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NYC Wants Ideas For "Taxi Technology 2.0"
An anonymous reader writes "New York City is soliciting ideas from the public about possible technology improvements for its 13,000+ fleet of taxis. TLC (the city agency in charge of cabs) is 'seek[ing] input and information on ways to enhance the technology systems in each taxicab for the benefit of passengers, drivers and owners alike.'"
Seriously, I started smoking to get the cab smell off of me.
An optional opiate IV drip, to calm me down during the trip being driven by all those guys who play too much Crazy Taxi.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
The best technology upgrade those cabs could use is those little pine-shaped air fresheners.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
http://www.interstaterentals.net/id84.html
:)
Nothing worse than a smelly cab driver on a hot summers day. Eliminate odors electronically and help repair that pesky hole in the ozone while you're at it
MG
Install translators so drivers and passengers can communicate.
a translator, and maybe a shower?
Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados
Make all new taxis run on 100% electric. NYC's electric power comes 40% from nuclear (Indian Point), the rest from high-efficiency (up to 85% in CCGT) natural gas plants. The resulting switch would cut a lot of the smog remaining in our fairly green city.
Oh yeah, make the cars amphibious so they can go around the bridges/tunnels bottlenecks that clog so much NYC traffic.
--
make install -not war
Glory holes would be perfect for those long, late rides across town when the 'N' isn't running. I'm just sayin'....
I prefer the good ol' pine smell.
Judging on my experience with how Taxi drivers ignore all laws at will they must be drunk
New York isn't looking for ideas for new taxis.
They're looking for ideas for new taxes.
Suggestions will be never actually be implemented well, fully, or in more than a few cabs, but they'll tax the fuck out of you for them!
Seriously "2.0"?
Have they got no idea at all how old the taxi concept is already? More like 202.34
Just ask Brad. He posted one of the best and most convincing arguements on driverless cars I've ever seen, and in so doing also facilitated one of the most interesting /. conversations I've read.
I think NYC taxicabs would be a marvelous test case for driverless technology - it would solve a lot of issues.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Then I reckon they need Ajax and rounded corners. Cleaner cabs with fewer sharp edges on them. Plus they'd have to be called "yellowcbs".
If you read the RFI, it makes clear that they're not talking about the motive power of the taxicab. They're looking to upgrade the "in-taxi experience".
For comparison, they cite the ability to pay with credit cards and the "Passenger Information Monitor (PIM) with payment screen, live map, and various content", which they put in all taxis after the last round.
They're also hoping to improve things for drivers and the fleet, like better ways to get available drivers to where there are passengers to be picked up.
I think they want an idea like this: use your phone (and its built-in GPS) to summon a cab, without the tedious standing-in-the-street phase. Cabs go to where people need rides, rather than guessing.
Rickshaws
Install (rework?) tracking devices and software that remembers all of the routes the taxi takes to transport passengers, then have software constantly analyze that data and predict where cabs should be and when.
I live in Florida, so if this already exists, well, you know.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Okay, the TV's in the back with the map is fun for all of 1 day then it's just plain annoying.
Every time you get into a cab you have to shut it off or mute the volume I know it annoys the drivers.
Go hybrid and prevent the city (cops) and garages from gouging the drivers for every penny when ever they get a raise.
What, you want more?
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Add a Multi-touch Screen in the back with Google Maps or something similar, and support multiple languages. Provide status updates of where you are, what route is being taken, and how long it will take to get to your destination. The system can also provide tourist information and, yes, advertising. There should be no need to speak with the driver. This will ease the transition to driverless taxis, once that technology becomes available.
Introduce a "taxi-card" smartcard payment system.. but also accept cash and credit cards. They can do this at the supermarket, I don't see why they can't do it in the back of a taxi.
Provide an online booking system for taxis and, ya know, actually show up when you say you will.
How we know is more important than what we know.
I want to be able to pay extra to QoS tag my taxi cab so that it gets priority over the other traffic.
How about free internet? That would make up for being caught in traffic.
If there's one thing I learned from all my years of playing Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast, it's that customers will tip more if you nearly get them killed.
I say, let all the taxi drivers play Crazy Taxi for a week, then get back to driving cabs with their new skills. It's bound to get results.
Let them contact Google for interesting ideas about taxis and its Android OS. It's open source after all so we can ditch it if things do not go well. This would be way cheaper. Right?
Technically, the cabs are already great at what they do. They quickly and reasonably cheaply (considering) get you from point A to B. But the biggest problems I've had with cabs have had less to do with tech than human factors.
