The Black Cabs' history goes back to the time of horse-drawn cabs which were called Hackney Cabs. The term comes from the French word haquenee referring to the ambling horses used to pull the original Hackney Carriages. The Hackney Carriage originated in London, England in 1625. The cabs still come under some of the old rules from the horse-drawn days. The Black Cabs are the only taxis that are allowed to pick people up from the street. There are also mini cabs in London, however they can only collect someone if they have made a prior arrangement by phone.

Before a taxi driver gets his Hackney Cab Licence he or she must pass a test called 'The Knowledge'. This is a difficult test and requires the cabbie to know the streets of central London like the palm of their hand. Mini cab drivers do not need to pass this test.
The Knowledge

Taxi drivers in London undergo a demanding and arduous testing of their knowledge of the city, its daily traffic patterns and the fastest routes between locations. Estimates suggest that gathering the basic understanding needed to acquire The Knowledge involves a full-time year of study, absorbing the information provided by street maps and travelling around the city itself.

The result is that drivers of official London Hackney Cabs are renowned for their detailed and intimate knowledge of London's streets and attractions. Strangely enough, scientific study has shown that possession and expansion of The Knowledge increases the size of the anterior and posterior hippocampi of the brain - the area that handles spatial memory and spatial navigation.

Compared with baseline controls and inexperienced cabbies, long-serving taxi drivers possessed considerable more developed hippocampi.

The Vehicles

There are currently 3 makes of vehicle licensed to ply for hire in London:

LTI (London Taxis International) - FX4 taxi, Fairway taxi, Fairway Driver taxi, TX1 taxi, TX2 Taxi & TX4 taxi.
Metrocab - Series 1 Metrocab, Series 2 Metrocab, Series 3 Metrocab & TTT Metrocab.
Eco City Vehicles - Mercedes Benz Vito Taxi.
All of these vehicles have to conform to the conditions  of fitness as set out by the PCO (Public Carriage Office).
http://www.taxi-london.net/

The Black Cabs' history goes back to the time of horse-drawn cabs which were called Hackney Cabs. The term comes from the French word haquenee referring to the ambling horses used to pull the original Hackney Carriages. The Hackney Carriage originated in London, England in 1625. The cabs still come under some of the old rules from the horse-drawn days. The Black Cabs are the only taxis that are allowed to pick people up from the street. There are also mini cabs in London, however they can only collect someone if they have made a prior arrangement by phone.

Before a taxi driver gets his Hackney Cab Licence he or she must pass a test called 'The Knowledge'. This is a difficult test and requires the cabbie to know the streets of central London like the palm of their hand. Mini cab drivers do not need to pass this test.
The Knowledge

Taxi drivers in London undergo a demanding and arduous testing of their knowledge of the city, its daily traffic patterns and the fastest routes between locations. Estimates suggest that gathering the basic understanding needed to acquire The Knowledge involves a full-time year of study, absorbing the information provided by street maps and travelling around the city itself.

The result is that drivers of official London Hackney Cabs are renowned for their detailed and intimate knowledge of London's streets and attractions. Strangely enough, scientific study has shown that possession and expansion of The Knowledge increases the size of the anterior and posterior hippocampi of the brain - the area that handles spatial memory and spatial navigation.

Compared with baseline controls and inexperienced cabbies, long-serving taxi drivers possessed considerable more developed hippocampi.

The Vehicles

There are currently 3 makes of vehicle licensed to ply for hire in London:

LTI (London Taxis International) - FX4 taxi, Fairway taxi, Fairway Driver taxi, TX1 taxi, TX2 Taxi & TX4 taxi.
Metrocab - Series 1 Metrocab, Series 2 Metrocab, Series 3 Metrocab & TTT Metrocab.
Eco City Vehicles - Mercedes Benz Vito Taxi.
All of these vehicles have to conform to the conditions  of fitness as set out by the PCO (Public Carriage Office).
http://www.taxi-london.net/

"One of our ideas is to convert London taxis into electric," Li Shufu, the company's chairman, told the Financial Times. "We are doing research on this project."

Geely owns about 23 per cent of Manganese Bronze, the Coventry-based producer of black London cabs, and 51 per cent of a Shanghai-based joint venture with the UK company that will produce the cars in China starting this December.

