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Yellow cab
taxicab
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 ...
operators exist all around the world (some with common heritage, some without). The original
Yellow Cab Company
The Yellow Cab Company was a taxicab company in Chicago which was founded in 1907 by John D. Hertz.
In 1920 the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was formed to manufacture taxicabs.
During the 1910s and 1920s the company was involved in cons ...
, based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, was one of the largest taxicab companies in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
History
Yellow cabs date back to at least 1798, when the musical comedy, ''Cabriolet Jaune'' (''Yellow Cab''), debuted at Paris'
Theatre de l’Opera Comique National. Yellow cabs were known in Paris and London throughout most of the 1800s. A yellow cab company shook up the New York Cab system in the mid-1880s, offering cheaper, more predictable fares than competitors. One of the first automobile cabs in London, in the 1890s, was a yellow electric automobile.
The
Yellow Cab Company
The Yellow Cab Company was a taxicab company in Chicago which was founded in 1907 by John D. Hertz.
In 1920 the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was formed to manufacture taxicabs.
During the 1910s and 1920s the company was involved in cons ...
of Chicago was founded by
John D. Hertz
John Daniel Hertz, Sr. (April 10, 1879October 8, 1961) was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist.
Biography
Born Sándor Herz to a Jewish family in Szklabinya, Austria-Hungary (today Sklabiňa, a ...
in 1907. Their specially designed taxicabs were powered by a 4-cylinder
Continental engine
Continental Aerospace Technologies is an aircraft engine manufacturer located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was originally spun off from automobile engine manufacturer Continental Motors Company in 1929 and o ...
equipped with a purpose-built taxicab body supplied by the Racine Body Co., of
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...
.
[ According to Yellow Cab Co. tradition, the color (and name) ]yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
was selected by John Hertz as the result of a survey he commissioned at a "local university", which indicated it was the easiest color to spot. However, "he was certainly not the first taxicab operator to use that color and the university study to which B. C. Forbes
Bertie Charles Forbes (; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded ''Forbes'' magazine.
Life and career
Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) a ...
refers has yet to be discovered." In 2017, a study showed that the color yellow, for taxis, was more noticeable, resulting in 9% fewer accidents.
In 1908, Albert Rockwell, founder and General Manager of the New Departure Manufacturing Co. of Bristol, Connecticut
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...
, travelled to Europe to evaluate their taxi systems, hoping to develop a similar one in Washington, D.C.
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Ernest Wyckoff, Alfred Church and Clarence Partridge, well-known automobile dealers in New York, had a number of orange-yellow colored Rockwell taxicabs operating on Manhattan streets in 1909. By March 1910, the Connecticut Cab Co. (essentially the directors of New Departure Manufacturing Co.) assumed operating control of Wyckoff, Church and Partridge's taxis.
The Yellow Taxicab Co. was incorporated in New York on April 4, 1912. Its fares that year started at 50¢/mile (roughly equivalent to $12.12 in 2016 adjusted for inflation). Among its directors and major stockholders were Albert Rockwell and the Connecticut Cab Co. Shortly after incorporation the Yellow Taxicab Co. merged with the Cab and Taxi Co., and with the strength of Connecticut Cab Co. behind them, the young business assumed a large share of the New York market. Its independent corporate life was fairly short, however, as fare wars and regulations forced a merger with the Mason-Seaman Transportation Co. on March 3, 1914. Shortly after, an injunction was filed by the company, seeking to restrain the city from enforcing the Public Hack ordinances, but it was rejected on appeal. By 1916, the company was being held in receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
, due to suits by numerous creditors.
The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company
The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D. Hertz and was associated with the Yellow Cab Company which Hertz also owned.
History
The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D. Hertz and was as ...
was formed in 1920.[
]
List of cab companies
Australia
* The Yellow Cab Group was founded in 1924 and operates in Queensland and Tasmania.
* Yellow Cabs operate in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. There all taxi companies have yellow-painted cabs.
* Yellow and Coastal Cabs are in Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
.