For example: Advertisements. Someone thought it would be a good idea to fill cabs with loudspeakers and screens that subject the passenger to one-way advertisements. I'm annoyed by this because A: It's unpleasant to be so aggressively marketed to and B: I didn't think of it first. If there was a way to equip cabs w/ a basic data terminal that used GPS to bring up relevant data regarding where I was (or services near my destination), that would be brilliant.
Also, the credit-card issue is slowly being addressed. It's gotten much better, but everyone still runs into some cabbie who makes a big show about pulling a manual card-swipe out of the trunk. Give me a debit-style terminal in the back seat like a freakin' grocery store.
Instead of political issues like electric cabs, let's see an improvement on the end-user experience. The rest will happen on their own as business owners start seeing a financial advantage.
Cabs with friggin' laser beams, man.
Automate them with artificial intelligence and give them defocused temporal perception so that they're always ready to pick you up even before you know you wanted one.
Make the interior stainless steel and have it go through an internal wash and rinse cycle at the conclusion of every trip as there will always be people excreting various unwanted solids, fluids, and gases inside.
Share and Enjoy.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
If the TARDIS couldn't translate the language of the Beast on the Impossible Planet, what makes you think any human-designed translator could manage the feat?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Not the bicycle kind (already have those) the chinamen foot kind. Yeah!
sensors that measure the delta in the weight of items in the passenger area before you get in and after you get out.
Use Google latitude to track the taxi and the passenger for safety. when request is made you can notify the Passenger where the taxi is in real time and when can he expect it, which gives a great customer service. If the passenger's family is using the same service, they estimate when he/she can be home. Communicate with other Taxi drivers if you want to swap the shift or notify them if you are stuck in bad traffic.
Link to Google lattitude
http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html
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Or maybe they could spend some money on software to teach the drivers English.
I'd say that would be using horses instead of humans to pull the rickshaw... 3.0 would be using bicycles (a step backward), 4.0 is using automotives...
radio contacts, radios and taximeters are somewhere between 5.0 and 6.0 - route guidance system are 7.0
so the better question would be, what technologies should be in version 8.0
I can't resist saying: improved javascript performance and more w3c compliance, but actually I think it will be some sort of entertainment device - games, internet access, tv,... or maybe it could be as simple as giving the customer a free drink (that will raise the base price of course)
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
Or how about a GPS system mounted in the back, where you could input the address you wanted to go to?
It would have the added benefit of showing you the trip you were taking and your expected arrival time; it'd also give visitors a way to make sure that the cab driver isn't taking a longer way for a higher fare.
And me without my points.
How about a method for electronically hailing a cab?
Part of the inefficiency taxis is that they drive around looking for fares, while interested riders may be waiting nearby but out of visual range.
Some method of being able to hail a cab from a cel phone with built in GPS would improve the ability of cabs and customers to find each other. The technology should be fairly easy to set up, simply requiring smartphones on both the passenger and driver end and at least a couple of servers to manage the information. Costs could be paid for with advertisements or very small fees from participants.
The biggest barrier to such a system is critical mass, which would be easy to obtain if the city simply picked an official provider of such a system.
They all seem to disappear when it rains, which I assume is because they can't get wet. So, they need to be waterproofed, or at least be given big umbrellas.
Umbrellas might work, actually. The umbrella vendors pop up out of nowhere when it rains, like hibernating frogs in the desert. Maybe they could be put to good use covering up the taxis.
Or how about a GPS system mounted in the back, where you could input the address you wanted to go to?
It would have the added benefit of showing you the trip you were taking and your expected arrival time; it'd also give visitors a way to make sure that the cab driver isn't taking a longer way for a higher fare.
Because nobody except NYC locals (who would already know if its a ripoff route) would be able to actually use the device quickly enough to make sense. Do you have any clue how much in profits would be lost every year if this added even 10 seconds worth of wasted time per user?
Wow, NYC owns all of those cabs? Oh, no, they don't?
Well, fuck off then.
Srsly, why does some regulatory agency treat this property like it's their personal plaything? They should regulate for safety and against fraud. And that's about it.
--
$tar -xvf
Ok, if nobody else is going to...
"You're in a Johnny Cab - Would you please restate the destination?"
DISCLAIMER: This post was not checked for speling and grammar- if you complain- you're a whiner
Stop taking cash.
Pay them more and remove tipping
In Cab Wi-Fi
Clean cabs that don't stink
Online in Cab ratings of the Cab, company and driver.
Free umbrellas. Big ugly orange things that get picked up and returned to the cab.
No Radio
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
For extra revenue, hook up with a fat farm or fitness club and CHARGE people to pull the rickshaws ...
