NYC Taxis of Tomorrow to Have “Low-Annoyance Horn”

Wednesday, 04 May 2011 | by Pat's Picks

New York City has just announced the winner of its “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition.  Nissan will build a minivan that will soon become the only vehicle permitted for use as a yellow cab in the city.

The contest mandated several rider-friendly features including individual air conditioning controls and power outlets for cell phone chargers. But my favorite requirement is one that will improve life for the people outside the cab: “low-annoyance horn.”

Cab drivers are in love with their horns, and the city’s Taxi Commission wants the unnecessary honking to end. Here’s the twist I love: the horn will be wired into interior and exterior lights which will immediately identify which cab has been honking. The New York Times says that will allow police to zero in on the cabbies who violate the noise code, which only permits the use of a horn as a means to warn of danger.

I wish we didn’t have to resort to technology tricks to convince cabbies that bumper-to-bumper traffic will not suddenly clear up because of honking. But common sense doesn’t seem to connect with the serial honker. And while we’re wiring up the rooftop honk indicator, I’d like to endorse another idea. On Facebook this morning Roy Seiler had a great suggestion: make the horn as loud INSIDE the cab as outside. That really would make the honker-happy cabbie think twice.

The Times put together this cool timeline of the evolution of the NYC taxi:

Taxi of Tomorrow Official Website

Check out the Nissan NV200: