing world. You can deliver cold drinks, cargo, one person, three or even more with a special sidecar. You can cook hot food and sell it. Or critically, you can quickly transport someone in need of emergency medical care when roads are bad and facilities remote. They're supported by roadside repair shops, tyre shacks, petrol pumps and more. Bonus FTW

Dochira made ikaremasu ka?

armage — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:40:44 -0800

Taxi top lights, called andon (行灯) in Japanese after the Edo-era wood & paper lanterns, come in a variety of shapes and colors. Although originally used in the mid-1950s to discourage robberies, andon are now used as company logos or to advertise.

Good-night, Crown Vic; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

dirtdirt — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:50:08 -0800

Ford motor company has announced that they are ceasing production on the Crown Victoria - the most widely used police car model in the United States of the last thirty years. So, it's time to recalibrate your brain to recognize a new headlight configuration in your rear-view - that of the 2011 Ford Police Interceptor. It's a Taurus.

What Would You Change About the NYC Taxi Cab?

R. Mutt — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:10:33 -0800

"What Would You Change About the NYC Taxi Cab?" is one response to The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission's call for a new taxi cab design. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission: Today's taxi fleet is made up of 16 different vehicles, supported by 9 manufacturers. None of the vehicles currently approved as taxis were designed by the original manufacturers as taxis; rather they have all been outfitted (“hacked up”) by third party upfitters, garages and meter shops to conform to TLC’s taxicab specifications. But these current vehicles fall short of meeting the needs of stakeholders: there is no one vehicle that is clean, accessible, and comfortable and meets the needs of a New York City taxicab. The goal of the RFP is to seek a highly-qualified manufacturer that has the knowledge and practical experience necessary to bring the TLC’s and its stakeholders’ vision of the next generation of taxicab to fruition, representing all the stated qualities below:

Meets highest safety standards

Superior passenger experience

Superior driver comfort and amenities

Appropriate purchase price and ongoing maintenance and repair costs

Smaller environmental footprint (lower emissions and improved fuel economy)

Smaller physical footprint (with more usable interior room)

Universal accessibility for all users

Iconic design that will identify the new taxi with New York City

PDF

"Truth is the highest thing that man may keep." - Chaucer

Tenacious.Me.Tokyo — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:41:04 -0800

"I'm needy, but I'm not greedy. It's better to be honest." A New York City cabbie returns over $21,000 left in his taxi. A similar case occurred three years ago when a Manhattan cabbie returned half a million dollars worth of diamond rings. Honest taxi drivers can be found on the West Coast, as well.

Vere You Vant To Go?

Xurando — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:41:30 -0800

It's the bane of travelers everywhere, the Taxi scam.

The Night Shift

william_boot — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:04:29 -0800

“I could not understand what was happening,” Mr. Sherpa said. “This man, my partner from my own country, he’s trying to kill me. He was a crazy man, like he didn’t know me. He said nothing — he just kept chopping me.”

A little song. A little dance. A little seltzer down your pants.

arse_hat — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:46:16 -0800

The man who killed Chuckles the Clown David Lloyd is dead. He wrote one of Mary Tyler Moore's funniest moments. He also wrote for Frasier, Cheers, Lou Grant, and Taxi, including Elaine's Strange Triangle . He also wrote and created Brothers, an early TV show to feature a character who just happened to be gay. No big deal.

Today's yards just aren't as exciting.

filthy light thief — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:10:22 -0800

The Merkel brothers are the grandsons of steam car makers and sons of an African art collector, and each have carried forward the love of collecting and an interest in cars from the previous generations. Henry Merkel is a recognized White expert, who continues to share knowledge of his family's productions and his knowledge of White steam cars has been published. Ben Merkel focused on collecting Checkered Cabs, and has has a love for peaceful rural junkyards. The youngest grandson of Walter White is Tom Merkel, and his love for collecting old cars outstrips his brothers by miles (print view). Somewhere in the Cuyama Valley, just outside of Los Padres National Forest land is his "car garden," which is also where the snowman that once adorned Santa Claus Lane now resides. His other love is 91+ year old cabin, which he indicates is "Santa Barbara's oldest cabin!" and a "Folk Art Magic Museum!" on the signs around the property, but which the Forest Service wants to tear down. Family history: Thomas Howard White founded White Sewing Machine Company, and later the White Motor Company, which began producing steam cars after finding the Locomobile unreliable. Thomas' youngest son was Walter White, who became vice president of the White Company when it split from its parent the White Sewing Machine Company in 1906, and then president of the White Motor Company in 1921. Walter's daugter, Katherine White, was renowned for her African art collection, which was donated to the Seattle Art Museum.

Giant Vulva Bicycle Taxi

GuyZero — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:59:18 -0800

Giant Vulva Bicycle Taxi. [via Jalopnik]

The Black Cab Sessions

msalt — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:01:08 -0800

Death Cab For Cutie. Live, in a Black Cab. One Song ("No Sunlight"). One Take. One Cab.
Also: Daniel Johnston, Bill Callahan, The New Pornographers, The Raveonettes, Okkervil River, Spoon, & The Futureheads.

Lost and Found, $4 Million Violin

doug3505 — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:33:24 -0800

Lost and Found, $4 Million Violin. Philippe Quint, Grammy award winning Russian violinist left his loaned 1723 Kiesewetter Stradivarius violin in a taxi on the way back from the airport April 20th. Taxi driver, Mohamed Khalil, got in touch the next day to return it after unknowingly leaving it in the back of taxi, on a Newark, NJ street overnight.

make the logo bigger

Armitage Shanks — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:03:38 -0800

Why is the new NYC taxi logo so ugly? The bumpy design process probably had a lot to do with it. The Times invited eight designers to try improving on it. Perhaps you can do better? (Ob. soundtrack)