Mr Li said that he had discussed the idea of electric taxis in London with Boris Johnson, the city's mayor, at the Beijing Olympic games in August. Mr Johnson supports the idea.

Manganese Bronze this year signed a research and development agreement with Tanfield Electric Vehicles to develop all-electric plug-in taxis. Manganese Bronze's share price has slumped in recent weeks after hundreds of its TX4 cabs were taken off the streets following a series of engine fires.

Geely, like China's other rising automakers, is developing its own plug-in hybrid and electric cars, including an electric version of its Panda city car that it may seek to sell in Europe. Mr Li said developing electric vehicle technology would be a major strategic focus for the company in future.

Geely's plan to build London taxis in Shanghai is one of a string of investments by Chinese companies seeking to apply low-cost production to iconic overseas assets.

Rival carmaker SAIC recently relaunched production of MG TF sports cars in Longbridge and makes the Roewe brand of cars in China largely based on tools and designs formerly owned by bankrupt MG Rover.

LTI Shanghai Automobile, the JV, plans to sell the Shanghai-built cabs to taxi operators, hotels, and other buyers in China and overseas, with a view eventually to building 10,000 vehicles a year.

The Chinese operation will also supply parts produced at a lower cost to LTI's flagship operation in the UK.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/79089ff4-9e3f-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html

Yes, she was being sarcastic. Like others, she thought this was something the city should have done a long time ago.

The new rules allow taxis to stop for or drop off customers in red zones and curb lanes that the city has designated as anti-gridlock zones — as in, no parking there during rush hour. Cabs are also now allowed to double-park to pick up or drop off a client. The one place they're not allowed to go is bus stops — something that has been a sticking point between the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the last few months.

And the effect of this? Will Los Angeles be as cab-friendly as New York, where it's a bit of a time-honored tradition to get honking drunk, stumble out to the curb at 3 a.m., raise your arm and flag a cab for a safe and subway-free ride home?

But serious differences remain between the cab culture in America's two largest cities. New York has more than 13,000 cabs. Los Angeles has about 2,300. A typical cabby in New York can get about 50 fares a day; in L.A. it's about 20. Fewer than half the residents of Manhattan own cars — meaning they're transit dependent. Car ownership rates are far higher in L.A. And because there are more cabs and more customers in New York, fares are lower.

For example, a five-mile cab ride in New York costs about $12 to $14, plus surcharges. A similar ride in L.A. is about $20, and that doesn't count the 10% fare increase that goes into effect later in the summer.

William J. Rouse, the general manager of Administrative Services Co-Op, a company that runs five local taxi services, said the big advantage of the test program is that it will encourage taxi drivers to pick up more short-trippers. At present, most cabs wait at designated pickup zones — usually hotels. If they get a short ride, they're stuck driving back to a hotel with little hope of getting a fare, and then they must go to the back of the line.

"The old rules that applied to taxis were the same ones that applied to private vehicles," Rouse said, pointing to the fact that those rules pretty much prevent taxis from doing what taxis do best — pick up people looking for a ride.

I asked Edward Torossian, a cab driver in L.A., how the program would affect him.

"We don't want to stop" and block traffic, Torossian said. "We just need to stop so we can pick up someone and go."

The program will begin soon and continue for six months so the city can evaluate whether taxis picking up fares cause massive regional gridlock or perhaps help people get along. If it works, officials say, it may be applied to the rest of the nation's second-largest city.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roadsage17-2008jul17,0,4342617.column

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Taxi and Limousine (TLC) Commission Chairman Matthew W. Daus announced that Nissan North America, Inc. (NISA.BE) has committed to the availability of up to 200 Nissan Altima hybrids per month, General Motors (NYSE: GM) has committed to the availability of 50 Chevrolet Malibu hybrids per month, and The Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) has committed to the availability of 50 Ford Escape hybrids per month, and is seeking to guarantee more.

This exceeds the 210 vehicles per month that TLC estimates are needed to meet new fuel efficiency standards imposed by the City and are above and beyond those already available on the retail market.

"There are already over 1,300 hybrid taxis on the streets of New York," said TLC Chairman Daus. "They save drivers around $6,500 per year and have been passing inspections 85% of the time, as compared to the average 54% for other prevalent taxicab vehicles. Switching to a hybrid makes more sense for drivers' wallets, and for our environment."

