taxi

The 404 150: Where Justin apologizes profusely to Sarah Tew

We finally get CNET photographer Sarah Tew into The 404 lair and I screw it all up in the preshow. 'Twas totally unintentional, Ms. Tew, I promise! Ahh, this big, dumb mouth of mine. Anyway, Sarah was dragged in by Corinne Shulze, another CNET shooter visiting from the City by the Bay. In nothing short of a miracle, they still agree to do the show and we get right into it.

Wait, not quite...we have to talk about medical ailments and weekend buffoonery, right? Corinne tells us about her fight with a MUNI rail (you should've seen the … Read more

The 404 130: Where Justin dances like a Muppet

Fridays are always the craziest days at the 404--hopefully you saw today's preshow where Justin danced his little Muppet heart out to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." If you missed it, you can still check out the video below. We have the pleasure of speaking to the great Lou Bakalar today over the phone; he gives us his take on cutting edge tech and we pick his brain about the dangers of driving a taxi in the city. The story rundown is equally zany, filled with strip clubs, celebrity death predictions, vegetable oil automobiles, and of … Read more

Photos: Ford's concept taxi

When it comes to taxicab design, there are two basic templates: the big boats out of Detroit like the Crown Victoria and the quainter, more bulbous look of the London taxi. It's that latter form factor that prevails in the new concept car--er, taxi--from Ford Motor.

In fact, underlying the hackney concept vehicle is a van straight out of Ford's European fleet, the Transit Connect. The automaker has been selling that van in Europe since about 2003 and plans to bring it to the U.S. in 2009. The taxi version is just one possible configuration; Ford is … Read more

World Taximeter helps you scope out international cab fares

We're always on the lookout for smart travel tools, and World Taximeter is no exception. It's an intelligent mashup, combining directions from Google Maps with local cab fares. It'll let you know how much the ride should cost using local rates by distance and time of day, and combining that with live traffic estimations from Google. Depending on what country you're in, it'll also give you the heads up on any additional charges, like if you're booking it over the phone, or traveling on a weekend. For anyone who's visiting a foreign country … Read more

Stylin' municipal vehicles

We've shown you the taxis of the future. Could some of the following complete the city fleet?

DeputyDog, a blog about "stuff," has put together a list of the nine most interesting municipal-vehicle ideas.

It includes a German police car made from a Mercedes, New York cops on Segways, a Porsche Cayenne ambulance, a Ferrari 250 GTE that was used by the Italian police in the 1960s, a Lamborghini Murcielago and a Peugeot H2O fire engine concept car.

Can you imagine giving some poor guy in a Honda a speeding ticket when you're driving a Ferrari? … Read more

Hailing a cab without fisticuffs

When we first heard of the "Taxi Hailer," we thought it was a joke. After all, it's basically just a flashing light, not some kind of state-of-the-art wireless dispatcher. But it's apparently been officially sanctioned by the London cabbie association, and some early street tests indicate some success.

Tech Digest says the credit-card-sized device has a "super bright" amber light that can be spotted easily on packed city streets, day or night. The Taxi Hailer site even features a video of it in action.

We'd use one of these in New York City … Read more