Nine out of ten times, robotic cab drivers turn out to be more reliable than mutant cab drivers, such as those currently used in NYC.
$$$$ 13,000 Cash Cabs $$$$
Cash Cab
First, make many of them electric. Two hundred mile range vehicles are possible today, and according to this, there are 800 million miles driven each year by 13,000 taxis, which is 170 miles, according to my calculator and my brain. Beware: my brain is currently on pain meds from dental work. Charge all the unused electrical capacity of the grid at night to local Taxi stations, install some flywheel charging systems or a simple battery swapping system, and it will help us develop the next generation of electric vehicle infrastructure.
Next, equip all taxis with good GPS. Put a screen in the back so the passenger knows they're not being taken the long way or the wrong way. Use this data to calculate traffic and anticipate passenger needs based on events, weather, holidays, etc. Allow cabbies to see each other on the GPS, so they know if they are crowding certain areas unwittingly. Allow people to log into a website to see real time anonymized traffic flow information.
Give out decent prize money for Smartphone apps that become public domain. Allow a person to stand at a street corner and hail a cab by pressing a button, or request a timed pickup with a non-refundable deposit charged to their credit card.
And finally, make all cabs bike friendly, with a quick and secure way to attach two bikes to each one. This will allow those in a hurry to bike to work, catch a cab to a movie, and then bike home.
There are already many services that schedule pickups via phone, web, and probably smart phone too (isn't there an iPhone app for that?). The driver doesn't need a smart phone, he just needs a way to receive updates and pickup assignments from base regardless of how the requests arrived at the dispatch server (i.e. the cab computer/meter w/wireless in his cab). This is probably already happening/already been done many times in many different cities by many different cab companies. Also, consider this: what if you schedule a pickup and then you are a no show? There is no difference (in most consumer's minds) between one cab or another so if the cab driver blows off your pickup and takes a fare straight of the street (aka: cash in hand) he experiences no downside (unless the cab company punishes him for doing it and making them look bad). Why should he risk a pickup fare, which may not materialize, when he can get one immediately off the street without having to drive anywhere else to start the trip?
I had the same idea. This could be achieved with a Google Earth data layer that shows the position of every cab and you just tap the nearest available one to you for pickup.
When I visited New York and Los Angeles I noticed they have some sort of reverse TARDIS technology going on with their cabs - huge on the outside, with the turning radius of an oil tanker, but tiny on the inside, with my knees scraping against the seat (and I am a short guy). Why not make the car smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside, like London cabs? You can even buy some of the older models (e.g. the TXII) in the USA now...
I'd think it would be easier to do with a vending machine or ATM concept. Set the machines every other block or so, and accept cash and debit. You pay, and the nearest available cab comes to that spot. Paying the hail/flag-down fee first would help eliminate the assholes and pranksters that would stand there and spam the button and run off as the cabbie gets there just to waste the driver's time...
Of course, the driver can still pick up people the normal way also, no reason not to...
This is actually already done and present in all New York City cabs. http://www.google.com/search?q=nyc+taxi+gps
fsck -u
If you've got a phone with GPS, they know where you are and that you're still waiting for them. Calling for a pickup is problematic as you can only call a single cab company at a time and that particular cab company may not have a cab near you. The same issues exist with the iphone app, as it can at best only interface with a single cab company's dispatch. This works fine for smaller cities which only have a couple taxi companies, but is very difficult with larger cities.
It's beneficial for the cab drivers as may not need to spend nearly as long looking for a fare (sometimes hours) and beneficial for the rider as they may be able to get a cab which otherwise would have driven by them empty half a block away. There are no guarantees on either end, but providing a more efficient means of connecting cabs with fares should help reduce the amount of time cabs travel around empty.
There *are* vehicles that get priority over other traffic. In fact, they chain groups of cars getting this priority together for maximum efficiency, and they put in lots of seats so many people can ride in each car.
Unfortunately, the way they solved the prioritization issue means that they only run on fixed routes throughout the city. However, there's a lot of these routes, and so most locations have one within ready walking distance. Scheduled pickup and dropoff times are usually pretty frequent. You should check it out.
Tweet, tweet.
... Drop the taxis and develop a large and extensive mass transit system --- greater than that which already exists by a huge amount --- so much so that most people can jump on and off the transit with ease and get all over the city.
It sounds hard, but if you pay some brains to figure it out, it will happen.
I heard a FOAF story about a taxi driver who installed a GPS in his taxi. He'd always say to new fares: "You can have the GPS route, or you can have the route I think is best. Which do you want?"
Many, perhaps most, people would pick the GPS ... and promptly get stuck in traffic, because it doesn't know when to avoid main roads, all the shortcuts available, etc. It paid itself off in a few weeks..
