WHAT'S BIG, YELLOW AND ALL OVER NYC?

New York's famous yellow taxis tooted their horn last month with a 100th birthday celebration at Taxi 07, an exhibit at the NY Auto Show in lower Manhattan (now closed). A cab centennial in the Big Apple requires a major party; more than 12,000 keep the city moving above ground.

Equally loved and hated by New Yorkers, cabs provide a (sometimes) quick move across Manhattan (cross-town routes generally being underserved by the subway).

How so? The word taxi comes from taximeter, a device invented in 1891 that measures the distance and time a car has traveled. Cab is from cabriolet, a type of horse drawn carriage. The first cars used as taxis in the 1890s were electric powered with batteries weighing up to 800 pounds; in 1907 the New York Taxicab company bought 600 gasoline-powered cars from France. Voila, the taxicab.

Why yellow? After reading that yellow was the easiest color to see, Jacob Hertz chose it for his Yellow Cab Company in 1907. Sixty years later the city ordered all taxis to be painted yellow for easy recognition. The Checker, a classic New York taxi with a black checkerboard pattern, had a bench seat and room for five passengers. Roomier than the now-used Ford Crown Victoria, the last Checker cabs were retired in 1999 and today many cab companies use minivans and SUVs.

Who drives them? Forty-thousand drivers from 85 countries speaking 60 languages drive New York cabs. They've been the focus of ad campaigns, news reports, countless anecdotes and sitcoms. "Taxi," the much-loved series starring Judd Hirsch and Tony Danza, aired from 1978 to 1983.

On an average 12-hour shift, a driver will make about 30 trips averaging 180 miles. New York taxi fares each year haul in more than $1 billion.

Hail one: Cabs are cash only and cabbies won't usually break anything over $20. The initial fare is $2.50 plus 40 cents for each additional four blocks (one-fifth of a mile).

Too slow? New Yorkers will tell you that before cars, the average speed of a horse along New York streets was three times the speed of a car in midtown today.

Reach Chris Oliver at coliver@honoluluadvertiser.com.