Re: OT - interesting taxi concept
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". -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT - interesting taxi concept
Hi Anthony, Rather curiously,the same association (with the same images) was brought up in the very first comment at the bottom of that webpage. :-) (It might be hard to read the comments because of the language, but the image is easy.) Cheers, Igor Anthony Farr Fri, 12 Oct 2018 21:00:54 -0700 wrote: It reminds me of the Johnny Cab from the first 'Total Recall' movie. http://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/styles/article_width/public/johnnycab.jpg?itok=mMLIwb0j regards, Anthony On Fri, 12 Oct 2018, 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". -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT - interesting taxi concept
It reminds me of the Johnny Cab from the first 'Total Recall' movie. http://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/styles/article_width/public/johnnycab.jpg?itok=mMLIwb0j regards, Anthony -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
OT - interesting taxi concept
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". -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.