Friday, April 15, 2011

Taxis Have Been At Our Service For A Long Time

By Ciara Hodson McLemon


It is difficult to imagine our cities today without taxis. A taxi can be described as a vehicle and driver combination for hire. You pay for the time the vehicle is used in your service. The concept of a hiring vehicle and its driver when you need to get from point A to point B is very old. The history of the taxi is an interesting one.

The ancient Romans had taxis. They had carriages and horses to take people around. They even had meters to determine how much it cost. It was a little mechanism that dropped a ball into a small bucket when a wheel turned, and at the final destination, however many balls there were, was how much the passenger had to pay.

The meter as we know it today was invented by Wilhelm Brunn in 1891 and the world's first vehicle fitted with a meter was built six years later in Germany by Gottlieb Daimler. They were at first placed outside the vehicle above the front wheel on the driver's side, but soon moved to the inside of the vehicle. The first meters were mechanical. Today electronic meters are used.

Meters were soon moved to the inside of the taxi, and about forty years ago electronic meters came into use, silencing the ticking sound of the meter's timing mechanism.

There is another side to taxis. Sometimes they symbolize a pride in their cities. This is expressed through their color. Many people visiting New York for instance feel that the trip will not be perfect if they don't experience a ride in a taxi. Any taxi will do as long as it is yellow. The same goes for London accept here the ideal colour is not yellow. It must be black. The trademark of London for many is black taxis and red buses.

For certain people, these vehicles could even mean following the American dream. This is said because almost anyone can become a taxi driver, no matter what race or gender you are. No one is discriminated against with this type of job and no one should get special attention either because everyone is considered equal.

Taxis are one of a kind. If you are taxi driver you are an artist. You must know your city inside out and sometimes you take the role of sympathetic ear. If your wife does not understand you and the barman does not want to listen, tell the taxi driver.




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