Taxi livery
Originally, hackney carriage companies were distinguished from each other by their drivers' livery (uniforms) and by the color of their carriages. For example, at the end of the 19th century in Paris, Compagnie Generale carriages were painted blue, while those of Abeille were painted green ("The Paris Cabman"). During the early years of the twentieth century, private cars were usually black because paints of other colors were not durable. Taxis were the exception, as they would be touched up or worn out. Around the world today, taxi companies are still distinguished by the way their cars are painted.
North America
In the United States and Canada, many older taxi companies are named according to their paint schemes. Thus, "Yellow Cabs" are painted yellow, Checker taxis are a play on the car manufacturer's name (Checker Motors) and have a distinctive black-and-white or black-and-yellow checkerboard stripe around their bodies, "Blue and White Cabs" might have blue bodies and white roofs, and "Black Top" and "Red Top Cabs" have black and red roofs respectively. In the 1920s, a famous company named "Brown and White" lost a lawsuit to prevent other taxi drivers from painting their cars these colors. In 1960, New York City ordered that the city's taxis be painted yellow.
Some Canadian cities such as Toronto (with their orange and green Beck Taxi's) and Vancouver have taxis with their own custom color, but Montreal-area taxis (mostly mid-size cars such as the Chevrolet Malibu and Toyota Camry) remain stock. In Honolulu, Hawaii, most taxis are luxury cars such as Lincoln Town Cars and Lexus ES350s and GX470s. These cars are left stock colored.
Latin America
- Mexico City's ubiquitous VW Type 1 (Beetle) cabs were green and white (being firstly yellow) by law until early 2003. However, the tiny cars had been displaced by bigger four-door sedans, the Nissan Tsuru, a Sentra MkIII (B13) based saloon and recognized for their red/white (or silver) body color. No VW are colored this way anymore. Matchbox released a scale model of the VW taxi in 2004, numbered 31.
- Three-wheeled Coco taxis, named because their shape resembles that of a coconut, are used in Havana, Cuba.
- Brazilian taxis are colored red in Porto Alegre, orange in Curitiba, yellow in Rio de Janeiro and white in São Paulo.
Asia
Indonesia
In Indonesia, there are many private companies operating taxis that have their own distinctive liveries. VIP taxicabs are painted in black. Taxicabs are referred to as "taksi" in Indonesia. To hail a taxicab, you normally just wait on the street or go to locations called taxi stands.
Malaysia
In Malaysia, most taxicabs have distinctive white and red liveries. In Kuala Lumpur, well established meter taxi companies with more than 1000 units have bright orange color liveries with approval from the government. Private operating taxis must have distinctive white and red liveries only. Kuala Lumpur is the only city in Malaysia with taxicabs extensively running on natural gas. Taxicabs are referred to as taxis in Malaysia.
India
In India, most taxicabs, especially those in Delhi and Mumbai, have distinctive black and yellow liveries with the bottom half painted black and upper half painted yellow. In Kolkata, most taxis are painted yellow with a blue strip in the middle (earlier in Kolkata it used to be yellow and black). However taxicabs are more common in Mumbai and Kolkata and not so much in Delhi (where autorickshaws are a more common sight). Private companies operating taxis can have their own liveries but need to get them approved from the government. Taxis and all other commercial vehicles have a yellow number plate so charging taxes and toll in highways is easier for the officials. Delhi is the only city in India with taxicabs running only on Compressed Natural Gas. To hail a taxicab, you normally just wait on the street or go to locations called taxi stands. Taxicabs are referred to as taxis in India and the word cab is rarely used.
Cities such as Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai etc. have radio taxi services wherein you can pre book a taxi and get picked up from your residence. There are two types of such taxi services. The first operating on a metred tariff and the second operating on fixed tariff.
Pakistan
There are different kinds of taxis are found in Pakistan most of them are yellow painted while some old ones also run here with black colour and small of the upper half is yellow painted. There are also some privately owned companies which are running very good and latest model cabs in metropolitan areas such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. These private companies use latest model locally assembled Toyota Corolla and Suzuki liana. There are also some companies offering Japan assembled cars in which Mitsubishi Lancer is popular. Nowadays CNG rickshaws are widely seen in various parts of the country due to their cheap maintenance and low running cost.
Hong Kong
Taxicabs of Hong Kong have three color based on service area: red with silver top for urban Hong Kong; green with white top for New Territories; and blue with white top for Lantau Island. The color are to even out service between less densely populated areas and urban centres of the territory.
Most taxis in Hong Kong are Toyota Comfort (YXS10 series). This is a mid-size rear-wheel-drive model specially manufactured as commercial use 4-door sedan, and it is very durable. All taxis in Hong Kong are currently powered by LPG engines.[citation needed]
Taiwan
In Taiwan, taxicabs are painted yellow prior to obtaining registration. The bumper may retain its factory colors by owner preference. The body may bear sponsored advertisements.
Japan
In Japan, taxicabs each have color or designs based on the company. The majority of Japanese cars are white, silver or black. Some taxis adopt showy colors, such as green, red, and orange, to attract customers' attention.[citation needed]
Most Japanese taxis are one of three types of cars: the Toyota Comfort; Nissan Crew; and Nissan Cedric Y31. They all have automatic passenger doors, which open when a button is pressed by the driver. However, elite taxis may have drivers that manually open the door for the passenger.
Recently, some taxi companies have selected Toyota Crown S170 and/or S180 as taxis because cars made for use as taxis (such as Comfort, Crew and Cedric) have very plain interiors.[citation needed]
Europe
In another sense of livery, the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers became a City of London Livery Company in 2004.
