For as long as the automobile has been around, drivers have been charging passengers for the privilege of getting from one place to another. In fact, the idea of a taxicab predates that of the internal combustion engine! The taxi has evolved considerably over the decades, incorporating new technologies and practices. Today, you can find taxis in a range of styles and configurations – and things are likely to change still further in the future!
Let’s take a look at the taxi through time, and see where it might end up in the future.
Before Motorisation
Taxicabs were around for centuries before the first internal combustion engine arrived on the scene. In London, the Hackney Carriages began appearing on the scene in the early 17th century. There became so many of them that it became necessary to put in place a system of licensing to control the chaos (and the horse manure). This came in the form of a 1662 act of parliament, which empowered Scotland Yard to regulate the practice. To begin with, there was a limit on the number of available licences at 400 – though this cap was later raised, and eventually scrapped entirely.
What’s in a Name?
The term ‘taxi’ actually stems from the Greek word, ‘táxis’, via the intention that made it possible to determine the fare accurately, the taximeter. This wasn’t introduced until the late 19th century, having been invented by a German named Wilhelm Bruhn. Up until that point, these vehicles tended to be referred to simply as ‘carriages’.
Daimler Victoria
Not long after Bruhn’s invention came Gottlieb Daimler, who built the first dedicated taxi in 1897, equipped with the new taximeter. The Daimler Victoria taxi formed the backbone of the world’s first motorised taxi fleet, which operated in Stuttgart. It was a time of great innovation in Germany, with a number of motoring successes following swiftly after one another in the late 19th century.
The rise of ride-hailing apps
A number of innovations followed the introduction of the taximeter. Two-way radios began to appear in the 1940s, and the entire system for dispatching was handed to a computer a few decades later. Arguably the most disruptive technology, however, has been ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft. These technologies do the job of a traditional taxi with the help of the GPS on a smartphone – and they’ve provided the established taxi drivers with plenty to worry about.
What does the future hold?
It’s a near-certainty that we’ll at some point be hailing taxicabs which lack human drivers. This will in turn drive down the cost of a fare, and ultimately limit the amount of congestion on our roads. The advent of electric taxis will mean less emissions, and ultimately a healthier planet. Exactly what these cabs of the future will look like remains to be seen.
