The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-12
DAY OF THE PIRATE CABBY DRAWS ID END Cabs Will Register the Fare
 Automatically A VERY LARGE SAVING Cap Users Are Now Saving $1 100000 a Year Through introduction
 of Metered Vehicles ,ff Tn New York.

Cat' iork' January -(Special.)-
 inaI1. ""icil register the fare automat-
 ,cally are to be operated in evs.,
 large city in the United States berore
 .le end of tho year. if the nlans of
 group of New York men who ara hshtlng cab extortion meet with tbo
 suocess preliminary investigation
 promises. The plan of these mon is not
 to operate rival cab companies in other
 cltles' put to make it possible for ev
 eIS cap man in the United States to
 @oI"ip @ HIS TIE with a taXameter device.
 me question of the popularity of the
 taNameter, or as some cali tben,
 cash register" cabs in America bas the cap experts believe, been settled py the1r success in,NNew York iron,
 1he start Although they have been in operation only few months in tbis
 country the taXameters have alreadv put the night hawk and pirate cab
 men on the run, and there is now on
 ioot in the cabmens association movement looking to the general adoption of the automatic fare regis ter on all public vehicles. The cab men are already finding that the taxa
 meter system which guarantees that only the regular rate will be charged has led to steady business at legal
 rates, which is far more lucrative than occasional excessive fares from those who can be mulcted
 Already in this acity, where last month oyer S0000 people rode in tax ameter vehicles, it is estimated that
 from $50OO to $SO00 per day. or more than S1,000,000 per year, in over charges have been saved to the public The metered cabs alone have not saved
 that much, but their absolute rate for distance has forced many of the non taXameter drivers to be far more con- servative in their demands, as the gen eral public is being educated rapidly as to the exact charges for trips about town.
 New York's Conservatism.
 New Yorlk's conservatism in trans portation matters generally is proba- ply responsible for the fact that the taXameter cab. which has been run
 ming in the larger European cities for many years, has only recently been adopted in New York. The New York Transportation company, which intro duced the taxameter into the city, eX perimented with several dozen different kinds of taxameter devices in use in various continental cities, before de- ciding on the type best suited to Fa- ther knickerbocker's needs, and then proceeded, with considerable trepida- tion, to equip 25O cabs with this de- vice. If New York decided that 1t didn't want any new fangled cab fare device, the company would have spent
 many thousand dollars for nothing But, somewhat to the astonishment of some of the company's officers, the tax ameter became the rage, and already | 400 out of 2500 licensed cabs in New I York county register the fare auto 1 matical1y It is estimated that since 1 it was introduced it has created 4O,000 new cab users. This army of new cab l users is made up largely of people who probably never used cab heretofore, except at funerals or weddings. They have now gotten the cab habit and are using the metered vehicles for short distances, for which the fare is from 30 cents to 50 cents, the rate for mile ride.
 Diminished Business.
 At a recent meeting of the horse l cabmen several speakers were very positive in their statements that the l overcharges by pirate hackmen had re- suited in a generally diminished cap business for all drivers, and counselled 1 tn cir fellow cabbies to adopt some fare computing device and so restore public l confidence He pointed out that a pas senger who was once stung, or who l had a dispute with a cabman over an I exorbitant fare became a street car rider and rarely again would nave anything more to do with @ puollc cab. This same condition is said to affect the cab business in every city | of the country, particularly at rall- | road depots, as arriving strangers, even though the waiting cabs are run on a | strictly honest system, are afraid or all cabs and cabmen unless they know the distance in that city and are famil- | far with the cab rates. It IS held py many cab experts that If taxameter cabs become the rule at all the rail- way stations the cab business from strangers will be greatly increaseu' 1t is believed also that if the taxa meter becomes universal in this coun- | try it will create a vast volume or cap business among people who would De glad to pay the exact legal rate, put do not care to run the risk of all sorts of exorbitant demands One expert, who has been studying the situation abroad, is of the opinion that If the taxameter becomes common, Americans will become far greater cab users than are the Parisians, where cabs are used much as New Workers use street cars The company which introduced the taxameter into New York is so conii- dent that if some sort of fare-reg1ster- ing device can be made universal u will greatly increase the general vol ume of cab business and lead 10 greater profits for all at less even than present rates, that it's officers have offered to supply taxameter de- vices to any cab owner or driver any where in the United States who wants to use one. The company will shortiy
 be able to supply taxameter devices to cab men in other cities, and VIII see to if that all who want them are sup nlied. It's main object is to cohuuc. ;n this way a national campaign tor
 cab honesty. as it believes that those
 who use the taxameter elsewhere Will he cab users when they visit New York. At the same time the company will supply these devices to- any oao1 a.d man in New York who wants one, anu present indications are that WlLnin a few months practically every pupiio ..
 W, New York will be equipped with