The TLC voted unanimously last December to approve new regulations requiring that, beginning October 1, 2008, all taxicabs coming into service, with the exception of accessible taxicabs, must achieve an EPA city mileage rating of 25 miles per gallon (mpg).

This regulation also provides that, as of October 2009, all new taxicab vehicles must achieve a minimum city driving rating of 30 mpg. Due to the combined regulations, by 2012 the taxi fleet will be all-hybrid, or a mix of hybrid and other clean vehicle types that produce similar mpg.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/16420

Victor Salazar, an owner-driver, beat on a pot, saying, “If they can’t give us a fuel surcharge, at least give us food stamps.”
The chairman of the commission, Matthew W. Daus, who noted that fares had been increased twice since 2004, said in a statement, “We do not believe that circumstances warrant a surcharge or adjustment.” However, he added, “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

The taxi industry in New York City is stratified, with large and profitable fleets at the top of the pyramid, independent owner-operators in the middle and, at the bottom, a large work force — many of them nonunionized immigrants — who lease medallions from middlemen known as leasing agents or, in some cases, from fleets. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which organized the protest on Monday, mostly comprises members of the third group, some of whom own their vehicles and some of whom lease them.

“Why are taxi drivers treated as second-class citizens?” asked Bhairavi Desai, the chief organizer of the workers’ alliance, who presented commission officials with a petition requesting a temporary fuel surcharge. Several other cities have imposed such surcharges, she noted.

Bill Lindauer, a driver and a member of the alliance’s organizing committee, said the Bloomberg administration had disregarded the economic straits drivers faced with gas prices that now exceed $4 a gallon.

“This is how the mayor treats working people?” he asked, adding, “I believe the mayor is a bold, innovative and pragmatic man, but he has an Achilles’ heel; he doesn’t feel for other people.”

In May 2004, fares were increased by 26 percent, the first such increase in eight years. Three-quarters of that increase went directly to the drivers; the rest benefited medallion owners in the form of lease caps, the amount the owners are permitted to charge drivers leasing their medallions.

In November 2006, the commission doubled the fare passengers pay while waiting in traffic to $24 an hour from $12, and all of that increase went directly to drivers, said Allan J. Fromberg, a spokesman for the commission.

According to the commission, the average daily gross earnings for a driver who owns his or her own vehicle and leases a medallion were $290.75 in June, unchanged from June 2007. (Fleet drivers and lease drivers, who rent both the car and the medallion, make 20 cents an hour less on average, according to the commission.)

But because per-gallon gasoline prices increased to $4.45 from $3.44 over the same period, the actual earnings per hour for drivers fell, to $13.41 from $14.59 for drivers of a Ford Crown Victoria, and to $16.12 from $16.69 for drivers of the Ford Escape, which runs on a hybrid of gasoline and electricity and has a significantly better fuel economy rating.

Several drivers said they had to work longer hours to make ends meet.

Victor Salazar, an owner-operator who drives a 2007 Toyota Sienna, and who took part in the protest, said: “To fill up the gas tank, I spend almost $80 per shift. My shift now is about 14 hours. I have to work more hours to compensate. I work six shifts a week. Actually it’s more like six and a half, because on my day off, I have to go out.”

Factoring in vehicle maintenance, car insurance, health insurance, liability insurance, the mortgage on his medallion and even the expense of looking for a bathroom while on the road, Mr. Salazar said, “It’s terrible.” He added, “It’s just amazing that I end up paying this much, even without having any accidents.”

Loubert Alexander, another owner-operator, said, “Two years ago, a fill-up cost $40; now it’s double that.” With the hot summer weather, he noted, cabs are burning even more gasoline as they run air-conditioning. (Cabdrivers are required to turn on air-conditioning if the customer requests it.)

The New York drivers were joined by Ronald Blount, president of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, based in Philadelphia. “If I have to pay an extra $30 to $40 a day at the pump, that’s my rent,” Mr. Blount, a lease driver for 25 years, said. “So we came up to show solidarity.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/nyregion/08surcharge.html?ref=nyregion

At its simplest, it is a taxi garage where drivers come to pay their weekly medallion dues and rant about the afternoon’s snooty tourists. But step away from the teller’s line and cabbies enter — by garage standards, anyway — a luxury suite: plasma TVs hanging from the walls, private showers next to the mechanics’ floor and soon (the bosses promise), a trio of massage chairs for the lounge.