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
City traffic with lots of stop and go. The perfect environment for the a hybrid.
Maybe electric would work even better, but if you want something that is available soon hybrids are already in the market.
C - the footgun of programming languages
All official NYC cabs have a TV screen in the back that have a map of your route. I got back from there on Tuesday.
ilovegeorgebush
So this is why they're raising taxes on everything here in NY? I dont need a fucking luxory yellow cab. I just need it to take me from point a to b.
What we do need though is better health care costs, jobs and education. I dont give a fuck about the trinkets in the fucking taxi. I have a fucking iphone.
If anything, just stop the cabbies from pissing in water bottles.
Diesel cars with 300ftlb torque, manual transmission, excellent tires (Goodyear Assurance TripleTred OR some damn good summer tires for dry/rain plus non-studded snow tires for winter), all-wheel drive, and advanced driving course for every cab driver: http://www.aaamidatlantic.com/DrivingPrograms/AdvancedDrivingVideo
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Just a side question from an ignorant Canadian. The only US city I've visited thus far is Boston, and I'm just wondering: is a city like New York similar when it comes to how society operates as a whole?
Here's why I ask. The taxi experience in Boston just blew me away. The security barrier between the front seat and back seat, the fact that money is passed through a little hole in the barrier rather than hand-to-hand, the police notices pasted all over the inside of the taxi. We were visiting in a group of 4; so when we jumped in a taxi, 3 of us sat in the back... and then the taxi driver briefly fought with us before allowing the 4th to sit in the front passenger seat.
Just creepy. Is crime really so bad in your cities? Up here, there's no barrier. You are free to sit in the front passenger seat. There are no police warnings posted about. For me it was definitely a moment of "whoa, I thought it was just something Canadians said, but the U.S. really ISN'T friendly".
Here's a radical idea: Establish a free market in public transportation. Consider the results in Indianapolis:
Get rid of the Medallions. For those not in the know, the number of taxis in New York City are limited, for the express purpose of keeping supply down and prices up. This is controlled through medallions, which are exorbitantly expensive. The city government is limiting competition.
The solution is to get rid of the taxi cartel by getting rid of the medallions. Provide a license to anyone who can pass a basic driving and navigation test, regardless of whether it's a tiny jitney or a stretch limo. Then let the market weed out the bad taxis and encourage the good taxis. Not only will this lower taxi prices in general, it will promote variety in taxi services. Let individual taxi owners freely band together into associations or companies.
How do you know if a taxi is a good or bad taxi? Look it up on your cellphone or iphone! Or only use taxis from a company you trust. Or look for the Good Taxi Seal of Approval (or other private rating agency). Hotel Doormen will know which taxis to flag down for you. Airports can set standards for the taxis they let use their taxi lanes. Etc. Etc.
No, the system won't be perfect. But perfection is not an option. A truly free market for taxis might not be a utopia, but it damn well sure will be better than the hell that is today's NYC taxi system.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
I have no knowledge about taxi systems outside of what's related through movies and television (and from that I take it that taxis should be used as tanks).
But why aren't there booths set up for people who need a taxi, like bus stops? Only the people in the taxi booths don't wait for an exact schedule with a specific route. People could still do "free grabs", but this would give people a place to go where they'd be easier to notice and taxi drivers a place to look on every pass.
Fleets have more options. I'd say a custom electric design with removable battery packs. Let the taxi depot keep a supply and chargers on-hand so that the range issue becomes moot. Make the batteries modular enough that they can either be removed and replaced as a whole unit or several stacked units. Make the battery packs super accessible as well.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
If the taxis were insured by Travelers they would get a levitating red umbrellas for each cab!
I Cater to the Needs of Stupid People. - from a coffee mug Christmas gift
In NYC, there are two classes of taxi's, Medallion taxis and Livery taxis. Medallion cabs are only allowed to pick up fares who flag them down (and are required to be painted yellow), and Livery cabs are only allowed to pick up customers who have called a dispatch service (and are not allowed to be painted yellow).
A system like you suggest would only be possible for the livery cabs, as it would be illegal to summon a medallion cab remotely.
Legalize recreational marijuana. Seriously.
Every livery cab service in New York already does this. You aren't allowed to pick up hailing passengers unless your a medallion-holding yellow cab. Obviously there some convenience or efficiency advantage in hailing a cab or else these licenses wouldn't cost a small fortune like they do. I'm not sure why New York keeps squeezing the shield-holders like this, they get criticized more than enough for even having the shield system in the first place without forcing extra expensive changes on the cab owners.
If accurate it is very insightful.
> There are already many services that schedule pickups via phone, web, and probably smart phone too
> (isn't there an iPhone app for that?).
