An investigation of the characteristics of taxicab usage in the city of Chicago is presented. The taxicab appears to operate as a hybrid mode combining many of the advantages of both automobile and transit. Restrictions on the numbers of cabs that may operate may have a substantial effect on the level of taxicab service. The data showed that characteristics of taxicab travel appear to be quite different from the characteristics of urban travel as a whole. The taxicab is highly oriented to the central area and used to a large extent for non-work trips. the trips are generally short, and are fairly uniformly distributed over the time of day. It was also found that taxicabs are used mainly by housewives and persons in high income groups. considerable difference was found between the trips destined to the central area and to the non-central area. Non-central area trips seemed to be made by women and non-drivers for (to home) trips while central area trips were largely of the business or recreational type and were made by persons of white collar occupation groups. /author/.
Abstract