“You’ll never see anything like this,” said Tony Georgiton, a former cabdriver and vice president of the medallion company, as he led a tour of the building on a recent weekday. “Nowhere else.”

Mr. Georgiton and the company’s president, Basil Messados, were used to shabby, single-bathroom garages where grease lined the walls and drivers had to step over transmission parts just to talk to one another. Now, they have created a taxi driver’s paradise, a refuge totally unlike the grimy, disheveled hangouts popularized on screen.

On a shelf in Mr. Messados’s office, next to photos of his wife and father, sits a portrait of a huffing-and-puffing Robert De Niro from the classic movie “Taxi Driver.” Mr. Messados said that he understood the plight of the hack. In the 1980s, he drove a cab from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. for a weekly income of $152.

Since then, he has traded in his yellow Ford LTD for a white Mercedes roadster. But he has not forgotten the long and erratic hours, the constant compliance checks from the city, and the sometimes ill-mannered customers. (Don’t get him started on the customers.)

The 32,000-square-foot building in Queens, which opened in April, is intended to alleviate some of those pressures, he said, and add a bit of comfort to what can be a grueling way of life.

“A driver needs an island, an oasis, where he can get away and feel like a human,” Mr. Messados said, putting out a cigarette in an ashtray painted to look like an old-fashioned Checker cab. “I think it’s a big shock when you tell them they can take a shower.”

Mr. Georgiton, 50, and Mr. Messados, 41, both Greek immigrants, retain a youthful energy that fuels off-color jokes and threats to tear the replica Greek sword off the wall for a lunchtime duel. The two have been business partners for nearly two decades, having set up shop in 1991 with a nine-cab brokerage in Queens.

They currently lease medallions for about 400 cabs, with two or three drivers using each car. Each driver pays about $800 a week to use the medallion, and some pay more for insurance or to finance their cabs if they do not own them.

The garage operates in a 91-year-old former factory that was bought in March for $6.5 million. An additional $1.5 million was spent to turn it into a sparkling, mustard-colored headquarters. It was a decided upgrade from the company’s old building a few blocks away.

“Someone told me once that you die without pockets — you can’t take anything with you,” Mr. Georgiton said. “We cut down on our profits a little, but you feel good about yourself.”

Many drivers seem to feel pretty good about the new place, too — when they can make use of it. Queens Medallion has not yet secured permission from the city to run a taxi stand, so cabbies can usually enjoy five or 10 minutes in the lunchroom before parking tickets start to hit windshields in the no-parking zone outside.

Drivers stream in and out all day, staying long enough to grab a Coke from the vending machine or catch a few minutes of a soccer game broadcast in high definition. While the lunchroom is popular, the showers rarely flow.

Last week, drivers were in and out at lightning speed. Sheik Musa Samory dashed into the lunchroom and spread out his maroon prayer mat. Mr. Musa Samory, who used to pray in a cramped room in the old location, said that when he first saw the new facilities, “it was like we were on the moon.”

He said the renovations reflected the caring attitude of the owners, who are known to organize weekly soccer matches and chat amiably with drivers in the lounge. “This is the way a business place should be,” said Mr. Musa Samory, a native of Ghana and a cabdriver since 1979. “Not just for money, but concern for health and to help you be happy.”

But in a time of dreary economic forecasts, others are not so pleased. Chantal Goin questioned the need for fancy facilities when many taxi drivers are struggling to earn enough to pay for expensive gas.

“Why put a shower in?” Ms. Goin shouted on the way to her cab. “It doesn’t make a difference. All I do is come in here and pay and leave.”

Hamidou Barry, an immigrant from Mali, said he would have preferred that the money used for renovations go instead toward reducing fees for taxi drivers, like the charge drivers must pay to share a cab. Mr. Barry said he was considering leaving the brokerage because it was getting too expensive. “This place is good, but they’re doing something that’s not right,” he said. “Charge, charge, charge, charge, charge.”

Mr. Messados defended the costs, explaining that having multiple drivers share one cab required extra insurance fees.

And amid all the frills, there are those who miss the filth. “It’s very nice, said Rashad Javaid, 29, from Pakistan. “Almost too nice.”

