The original
Yellow Cab Company based in Chicago, Illinois is one of the largest
taxicabA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
companies. Independent companies using that name (some with common heritage, some without) operate in many cities in a number of countries. Many firms operate with drivers as independent contractors. In some cities, they are operated as
cooperativeA cooperative is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and...
s owned by their drivers.
Related companies include
The Hertz CorporationThe Hertz Corporation is the world's largest general-use car rental brand in the world, with approximately 3,500 locations in the United States and 7,500 worldwide....
, Yellow Roadway and the Chicago Motor Coach Company, which was acquired by the
Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of the suburbs. It is the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America...
.
The Yellow Taxicab Co.
The original
Yellow Cab Company based in Chicago, Illinois is one of the largest
taxicabA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
companies. Independent companies using that name (some with common heritage, some without) operate in many cities in a number of countries. Many firms operate with drivers as independent contractors. In some cities, they are operated as
cooperativeA cooperative is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and...
s owned by their drivers.
Related companies include
The Hertz CorporationThe Hertz Corporation is the world's largest general-use car rental brand in the world, with approximately 3,500 locations in the United States and 7,500 worldwide....
, Yellow Roadway and the Chicago Motor Coach Company, which was acquired by the
Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of the suburbs. It is the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America...
.
History
The Yellow Taxicab Co. was incorporated in New York on April 3, 1912. Among its directors and major stockholders were Albert F. Rockwell and the Connecticut Cab Co. In 1908, Albert Rockwell, founder and General Manager of the New Departure Manufacturing Co. of Bristol, Connecticut, traveled to Europe to evaluate their taxi systems, hoping to develop a similar one in Washington, D.C. By later that year the new Rockwell cabs were being sent to several major cities including New York. W.C.P. was the first livery to introduce the yellow cab to Manhattan streets. By March 1910, the Connecticut Cab Co. (essentially the directors of New Departure) assumed operating control of W.C.P.'s taxis. Shortly after incorporation the Yellow Taxicab Co. merged with the Cab and Taxi Co., and with the strength of Connecticut Cab with whom its name was interchangeably used, the young business assumed a large share of the New York market. Its corporate life was fairly short, however, as fare wars and restrictions forced a merger with the Mason-Seaman Transportation Co. on March 3, 1914.
The Yellow Cab Co. (of Chicago) was founded by John Hertz in December 1, 1915. The related
Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing CompanyThe Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1923 as a subsidiary of the Yellow Cab Company by John D. Hertz and was an early player in bus manufacturing in the United States.G.J...
acquired Walter L Jacobs
car rentalA car rental or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time for a fee...
business. The
Yellow Truck CompanyThe Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1923 as a subsidiary of the Yellow Cab Company by John D. Hertz and was an early player in bus manufacturing in the United States.G.J...
and rental car business was sold to General Motors in 1926.
None of these fully suited the taxicab industry, so on December 31, 1914 the first
Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company Cab was designed, and the
Model J was released in August 1915.
Hertz ran the taxicab company until 1929, when he left to found another rental car company, Hertz Rent-a-Car, which still uses a yellow logo as well.
The taxicab company was purchased in 1929 by
Morris MarkinMorris Markin was a Russian-born American entrepreneur and businessperson who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company .-Early years:...
, who had established Checker Cab Manufacturing Company, with the
Checker TaxiThe Checker Taxi was the American taxicab produced by the Checker Motors Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Checker Taxis were used by its founder Morris Markin in the taxi service that he owned and operated under the name Parmalee System. While Markin's competitor John D...
, a driver's
cooperativeA cooperative is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and...
.
The company was sold again in 1996 to Patton Corrigan, who in turn sold controlling interest in 2005 to Michael Levine, a third-generation taxicab operator from New York City. The Levine/Corrigan group has also purchased the Checker Taxi Affiliation in Chicago, to reunite the two companies once again.
Color
According to Yellow Cab Co. tradition, the color (and name)
yellowYellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–580 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of somewhat longer and shorter wavelengths...
was selected by John Hertz as the result of a survey by the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
which indicated it was the easiest color to spot.