True, but there's nothing that tells the smartphone how close the cabbie is to you in realtime?
> Why should he risk a pickup fare, which may not materialize, when he can get one immediately off the
> street without having to drive anywhere else to start the trip?
The question is actually the reverse - why do so many folks who've called in a cab on the phone turn up a noshow? It's lack of information: because we dont' know where the driver is, and have been burnt before when one didn't show up in time (or didn't show up at all), we get jittery and hail the next cab.
A smartphone app that gave me realtime ETA updates of _my_ cab would encourage me to wait for one. An app that automatically presented an ETA which I assent to, then automatically docks a nominal e-booking charge (say $3 as a Preauth credit card transaction) straight to the cab company (automatically applied to the trip cost on pickup, or refunded in full if ETA was exceeded, or forfeited if I was a noshow at agreed-upon coordinates) would encourage both the cabbie and passenger to stick with the arrangement.
A bluetooth close-in proximity trigger can be used to flag final application of the e-booking charge.
The Iphone 3.0 SDK has new APIs that should make this possible.
Let's ban cellular phones by drivers.
Where I live in Vancouver, BC, every-time I have taken a cab, the driver is talking the entire time on his cellular phone (Thankfully with a headset). Must have one of those unlimited incoming plans, but does not make me feel any safer. (Not to mention, it's not in English, so I can't at least be entertained by overhearing the conversation).
The onerous credit-card taking was also a pain - considering electronic cellular machines are used in restaurants frequently, no excuse for them not being available in cabs for credit/debit charges.
As anyone who has watched movies or television since..they were invented..knows, New Yorkers consider themselves to be the smartest, toughest and most street savvy people on the planet. Everyone else is either a "douchebag" or a "scumbag", even their fellow New Yorkers. They make Texans look shy and retiring. So I say, let them have at it and prove it once and for all time.
Here's how it works: all the cabs have all the windows removed. All cabs come equipped with a well stocked gunrack in the back seat. Once the tough New Yorker engages a cab for the ride, he's "shotgun", he or she or otherwise.. clears the path for the driver. Overhead are thousands of video cameras, and the street scene is run on a pay channel on cable. The ultimate reality show. Probably last one good full season, plus it will improve all the nasty congestion there, taking care of too much traffic and so on, it will make some money and create a few jobs, and provide hours of good clean wholesome family entertainment for everyone else who isn't a "New Yorker".
Cab problems solved, traffic congestion solved, hours of fun and games enjoyed by all. What's not to like?
Figure out a way for a hot diving being to drop through the roof every time you take a ride.
And if the driver was a cloned Bruce Willis, that would really improve the experience. Particularly what with the way he drives in ALL of his movies.
Ya know those GPS displays they put in back seat? How about puting them in the front seat?
You know... where the person who's actually trying to figure out where they are and where they're going is. Or at *least* add a translation program from English to whatever language the driver speaks so I can tell him what directions the GPS is giving to me for some reason.
kaufman cabs
I love the GPS map for passengers in the back.
Now can we PLEASE give the goddamn cabbies access to GPS?! I often haven't the slightest idea where I'm going beyond an address. It seems that about 90% of my cabbies ask me for directions.
Not how I want to get there, not my preferred route: these people don't know where the hell they're going. It doesn't help me to have a limited GPS in back -- you can't enter addresses into those things.
Two hundred mile range vehicles are possible today
Show me an electric car (or even a design for one) that seats five people comfortably with luggage and can drive "two hundred miles" in the city. If it can't do that it's not a "taxi" replacement.
That's not to say there isn't a place for a much smaller, electric powered vehicle. With the application you outlined it would be possible to have people specify the number of passengers and baggage. The most appropriate vehicle could be dispatched.
But a taxi replacement it isn't.
Step 1: Make taxis remote driveable thru the internet.
Step 2: Outsource all drivers to India or similar.
Step 3: Make huge profits from previous steps.
Step 4: Pay 10% of profits to me for this great idea.
already done in some cabs...problem is GPS will take you on the path most eveybody else is taking...and so in the name of getting you there on time, the further route is usually what you want. What has also gone a long way to deter this problem is the flat rate from and to airports in the city.
So if the cab company has to outfit all of their cars with the necessary equipment will it pay off? Perhaps, but it is a substantial risk. How many of their customers have smartphones and would use the service? Also a $3 non-refundable charge isn't enough to cover the risk of a no-show, this is NY after all. The charge would have to be more like $20 non-refundable if you are a no-show for the pickup.
Place a petri dish with organic 'soup' on the floor and voila! You'll have your own civilization before the Taxi reaches it's destination.
5th Element style flying taxis.