Mementos of a not-so-luxurious past have not totally vanished. Wander past the TV screens, up the granite staircase, and through the stately bathroom doors. A sign above the shimmering new toilets gently reminds drivers: “Please Flush Toilet by Hand Only. Do Not Kick to Flush!!!”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/nyregion/09taxi.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

Union Taxi Cooperative - a couple of hundred area cab drivers seeking to start their own business - applied in June to provide cab service under a new law making it easier for competitors to enter the taxi market in Colorado's largest cities.

That law requires existing taxi companies to prove that expanding competition would be "detrimental to the public interest." That's a much friendlier standard for consumers and would-be competitors than the previous law, which required applicants to show that existing service was "substantially inadequate" before the PUC would allow new entrants in the market.

Even with the new law, the approval process takes months, and the convention is eight weeks away. So on Tuesday, Union filed an application to gain temporary permission to operate during the convention. It asked the PUC to declare an "urgent and immediate" need for extra cabs at that time.

The commission said no, based on an opinion from the attorney general's office that the new standard doesn't apply to cab companies seeking temporary authority to operate.

Attorney and former PUC Chairman Ray Gifford, who's representing the Union drivers, called the decision "pro-incumbent," as it clearly was. That said, Union drivers may be picking up fares by the convention. They asked the PUC to expedite their application for permanent authority. With Commissioner Matt Baker calling for a speedy resolution, Union may get its wish.

Union asked the commission to review its application directly, rather than involve an administrative law judge. That could shave weeks off the process.

Moreover, Union asked to shorten the comment period from 30 days to 10. The only likely interveners are incumbents Yellow Cab and Metro Taxi, who have been arguing against competition for years. It shouldn't take them long to update their legal briefs.

A lengthy process only hurts the taxi-riding public, including the thousands of visitors who will be here for the DNC. If the PUC wants to serve the public interest, it'll make sure Union's cabs are on the streets before the first delegate arrives.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/expedite-the-application-for-new-taxi-firm/

Gasoline prices have doubled to more than $4 per gallon since he started driving a cab three years ago, making for some tough spending choices.

"I choose eating, not smoking," said Kalair, who gave up cigarettes in order to keep food on his table. "If you don't have it, you can't spend it," he said, standing outside a garage in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood as he waited to start his shift.

Nationwide, gasoline around $4 per gallon will cost taxi drivers 38 percent more per year—$3,825—than it did in two years ago, according to the Taxi Limousine & Paratransit Association.

To help cabbies, 11 U.S. cities have allowed taxis to charge a temporary fuel surcharge averaging $1.50 per trip and more municipalities are holding rate increase hearings.

But there has been no such relief for cab drivers in Manhattan.

New York drivers have not seen a rate hike since 2006 when gasoline averaged $2.56 per gallon. But the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) says drivers still can make a living wage of $12 an hour despite high gas prices.

"There is no compelling reason to consider a fuel surcharge and one has not been officially requested," TLC Chairman Matthew Daus said in a statement.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance estimates drivers now make closer to the state minimum wage $7.15 cents per hour and plans to submit a proposal to the TLC on Monday for a fuel surcharge of $1 per trip as long as gasoline prices remain above $3.50 per gallon.

Part of the problem is that most cabbies drive Ford Crown Victorias, which only get about 10 or 11 miles per gallon in the snarl of Manhattan's stop-and-go traffic, according to driver Roman Hladik.

"These Fords are horrible on the gas—worst possible car for such a business," said Hladik, a Czech set designer who has driven cabs here for 15 years to supplement his income.

New York plans to replace the city's yellow taxicabs with hybrid vehicles by 2012 but only a few are on the roads today.

Even when hybrid taxis are available, garages lease them to taxi drivers at a higher rate, eroding the benefits of the higher mileage.

So for many New York cabbies, paying the bills means cutting out nonessential items and spending more hours behind the wheel.

"At the moment, I don't have a life," cabbie Faheem Wahend said. "I don't have time for friends or family."

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-7-5/72923.html

Inspired by our "I F-ing Hate…" contest, Demosthenes submitted his rant about how much he hates New York City Cab drivers.

Enjoy:

I F-ing Hate NY Cabbies

NY cabbies suck.  And if I could come up with a way to put them all out of business, I would. Anything that makes their jobs harder, I'm all for it:

Bigger fare increase that'll lower their tips - do it.

