They can serve wherever private cars cannot meet demand.

Yet, like Hydrogen, they fall prey to over regulation on the one side, and predatory business practices on the other.

Taxis are the best, most efficient way to "mass move" people in the current isnfrastructure and can serve both city, suburb, exurb and Agraria.

But all the top level interests converge to prevent this...


...if there are self made Purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
--"This Side of Paradise", TOS

It could be faster than fueling up a gas powered cab.  Too bad the "free" market combined with bribed government prevents that.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

The cab business fits well with battery exchange systems.

I totally agree!   The taxi model covers all basis.

It can immediately change the composition of the automobile fleet by using hybrid, fuel cell, start-stop diesel and so on.  It can spur the development of battery changing stations, solar/wind power stations and so on...

It is flexible.

It can handle multiple passengers so is more efficient than the single passenger automobile.

Taxis work now -- no need for high budget light rail.

It works everywhere -- city, suburb, exurb and agraria (rural).

If taxis were allowed to become the free market "alternative" transportation system we would not be held hostage to light rail bandits, or inefficient bus routes.

Taxis can be better weighted for real costs.   Currently a bus fare may cover only 6% of total costs!  This fools the public into thinking that there's some magic about traditional "mass transit" when in fact its costly and inefficient compared to using cars (taxis).

...if there are self made Purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
--"This Side of Paradise", TOS

Mass transit's primary purpose is to serve daily commuters and residents who go about their regular routines.

Taxis work now -- no need for high budget light rail.

Think light rail is expensive?  Take a taxi to and from work everday, and then compare the cost to a train fare and any increase in your taxes associated with train construction.

Taxis will still pummel your wallet way more than light rail will.

And it will do it much quicker.

The cost of a fare is $2.

So the real cost of a bus ride is

$2 = 6/100 x real cost

real cost = $200/6 = $33.

Now, spread that among 3 people sharing a cab and those 3 bus fares would buy you nearly $100 worth of taxi -- more than enough to cover most daily commutes.

...if there are self made Purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
--"This Side of Paradise", TOS

Could that expand into letting others buy into the battery exchange system?  Or could a battery exchange company, owned by a utility company for instance, eventually serve mulyiple cab and corporate vehicle fleets?

Garbage trucks, buses, delivery vehicles could all be a market.  Yhen maybe even individual car owners could buy in?

It's a possible urban model that could compete with plugin hybrids.  And of course the same design plugin vehicles could carry auxillary generators for rural use.

Large population centers usually set these trends anyway.  City based subsidies for electric cabs and buses could start this business up.  

I think there is a system like this in Israel?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

125 mile range electric cars, pretty good for cabs or urban transit in general.  That's maybe a 4 hour cab shift?  Delivery vegicles would be good with this range too.  A few minutes battery exchange every 3 hours and back on the job.

This could save a lot of oil and revive businesses by removing fuel prices from their overhead.

Even long haul trucks could exchange batteries every four hours and still be efficient in terms of human productivity.  Cut that fuel cost and it's a healthy economy again.

The steady effect of a sgift to these types of commercial vehicles, with battery exchange would stabilize oil prices with demand reduction.  A "big stick" to negotiate with OPEC and big oil.

Who ever wins this election needs that advantage on the global economic stage.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

But do most people share cabs into work?  No.
People don't carpool in cabs.

So dividing up the fare for cabs isn't an accurate way of showing real costs.

Few people share cabs for commutes, therefore taxis are not mass transit.

Sheesh, and ya claim ya went to Princeton?  Where?  Princeton, Oklahoma, Community College?