By the way, I'm a program and I defeated your captcha.
Subject says it all.
Is it still hip to ridicule their funny accents?
I had a sucky sig.
Deregulate them. Then they'll figure out these things for themselves and there'll be a lot more choices. Let me not have to pick the one at the front of the line, but the one I want with the features I want. I understand the protocol. The protocol is counter-productive.
If the city really thinks that it knows best, then let it run its own operation, but allow real competition. The city will be out of business in no time.
I would like to see a way of bidding prior to going on the cab itself. IE have like an iphone app that allows me to give a destination and have various cabbies bid based on that.
this would take the traffic uncertainty out of the eq, and if the cabbie gets me to my destination faster-- great!
I am the CEO of a new service coming this Fall called HailCab. See us at http://www.HailCab.com or become a fan of us on Facebook by typing in 'HailCab' in the search box for product announcement details. We are releasing this service in the fall on Iphone, Android, Blackberry, SMS and our website.
I am the CEO of a new service coming this Fall called HailCab which is a way to catch a cab using your cell phone or smartphone. See us at http://www.hailcab.com/ or become a fan of us on Facebook by typing in 'HailCab' in the search box for product announcement information.
Please see www.hailcab.com
here's a tip. Make them all free!
Futurama tubes are the only answer.
Many, perhaps most, people would pick the GPS ... and promptly get stuck in traffic, because it doesn't know when to avoid main roads, all the shortcuts available, etc. It paid itself off in a few weeks..
TomTom and Vodafone have a service that monitors traffic. The GPS device takes another route based on that information. I don't know how it would work out if everybody would use it.
Bicycles discriminate against everyone but the physically fit. You're not making a taxi that's suitable for everyone, you're making a taxi that you would like to have. Please stop trying to design things for yourself and then say they're suitable for everyone.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
It is convenient to forget technology is much more than computing hardware and peripherals, but it is dishonest.
My advice? Go to London. They might've butchered the roadmaster out of petty spite, but the cab is still going strong. Look what LTI et al made of designing the hardware. You still can make an outstanding cab with very few cpus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage
Ditch the driver
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
What about real-time traffic reporting to the gps so it can pick the best alternate route?
Definitely needs a translator
Are you saying that someone who is able to get in and out of a cab is unlikely to be able to ride a bicycle?
That idea is dumb even as a troll.
here in soviet italy, if i call my fave cab company their system recognizes my caller id and asks me if i want a cab dispatched to my adress automatically -- they should do something similar, maybe with an app for gps enabled phones -- push a button, get a time estimate, click ok to get your cab and its gun lovin' driver to your location.
The two largest requests that passengers have made are for GPS maps and to be able to pay by credit card.
All taxis in NYC have these capabilities and those that dont are in the process of getting them. However, the politicians and their business allegiances have added some caveats to exploit the same public and the cab drivers.
Bundled with the GPS system, is the advertising system. Because of the screen that is required to display the map, companies have seen a means to exploit this screen to sell advertisement. Most regular passengers turn off the screen as soon as they enter the cab. The are a few people that are wowed by the novelty of the screen, they figure its a tv in the back of the cab only to realize if their journey is long enough, that its a 15 minute download that is looped and spiced with advertisements.
As for the credit card system, its in place, you can swipe or tap your card. Some cab drivers are reluctant to accept credit cards because of the problems it poses. One of these problems are that a lot of people try to stiff you, they say they are going to pay by credit card, swipe the non-stiped side of their card then select cash on the touch screen in the back so the receipt prints and the cab driver will think that the charge has been posted, and then run out. Also FYI, cab drivers have to pay 5% of all credit card transactions to the base, which works out to $50-$100 dollars weekly. So you can realize their reluctance, if you can imagine that money coming out of your paycheck every week. We have no problem accepting credit cards just as long as we dont lose on every transaction.
Most people dont realize cab drivers are our own businessmen, we dont work for the cab company, receive a salary or benefits. Most of us rent the taxis. We are not employed by the city, the cost of doing our business is 1/2 a million per cab, thats the cost of the license/medallion.
I said "make many of them" electrics. Most of them will be hybrids by 2012 anyway.
Furthermore, Tesla motors has already stated that they can deliver a sedan with a 200 mile range for $60,000. To put that cost in perspective, you could build the 250 million dollar factory and 45,000 electric sedans for less than a weeks expense in Iraq. And the DoE has already said that there is enough spare electricity at night to provide charging up 70% of the energy used by light trucks and vehicles, especially on the east coast.
It's really a pity that you can't envision anything but apathy. The solutions are here; America just needs to rethink how it spends it's resources.
