In 2014, we’ve come to rely on taxis for a multitude of reasons—they take us to the train, to the store, to the doctor; we use them for business to transport clients; we use them for leisure when we go out for a few drinks so we get home safely. If you need to get from point A to point B, you know there’s always a taxi nearby to get you there. But the taxis we know today are distant relatives of the first taxis that rolled out onto the streets in 1890. There’s a lot more history in the lifetime of the taxi than most people know—in this three-part series, let’s take a look at taxi evolution over the last century! Taxis in 1890 The most popular vehicle for hire was the horse-drawn carriage, but as cars began popping up across the country, they quickly began competing with the carriages for NYC fares. By 1899, there were nearly a hundred battery-operated cabs on the streets of Manhattan, with many New Yorkers hoping that these newfangled contraptions would provide a faster, cleaner, and quieter way of getting around. The batteries in these electric taxis weighed around 800 pounds, making them somewhat impractical, but they grew in popularity anyway. Taxis...
Learn More
Comments Off on How Taxis Took Over New York City
