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Taxis in the news

San Jose, California

Taxi drivers are threatening to strike. Gripes include mandatory testing upon permit renewal, no limits to the number of cabs, and inability to sell or transfer their businesses. NBC11.com

Denver, Colorado

The Colorado legislature is "backing away from the sticky issue of taxicab regulation". Denver Post

Maryland

A former Maryland cab driver has pleaded guilty to a terror charge. Reuters

A former Maryland cab driver accused of attending a militant training camp in Pakistan pleaded guilty on Monday to supporting terrorism.

Mahmud Faruq Brent, 32, said in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that in early 2002 he attended a camp operated by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. State Department has designated an international terrorist organization.

We have three Iraqis driving for our company, a Kurd and two Shias. They all agree that the war is dragging on and is being mismanaged, but they also agree that the day Saddam Hussein was captured was one of the best days of their lives. One had a brother seized by Saddam's secret police. He disappeared ten years ago, with no sign of him since.

Sydney, Australia

A female driver from Sydney was assaulted and threatened. Daily Mercury

Beverly Hills, California

A cabbie claims he was stiffed on an $8200 fare after driving a customer from California to North Carolina. AP

Taxi news: Cairo

This isn't news, but an interesting BBC story about taxis in Cairo, Egypt. It's from 2002:

First, let's meet the Egyptian taxicab and familiarize ourselves with it. In every city in Egypt, taxicabs are a different colour. Only in Alexandria are they the trademark yellow you might have seen in the USA. In Cairo and Giza, they're black and white. The standard cab will be missing any or all of the following: headlights, bumpers, at least one body panel, hubcaps, and either the bonnet, or the boot panel. Some of these parts may secured with rope or bungee cords. The horn, however, always works and appears to be wired to the steering wheel, and the brake, accelerator, and clutch pedals simultaneously.

If you're arriving at night, be forewarned that Egyptians consider it rude to drive with the headlights on. They remain firmly off unless the need to overtake another car arises, particularly if travelling down a two-way street and it becomes necessary to pass through a space of one-car width. In this case, the car that flashes its lights first is supposed to go through first, although the possibility that the headlights may not work (see above) makes this game all the more interesting. Egyptian taxi drivers also have an alarming habit of driving with no hands on the wheel, or of turning completely around in the seat to talk to someone in the back while the car is in motion. There is also the legendary driver who sleeps while the car is in motion, but this tends to be more of a rural phenomena.

Despite these quirks, fatalities in taxicabs are rare. You will arrive at your destination, perhaps white-knuckled and huddled on the floor in a shaking, sobbing heap, but you will get there.

No customer riding in my taxi has arrived "at your destination, perhaps white-knuckled and huddled on the floor in a shaking, sobbing heap", but there's always tomorrow.

Taxi news: New York City

From New York Daily News:

Hail, no! The city's taxi commissioner dismissed a plan yesterday to place yellow cab stands in boroughs outside Manhattan, insisting drivers won't travel that far.

"The demand is there, but the cabs won't go," Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus told the City Council.

Council members are considering a bill that would set up 10 city-run yellow cab stands throughout the boroughs for a three-year pilot project.

Passengers could line up at the stands to catch a cab, much as they do now at a handful of stands at the two Queens airports, the Port Authority's midtown bus terminal, Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and in Flushing.

Replacement for London's black cabs

Apparently these are selling like hotcakes in the UK:


The image and following excerpt are from Easier Motoring:

Monthly sales of the new TX4 taxi, launched by manufacturer LTI Vehicles last October, are expected to top 400 for the first time in March.

The widespread praise for the latest incarnation of the iconic London-style taxi, which retains the distinctive black cab shape, has led to a leap in demand from drivers wanting an 07-plated vehicle.

I can't imagine driving such a car. I'm used to the large, powerful Crown Vic.

British cabbie murder

Taxi news from the UK: A third man allegedly involved in the murder of a taxi driver has been arrested. BBC:

A third man has been arrested over the death of a taxi driver in Sheffield.

Father-of-five Younis Khan, 53, was shot as he drove along Scott Road, Pitsmoor, in the early hours of Wednesday.

South Yorkshire Police said the man, from Sheffield, who is in his mid-20s, was arrested on Thursday night.

Two other men, aged 23 and 27, who were arrested in Upperthorpe and Middlewood on Thursday morning have since been released on bail.

A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Khan died from a single gunshot to the chest, fired from a handgun.

Police have increased patrols in Pitsmoor.