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In Germany, taxicabs are beige, a look that was officially stipulated by law as Elfenbein a light ivory-color in 1971. In 2005 this legal restriction was lifted, but most taxicab drivers associations and companies still prefer the unified look and visibility of beige. Most taxicabs in Germany are Mercedes-Benz limousines, predominantly of the E-Class series.
In Greece taxicabs have variable colors, according to the city they are registered. For example, in Athens they are yellow (see: [1]). In all rural areas, they are usually silver-colored. In other cities except Athens they have particular color, such as blue with white-coloured roofs (Thessaloniki), dark red (Patras) or dark green (Ioannina). Cars used as taxis are mostly 4-door sedans with great luggage space. The cars used most as taxis are Mercedes-Benz C- and E-Classes, VW Passat, Škoda Octavia and Toyota Avensis. Most of them in urban areas are equipped with GPS navigation systems.[citation needed]
In Russia some companies are offering a 'luxury' taxi service where taxis are Maybachs and TechArt Magnums (tuned Porsche Cayennes) - but most cabs are operated by more 'conventional' brands, such as Ford Focus or Renault Kangoo in larger cities and Russian makes elsewhere. In cities, it is also traditionally possible to hail down private cars and negotiate a lift for an agreed price. This is usually quite safe (for locals), since a large proportion of car owners practice this as a steady source of additional income.
In Spain, each town and city designates the color of their taxis, but in the overwhelming majority, it is white, usually with some kind of color detail and/or local symbol on the doors. For example, in Madrid (and also in Almería), taxicabs are white with a red diagonal stripe going through the front doors; in Seville, they are white with a diagonal yellow stripe down the rear doors; in Bilbao, white with a horizontal red stripe on the front doors, etc. A notable exception is Barcelona, where taxicabs are fully black, except the doors and the boot lid, which are painted yellow. By far the most popular car models for taxicab duties, all around Spain, are the SEAT León and the Škoda Octavia; other models that can also be found frequently are the Peugeot 406 (the 407 has only been very recently homologated for this function [1]), Volkswagen Jetta, SEAT Altea XL, Opel Vectra, Citroën C5, Toyota Avensis, some Mercedes-Benz E-Class, etc.
In Serbia taxicabs are operated by numerous small private companies. They can be of any color, but they must prominently display the company name and phone number. Also, vehicles used as taxicabs must have at least four doors. Some popular models for new taxis are Volkswagen Passat, SEAT Altea and Toyota Avensis. In smaller towns older vehicles like Zastava and Lada are still used as taxicabs.
In Italy, taxicabs used to be green and black since the time of World War II, but were eventually changed to a bright yellow color. More recently, the color was changed to white.
In Portugal, taxis were traditionally black with the upper half painted green. This was changed to a uniform beige color in the 1990s, but in the 2000s many new taxis have gone back to the traditional livery. Mercedes C- and E-class are popular taxicab models.
In Scandinavia there is no particular color for taxicabs. Various shades of black and silver are the most popular choices. The cars most use are Volvo S80/V70, Mercedes C- and E-class, Toyota Avensis, Škoda Octavia, VW Passat and VW Transporter/Caravelle bus and BMW 5 series. In Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, city taxis are equipped with GPS navigation and booking system. In rural area the drivers are local and GPS is hardly ever needed, and catching a taxi during night time relies much on knowing direct numbers to the drivers.
In The Netherlands Taxicabs have no particular color, though they seem to follow a certain fashion. For a while they tended to be dark/navy blue or black, a color to which we appear to be returning after a period of Silver/middle grays and Anthracites. Not all cabs follow this fashion, and there is a wide range of other colors, including bright yellow, mostly seen on American models. The most common vehicles used as taxicabs are E-class, others include Škoda Octavia, VW Passat, VW Transporter/Caravelle, Chrysler 300C and Citroën C5. However many other cars can be found as cabs as well, ranging from several motorbikes and Smart ForTwo's to the ubiquitous London Cab, several American models such as the Ford Crown Victoria, Chevrolet and a few Lincoln Towncars and an increasing number of medium sized SUV's. Not all cabs have clear signs indicating their function, at least not always in the traditional sense. By law, all cabs have a license plate with black letters on a light-blue background. The plates are a legal requirement for any car that operates as a cab, which for this purpose means any chauffeur driven vehicle that can be hired, so this includes limousines hired for opening nights and school proms. In cities such as Amsterdam there is an increasing amount of alternative personal public transport on offer, such as the Tuktuk, the cyclecab and the Amsterdam Watertaxi
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A group of Manchester cabs in 2003. -
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A pictures of a Banbury taxi. -
A pictures of these London taxicabs outside Waterloo railway station. -
![[1]](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39998000/jpg/_39998210_1taxi203.jpg){kind=link}
Oceania
In Australia, livery is determined by state legislation. In Victoria, an all-yellow scheme is adopted. In contrast, in Queensland and New South Wales livery is dependent on which company is operating the dispatch system the taxi uses. In South Australia, most taxis are white. Taxis in Australia are most often Ford Falcons, and Toyota Taragos, Mercedes-Benz Vitos and SsangYong Stavics (as Maxicabs), other less common types of taxis in Australia are Holden Commodore, Holden Statesman/Caprice, Toyota Avalon (Australian built model), Toyota Hiace and Toyota Prius. Most private taxi companies use Holden Caprices, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Chrysler 300C and the discontinued BA and BF Ford Fairlane. [citation needed]