While Hertz may well have consulted with the University of Chicago on a desirable color, there were yellow taxicabs already in major American cities before 1915, to the credit of Albert Rockwell. Bristol Engineering, a subsidiary of New Departure Manufacturing Co., produced its first yellow cabs in 1908. It is very likely that when John Hertz bought and borrowed cars for his fledgling business, older yellow cabs from the Chicago area were among his acquisitions. The popular story goes that the wife of the President of New Departure, Nettie Rockwell, particularly liked the color yellow and it therefore became the color of the new Rockwell taxicabs. The Rockwell Service Cab became the Yellow Taxicab when Mrs. Rockwell selected that as her choice of color for the auto.
Australia
The 'Yellow Cab Group' in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
was founded in 1924. The Australian color scheme for Yellow Cab is more "orange" than "yellow". This is probably due to the fact that when the franchise was purchased the instructions for the livery stated that the most effective eye catching colour combination was a yellow base with red writing. It has been suggested that these instructions were misinterpreted and a blending of red and yellow paints produced the now famous Yellow Cab "orange".
Canada
- Yellow Cab of Edmonton, Alberta was purchased and given the Yellow name in 1945.
- The Yellow Cab Company of Vancouver, British Columbia was founded in 1921.
- Yellow Cab Company of Toronto
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
United States
- The Yellow Cab Company of Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
was founded in 1909.
- Yellow Cab of Chicago, Illinois was founded by John Hertz in 1915, and claims to be the "oldest and largest" cab management and services provider in the US. (see Baltimore above)
- Yellow Checker Cab of Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city was the fifth-largest in Illinois, with a population of 112,936; by 2007 it was the sixth-largest city and had population of 113,546...
was founded in 1922 and is the largest taxi fleet in downstate Illinois.
- Yellow Cab and Transit Co. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 551,789, with an estimated metro-area population of 1,206,142...
was founded in 1924. It ultimately became the Yellow Roadway, a major US truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle - more specifically a commercial vehicle commonly used for transporting goods and materials. Some light trucks/lorries are similar in size to a passenger automobile...
operator.
- Yellow Cab of San Diego, California
San Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
has been in continuous operation since the 1920s.
- The Yellow Cab Cooperative of San Francisco, California
San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
was founded on November 8, 1977, succeeding a failed private company.
- Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines is a long-distance bus carrier that operates in the northeastern states of the United States. Over four million passengers travel on Peter Pan's bus routes every year....
was founded as Yellow Cab Air Line in Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River and the county seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States.In the 2000 census, the city population was 154,082. It is the third largest city in Massachusetts and fourth largest in New England...
, which was purchased by Peter Carmen Picknelly in 1933.
- Louisville Transportation Company of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 713,877 , with a population of 1,244,696 in the Louisville...
operates as Yellow Cab as well as Checker Cab and Cardinal Cab. Yellow Cab of Louisville has been in continuous operation since 1893, when it was founded as Louisville Carriage Company.
Yellow firsts
- Firestone
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company was a pioneer in the mass...
balloon tires on taxicabs
- automatic windshield wipers
- ultrahigh frequency two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive , unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content.Two-way radios are available in mobile, stationary base and hand-held portable configurations. Hand-held radios are often called walkie-talkies or handie-talkies...
s
- transistorised UHF radio
- passenger seat belt
A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
s
- antilock brake systems;
- child safety restraint seats
Child safety seats are seats designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during collisions. Automobile manufacturers may integrate child safety seats directly into their vehicle's design...
- computer dispatch
A dispatch or dispatches can refer to:* Dispatch , a procedure in logistics* Dispatch , an American jam band* Dispatches , a documentary show on Channel 4 in the UK...
system.
- traffic tower
A traffic tower is a permanent raised structure providing a clearer view of traffic conditions than can be had from street level and protection for the traffic controller from the hazards of moving vehicles....
constructed by private firm in Chicago, Illinois
- GPS tracking system ensures on-time response time in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
- free rides to drunk people from bar to house (free 20 miles) in Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
External links