Looks like a squashed down 1984 Toyota LiteAce minivan with the middle row of
seats removed. Doesn't look like it has the head-room a taxi really should have.
In that configuration (middle row seats removed) the LiteAce or HiAce would give
about the same interior room as the old Checker Marathon that was the mainstay
of taxi service from the late 1940s on (I think the first Marathon was offered
in 1947).
I wonder why they didn't make the GAZ-13 Chaika in a taxi version? It's an
almost "perfect" copy of the Checker Marathon (although I think they copied the
cosmetics from the Packard Patrician).
On 10/12/2018 20:54, Igor PDML-StR wrote:
Some of the PDMLer are car enthusiasts, so, I thought some people might
enjoy this interesting car concept.
Someone sent me a photograph of the experimental taxi in the Soviet Union circa
1964:
https://pikabu.ru/story/taksi_sssr_1964_g_5589293
The interesting thing that it could fit a bassinet-stroller (non-collapsible) or
a refrigerator (!) - as in: you can bring home the one that you just bought at a
store.
It had a [then] futuristic design, and most of its parts were from other
contemporary mass-manufactured vehicle(s). ("Moskvich 408", primarily)
One can see some safety concerns, but back then the amount of car traffic was
rather small. Even in the US, the car safety started gaining some
consideration only in mid-to late 50s, but US DoT and NTSB were not formed until
1966 and 1967, respectively, and the first mandatory federal safety standard for
motor vehicles was not established until 1966.
This morning, I was watching a news bite on self-driving taxis from Waymo
(Ex-Google-car) - in AZ. So, I thought that despite the technology,
the idea of a practical taxi, where you can stroll in with your baby,
has not been implemented.
Yes, there are wheel-chair-accessible vans, but those are very specialized
services. And there are foldable strollers that can fit in a small trunk, that
some PDMLers who live on that small island call "boot".
I am guessing that one of the reasons why the idea of accommodating
strollers in the car is that young families with small babies do not constitute
the most financially-striving part of the population.
(And, of course, these days, you want to strap your baby in a car seat, which,
in the realm of taxis is a big grey zone: taxis do not provide car seats, and in
some localities, you are not *required* to use a car seat in a taxi. In both
cases - I guess mostly for the same reason: such families are not frequent cab
riders.)
For comparison, I know that Uber offers "Uber Car Seat (aka uberFAMILY) option
for its uberX vehicles, but AFAIK, that is limited to NYC, Washington DC,
Philadelphia and Orlando (and it costs $10 extra).
Even in pedestrian-friendly Boston and SF that is not an option.
Lyft does that only in NYC.
Those facts support my hypothesis that taxi/ride-sharing services do not see
much of profit in catering to [young] families with small kids/babies.
Igor
PS. We are way pass the time we used a stroller, - so, I am looking at the
problem, so to say, "from the academic point of view".
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