The NYC Taxi: Past, Present and Future

image courtesy Pank Seelen
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Taught by JP Allen

JP Allen is a student of the city. He has spent the past two years helping launch and grow Hailo, a smartphone app that brings you a taxi, livery or black car (vehicles you'll learn all about in this course!), talking to and working with hundreds of drivers.

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The yellow taxi is a New York icon. But when we hop into a cab, how often do we think about why taxis work the way they do? Why are cabs yellow (or green, or black), and how does that affect their drivers' bottom line and personality? Why do taxis disappear at 5pm? What are medallions, and are they *really* worth $1 million? Where did those credit card machines come from? How do NYC's 13,000 taxis and 48,000 drivers keep the veins of the city pumping?

In this class, we'll learn about the taxi industry's complex and chaotic history, take a look at what makes New York taxis different from their cousins around the world, and seek to understand the history, economics and policy behind your next cab ride.

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