Many have spoken of adding GPS location on screen for the driver and passenger, which is great. But from there, you can't really use the simple (or moderetely complex) path finding algorithms mostly because of traffic which can be caused by many things. We could get around that using a central service which computes suggestions for all new fares. The driver or passenger inputs a destination, the onboard computer makes a request to the service which tracks real-time traffic and produces a suggested route for the driver. It should be possible to optimize the routes by redistributing heavy traffic on alternative routes. This could happen before (some extrapolation required) or as the jam starts. Or by focusing on reducing know/dynamic bottlenecks. Not much to do about bridges though... but maybe it could have a positive impact on average transit times. Then again, some or all of the drivers could already be doing it on some level for all i know!
This is why Checker Motors went under in the 80's - there is just no way to sell enough taxicabs in America to pay for the R&D costs, not to mention factory tooling.
Why would you buy a car to park in a garage for 8 hours during the day, when the single largest cost of a taxi (the driver) has just been removed. Call an automatic taxi and share the capital cost of the vehicle with all the other riders. It can be at your door in a couple of minutes.
Any car company which attempts to introduce an automatically guided car will go out of business (and put all the others out of business at around the same time), because they will simply be unable to sell millions of them to everyone. They'll sell a few high end vehicles to the wealthy, then the taxi companies will get involved and that'll be it. No reason to own a car.
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I have a feeling that especially in high-rise Manhattan there isn't that much sky visible for a sat-nav to get a precise reading. If that assumption is correct, unless the GPS is actually built in (i.e. navigation data is supplemented by magnetic compass and readings from the ABS sensors) it won't be of much use..
I personally am in favour of the open market idea as it appeared in Indiana, and I am TOTALLY against the cartel forming that can take place. However, what you cannot get away from is licensing because you need to keep a grip on who does what. In London they started a scheme where they do at least some criminal checks, and barring the usual incompetence displayed by any London authority it has indeed resulted in a reduction of cab-based crime. However, that should not cost a fortune.
There is a 3rd way, but I lack the time to do it. You can set up a mechanism that creates the open market and - at the same time - manages carbon reduction and helps cab drivers to keep their paperwork in order (i.e. everyone wins). Maybe some other time (too busy with other things anyway)..
Insert
Johnny Cabs!
We have much to learn from Total Recall.
You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
I don't know how it would work out if everybody would use it
If it was used properly and the load balancing algorithms were good enough, it would obviously result in the most efficient use of roads possible!
which is totally what she said
If you let the city take charge of such project, it's going to fail miserably -- even with massive funding. There are just too many variables that are going to change as time goes on. For instance, would you develop the app for the iPhone, Android, MS, Blackberry, Palm, and Symbian? Ok, fine, probably the top three. And what about the phone service providers, are they going to allow your apps? or actively work to subvert them? And who would own what data? And what about usability? Or privacy questions? Thousands of usability questions would have to get get resolved? Do you really want a City Committee to be the customer in charge of these decisions?
Instead, we should just let entrepreneurs and startups take those risks themselves. Many companies/apps will try to do what you suggest. Many will fail. Some will succeed. Hell, there are probably some good apps that are halfway there already. I say, let the solutions shake themselves out in the marketplace. It may take a little longer initially, but the results will be so much better if you let the marketplace evolve a working solution itself.
PS: I live in San Francisco, I won't repeat my story with the way our city messed up our own cab system (even without the use of Technology), but click on my username -- it's on my last post before this one -- if you're interested. What they did in that case should serve as warning for other cities I hope.
And finally, make all cabs bike friendly, with a quick and secure way to attach two bikes to each one. This will allow those in a hurry to bike to work, catch a cab to a movie, and then bike home.
Why can't you bike to the movie?
I'd like not just a GPS display, but a printout. Ideally showing the route on the map, a text list of streets and turns, date and time of start and stop, itemized charges including tip and change, driver full name and car plate number, name and address of cab company.
It would cut out a lot of scams. Or maybe, when you're in your hotel room and you're looking at the printout and comparing it to the map, you say "Oh... huh. That's why it looked like he was taking a long route".
How about converting the fleet to all electric (or at least hybrids). Having 14,000 cars producing less air pollution would likely significantly improve the air quality. In addition it would likely help with reducing building corrosion.
If you installed this in every taxi, you wouldn't need third-party data. Any taxi that is stationary while not in the for-hire state is stuck in traffic or at traffic lights. Any moving taxi is on a route that has free-flowing traffic. You could build quite a good picture from 13,000 data points. Every time I've been in NYC, it's seemed like at least half of the cars are taxis; I don't think I've ever seen a road with traffic but no taxis in Manhattan, so it would probably give a better picture than any other system there.