Make them all install expensive GPS systems - excellent idea.

Replace them all with robots - I'm in favor.

Now you're probably thinking, "What in the world could make him hate cabbies so much?" Well, there are many reasons.

For starters, if you live in a borough of New York City, there's a 90% chance that the cab you get into doesn't know how to get to where you want to go, even though that’s the only thing they actually have to know!  Learning your way around a city is not rocket science — buy a damn map.

Another great reason to hate New York cabbies is that they drive like they're insane.  I have personally witnessed at least three cabs run down people on their bikes. 

I've been in a cab when they went the wrong way down a one way street, jumped out in traffic, cut off another cab, and then cursed out the other cab for having the nerve to honk at them.

But two reasons for hating New York City cabbies really jump to the forefront:  I live in Brooklyn and I am black.

For those of you who don't live in NYC, it's a fact of life that cabbies hate black people.

But that's common knowledge for the most part.  What most people outside of New York don't know is that they also hate going to Brooklyn.

Now, if you happen to be a black person trying to go to Brooklyn, well, then you've hit the daily double!

I've had cabbies just drive on by me. 

I've had them start to pull over to let me in, get a clearer view of me, and then speed off. 

I've had them pull up to me, roll down the window a crack to ask where I'm going (which is illegal by the way), and then speed off when I tell them The BK. 

I've also had them tell me that they are suddenly no longer in service. 

I've even had one pretend his cab broke down a block from where he picked me up. 

Whenever I tell this to my white friends, they are amazed, shocked, outraged, etc…, that this still happens in America.  Unfortunately, I'm used to it.

My fondest memory though, is when this Arab dude picked me up in his gypsy cab in Manhattan.  Normally I don't do gypsy cabs (those unmarked black cabs), but it was late, and it's not like I was having any luck with the regular yellow cabs.

After I got in and told him where I wanted to go, he refused to go anywhere until I paid him up front.

He also locked the doors so I couldn't jump out and run away without paying.  Normally, I would not have let this slide, but as I mentioned, it was late and I just wanted to go home.  So I paid the man and sat back for a quiet ride home.  However, it was not to be.

I guess he was afraid he had offended me, so he decided to explain why he asked me to prepay:  basically because black people are all thugs. I mean, I looked nice enough, but he couldn't take a chance, right?  We like to skip out on fares.  We're loud.  And if we actually do happen to stick around to
pay the fare, we skimp on the tip.

Now white people, they aren't great either, he continued.  They start wars, they don't care for the poor, and are basically the devil.  But there's one major difference: they tip well.  So in the end, that makes up for everything. 

I mean, homeboy was really feeling like he was dropping some knowledge on me.  Meanwhile, I'm just sitting in the back, saying nothing.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that there are pieces of truth to every stereotype. I'm sure he's had some bad run-ins that caused him to develop this particular philosophy.  But what exactly did he hope to gain by tell ME all of this?

As time has gone on I've learned to work the system a bit.  If you can hop in the cab before you tell them where you're going, the cabbie is stuck with you (a method employed by my white brethren who also live in the BK). 

Another tactic, if there happens to be a white girl around, I'll use her to hail the cab, and then jump in…and we're going to Brooklyn, bitch! 

I also make sure to tip well in the hopes of encouraging return trips to the boroughs. 

And if it's raining, well, I've actually never caught a cab in the rain; I'm pretty sure it's impossible.  So the subway it is (MTA, don't think you're off the hook.  You're on my list as well).

Now, after saying all of this, I do understand that every cabbie in NY is not like this, and that I'm using a broad brush to paint them all the same.  There are some good ones out there that are getting lumped in with the rest.  But here's the thing: I don't care.

The majority of them drive like madmen.  The majority won't drive to the boroughs, and if they will, they don't know their way around. The majority look at me like some thug that's going to rob them. The majority won't pick me up. 

Hence, I can only guess that the majority f-ing hate me.  And as such, I f-ing hate them back, because isn't that the American way?

Oh, and my friend who was dropping knowledge on me during the ride home?  Well, he didn't get a tip that night.  Ever heard of self-fulfilling prophecy?

http://stonecipher.typepad.com/the_stonecipher_report/2008/07/whats-yellow-ha.html