Taking a Ride Through Time: The Story of Taxis

Cab history
Historians of Great Britain and France are still disputing the palm of superiority in the question of which of these countries should be considered the ancestor of cabs. Both are right. Passenger carriage as such, of course, originated in Great Britain, France, meanwhile, became the ancestor of the modern automobile cab, as it was here that traditions were laid down and canons of this type of business recognizable to this day were created.

The predecessors of the automobile cab are horse-drawn carriages (cabs and fiacres)
The first organized paid passenger transportation in populated areas began in Great Britain in the 17th century. In 1639, a license for carriage was established by a corporation of coachmen. At first the carriages were quite bulky, open and four-wheeled – they were called hackneys (hackney – traveling horse). For the winter, some particularly thoughtful coachmen stretched an awning over the wagons.

In the middle of the XVIII century, private carriage service also appeared in France, when some enterprising Frenchman founded an inn of horse-drawn carriages. Almost all of these wagons had a closed body and were equipped with three rows of seats, on which passengers were placed facing each other (sometimes in the direction of travel), and on a separate front seat sat the driver. Such carriages – fiacres – were the world’s first multi-passenger hired public carriages. Before that, in Europe, spacious carriages belonged only to nobles and landowners.

In the nineteenth century (1840-1845) in London, a more maneuverable two-wheeled open carriage – cabriolet, abbreviated to cab. Subsequently, two- and three-seater cabs with closed cabs appeared, and the driver’s workplace moved backward and upward, from where it was easier to see the house numbers when the famous English fog reigned around. The English, known for their traditionalism, abandoned horse-drawn carriages – cabs – only in the middle of the 20th century. Of course, the automobile cab was already very active in the UK by then, but the last London horse-drawn cabman did not surrender his license until 1947.

The beginning of the taxicab era
In 1896, the French Automobile Club proclaimed that the “capital of the world” would be very suitable for motorized fiacres – without horses. The fiacre was stripped of its axles, a gasoline engine was installed in the rear, and a steering column and control levers were installed near the coachman’s seat. At first, the idea was not successful, because they could not decide what tariff to pay for travel and labor of chauffeurs, and piece-produced cars were not cheap. The invention of the meter, the taximeter, in 1905 to some extent quieted the controversy. From it came the name of the new mode of transportation – taximotors or cabs.

Renault was the first company to mass-produce cars specially adapted to the taxi service. Painted red and bright green, they stood out prominently among the other mostly black cars, easily recognizable in the flow of traffic. The body structure was also special. Its passenger compartment resembled a closed carriage of a fiacre, and the driver, like a coachman, sat in the open front end. It was believed that the chauffeur should be separated from the passengers for their convenience and have complete freedom to see and communicate with pedestrians, charioteers, policemen and other drivers.

The cab boom began worldwide in 1905. Taxicabs have flooded the streets of the largest cities in Europe and America. In each country different brands of cars were used as cabs – cabs of different countries differed in appearance, color, acquiring their own style associated with national culture.

Development of car cabs
With the development of the automobile industry in the mid-20th century, automobile cabs became more affordable and popular. In the 1950s, cabs began using more modern vehicles that were more comfortable and safer.

With the advancement of technology and the emergence of new companies that offer cab services, attitudes towards cabs have changed. Now, cab services have become more affordable and convenient for everyone.

In addition, there is an opportunity to evaluate the quality of cab services and leave feedback on drivers and cab service provider companies. This allows customers to choose the best services and improves the quality of service.

Cab hailing apps and car sharing companies are popular these days. Studies have shown that companies providing such services have created additional jobs and increased the efficiency of rental vehicle drivers through advanced algorithms that pair passengers with drivers.