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It's one thing to monitor traffic for things like accidents and traffic jams, but NYC traffic is its own beast. While there are certain times of the day (morning/evening rush periods, midday lunch, etc) when there is heavy congestion that lasts for an hour at a time, a lot of times you get these little jams due to someone double parking, etc that lasts for 25-30 minutes tops. And they're more or less randomly distributed around the residential areas of Manhattan. Constantly rerouting to avoid these situations in NYC sounds like a nightmare. For instance, you could avoid all the congestion but take a circuitous route (25-30 minutes local - downtown to uptown), or you could sit through 10 minutes of congestion to get onto the FDR or West Side Highway + 15 minutes of driving. In the end, you're better off just listening to the cabbie for advice. While it's possible he might want to rip you off, more often than not, he wants to get you to your location fast for A) a better tip and B) so he can get more cab hires a day.
Looks like this technology could easily be adapted from police to taxi.
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specs here -
http://www.carbonmotors.com/machine/specifications
we see things not as as they are, but as we are.
-- anais nin
How about the electric system used to power bumper cars.
When did you set off, last Thursday?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
There is a GPS map option already and it's pretty accurate. But it sure doesn't tell you whether the cab driver is taking you by the most direct route or whether there are traffic jams ahead.
Best idea is to kill the incessant "be safe and be happy-talk" voiceover.
But it also removes the incentive to increase road capacity and square one is just around the corner again.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
GPS also does not always work in city centres.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
How exactly do you increase road capacity when the whole city is already one giant grid, would you simply make the lanes thinner? I think that would be one viable solution - I've never been to NY or even America, but when I went to Canada the lanes were at least 50% bigger than they need to be (from the perspective of someone who lives in the UK and regularly drives through gaps with only a foot of clearance on either side).
which is totally what she said
Basically, the same idea as a bus lane but for cabs. It would be impossible and impractical to do this on every street, but very feasible on certain avenues particularly ones that intersect with bridge and tunnel exits and entrances. Similar to bus lanes, these lanes would be designated for taxis only during certain hours. Also, designate specific parts of the street for taxi drop offs and pickups, where these points are out of the way of the main flow of traffic. Not very high tech, but if it improves the overall flow of traffic in the city then it could go a long way in improving emissions in the city.
Place large conveyor belts all throughout the city. Let people ride them at will. Place cameras at the end of the belt where hilarity ensues. Charge to watch on payperview and it pays for the whole system.
Easy,
Tweet: #nyccab 5th and Broadway
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Another problem solved without writing a line of code....
Given the number of high profile taxi passenger murders we've had in England recently, a panic button in the back might make drivers think twice about trying it.
I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
Congratulations. You are the most obvious Captain Obvious.
One of the most irritating and dangerous aspects of driving a cab is that they talk on continuously on their cellphones. My vote: equip each cab with a button in the back "jam cellphone" that would abruptly end any and all calls made from the front left seat of the taxi.
Hey democracy lovers, add Quorum as a c
People will pay more for ANYTHING if you attach a "green" association to it. I would think you could make this endeavor feasible by simply upping the fare so people can ride in a "green" cab. Trust me, not everyone would go for it, but enough people would to justify the change.
"This is the value of a summer spent and a winter earned"
If every time you jumped into a cab the ceiling lights would blink and the cab driver would ask you random questions increasing in difficulty as you drove along. And if you got them right you'd get money.
Just a thought, might be entertaining.
The map only lets you see where you are, not where you're going - you can't move away from a view centered on your current location.
not exactly. It shows where you are, and it's VERY accurate (like any Garmin I've seen). But it does NOT let you input the destination and show the route. Rightfully so, because then tourists would (rightly or wrongly) panic when they driver was going a different way and assume they were getting cheated. In NYC there are 174 ways to get between any 2 places.
Flew out Friday, arrived in LGA ~2200. Why?
ilovegeorgebush
There are so many cubs in NYC that I bet that if you put a computer in each of them with a good antenna you could create a mesh network with them. Add some routers that give internet to the mesh randomly localized in several points of the city, and voila. You would need to setup a very active routing protocol because the mesh nodes are moving all the time.
Add extra lanes to freeways, build new bridges ect... It happens all the time you can also reprogram traffic lights and change the direction of traffic.
You can't make physical alterations to every road but that doesn't stop improvements being made and many roads can and do get expanded.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Many (most) modern cab company cabs already have GPS units. Lots of people in cities like NY have smartphones with usable location sensing. The enhanced-911 location sensing built into mobile phones could also be used.
The amount-at-risk could vary, but for me personally, a $3 charge for a no-show is fair. For the cabbie, its' still better than nothing.