Canada
* The Yellow Cab Company of Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
was founded in 1921.
* Yellow Cab Company of Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
* Yellow Cab of Burlington, Ontario
Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...
.
* Yellow Cab of Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...
was purchased and given the Yellow name in 1945.
* Yellow Cab of Halifax, was founded in 1962 and is the largest Yellow Cab brand in Atlantic Canada.
*Yellow Cab of Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
, formerly Empress Taxi.
India
* Yellow Cab of Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...
.
* Yellow Taxi of Kolkata, India
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
.
* Bes
Cab Services
For Out Station And One way Taxi
Singapore
* ComfortDelGro
ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport compa ...
in Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
Spain
* Taxis in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
are yellow and black since 1929. This is a major exception to the rule of taxi colouring in Spain, with taxis of most cities being white.
United States
* The Yellow Cab Company of Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, was founded in 1909. It is currently owned by Transdev
Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020.
History
The group was formed by the merger of V ...
. (U.S.)
* Yellow Checker Cab of Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
, was founded in 1922 and is the largest taxi fleet in downstate Illinois. (U.S.)
* Yellow Cab Co. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
was founded in 1918. It ultimately became Yellow Corporation
Yellow Corporation is an American transportation holding company headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Its subsidiaries include national less than truckload (LTL) carrier YRC Freight, regional LTL carriers New Penn, Holland and Reddaway and f ...
, a major U.S. truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
operator. (U.S.)
* The Yellow Cab Cooperative of San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, was founded on November 8, 1977, succeeding a failed private company. (U.S.)
* Yellow Cab of San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, has been in continuous operation since the 1920s. Yellow Cab of San Diego has since sold all of its vehicles; the company operates now as a radio system only. (U.S.)
* California Yellow Cab, serving Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, has been in operation for over 60 years. It is owned by Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
. (U.S.)
* Yellow Cab of Arizona, founded in 1967, serving the entire state of Arizona. (U.S.)
* Yellow Cab Co of Bay Area (U.S.)
* Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines operates an intercity bus service in the Northeastern United States. It is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts.
It operates service to/from to Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hamps ...
was founded as Yellow Cab Air Line in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
, which was purchased in 1933 by Peter Carmen Picknelly (1891-1964) (U.S.)
* Louisville Transportation Company of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, operates as Yellow Cab as well as Checker Cab and Cardinal Cab. Yellow Cab of Louisville has been in continuous operation since 1893, when it was founded as Louisville Carriage Company. (U.S.)
* Yellow Cab Of Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
is part of Liberty Cab.
* Los Angeles Yellow Cab
In popular culture
Yellow cabs are the focus of the film ''The Yellow Cab Man
''The Yellow Cab Man'' is a 1950 comedy film directed by Jack Donohue and starring Red Skelton, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Arnold. The inventor of unbreakable glass ("Elastiglass") tries to sell it to a taxicab company, hoping that they will mak ...
'' (1950), starring Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
.
See also
*Taxicabs of New York City
In New York City, taxicabs come in two varieties: yellow and green; they are widely recognizable symbols of the city. Taxis painted yellow (medallion taxis) are able to pick up passengers anywhere in the five boroughs. Those painted apple green ...
*Taxicabs of the United States
The taxicabs of the United States make up a mature system; most U.S. cities have a licensing scheme which restricts the number of taxicabs allowed. As of 2012 the total number of taxi cab drivers in the United States is 233,900; the average ann ...
References
External links
"Broadway Dealers Enter Taxicab Field"
From ''The Commercial Vehicle'', May 1909
- Cecil Adams
Cecil Adams is the pseudonymous author of ''The Straight Dope'', a popular question and answer column published in ''The Chicago Reader'' from 2 February 1973 to 2018. The true identity of Adams, whether a single individual or a group of authors, ...
, Chicago Reader
Yellow Cab
Comprehensive article on Coachbuilt.com
* ''Yellow Cab Celebrates 50 Years of "Service to the Public"'', published in Trips 'n' Tips March 196
{{Taxicabs
Taxis of the United States
Taxis