Posts made in May, 2014

A few weeks ago, we took a peek into the history of Taxis in New York City. Let’s continue our historical exploration this week, as we look further into how taxis evolved through the middle of the 20th century. This was a time where everything was changing rapidly, and it’s interesting to see how changes within society molded the way the automotive transportation industry grew. As we’ve seen in our own lifetime, it takes a bit of time for our laws and regulations to catch up to emerging technology. Just as we have had to establish and enforce laws about cell phone use while driving, people living in the 1930s had to craft legislation to suit the taxi industry, because it presented scenarios that had never been an issue before. There were no labor practices in place specific to cabbies, which often led to their exploitation. Furthermore, with newness of taxi transportation, unsuspecting passengers easily fell victim to price gouging. There was tremendous competition between taxi drivers during the Great Depression, because fares were few and far between. Both the police and the Taxi Commission were having difficulties curtailing the corruption and the tension amongst cab drivers. A dramatic reveal at the time was the Checker Cab Company’s bribery of...