The stereotypical image of a busy New York City street isn’t complete without a scattering of yellow taxicabs among the vehicles trudging along in gridlock traffic. While poorly regulated ridesharing apps have made the lives of taxi drivers a living hell over the past decade, cabs have endured moving residents and tourists across town for over a century. Let’s take a look at back all the vehicles that have donned the iconic shade of yellow paint:
The iconic yellow taxicab was first introduced by the appropriately named Yellow Cab Company in the late 1900s. Before the yellow cabs, most taxis in the city were electrically powered from the 1890s until the early electric car industry’s collapse in 1907.
Checker Motors would later emerge as a bitter rival to the Yellow Cab Company, which was purchased by General Motors in 1925. The New York City of the 1960s and 1970s was visually tied to the taxis produced by Checker adorned with their unique black-and-white checker stripes. The final Checker Marathon was retired from service in 1999, according to Hagerty.
Checker even produced a stretched version of its ubiquitous Marathon called the Aerobus. As the name implies, the limousine taxi was intended to be used as a shuttle to the city’s international airports. The absurd sedan versions of the vehicles featured six or eight doors. Also, it was powered by a V8 engine instead of the straight-six motors used in its smaller sibling.
As New York City created the Taxi and Limousine Commission in the early 1970s to better regulate the industry than the New York Police Department, Checker vehicles started to fall out of favor for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. Eventually, the Chevrolet Caprice would be the most common vehicle used for taxi service.
The Chevy Caprice would remain the ubiquitous New York City taxi until Chevrolet decided to end the model’s production in 1996. The Caprice’s end was attributed to declining sales overall as SUVs were starting to see the rise in popularity that has continued to this day.
With the Caprice’s end, the Ford Crown Victoria became the sedan of choice for New York City taxi service. However, Ford would end production of its sedan in 2011. According to the New York Times, only two Crown Vic taxis remain on city streets as of November 2023.
The Ford Escape Hybrid was permitted to be used as a taxi in 2005 and became the second most common taxi by 2010, coinciding with the proliferation of SUVs in general. According to New York City, the Escape Hybrid’s fuel economy is 34 miles per gallon compared to the Crown Victoria’s 18 miles per gallon.
The makeup of the city’s taxi fleet has gradually shifted over time from bespoke vehicles to domestic Big Three machinery to Toyota. The Camry, Highlander, RAV4, Sienna and even the Prius can be found sporting the iconic yellow of a New York City taxi. When the task requires excellent reliability and great fuel mileage, it’s difficult to argue against the vehicles of the Japanese automaker.
In the early 2010s, New York City attempted to improve taxi coverage in the outer boroughs and Upper Manhattan by introducing boro taxis. The vehicles operating under this new permit could only pick up passengers in these designated areas so the value of traditional medallions wouldn’t be diminished. Boro taxis are easy to spot in their light “apple green” paint jobs.
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission authorized the use of Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles for taxi service in 2022. After over 100 years, people can hail an electric car from the sidewalk for a ride in America’s largest city.