When you walk a lot, with camera at the ready, you see some strange things. What caught my eye was the xB taxi, which I have often thought was just about the most perfect taxi ever (huge back seat, easy in-out, economical, reliable). And just as I barely peeled off one shot as it came through the intersection, the passenger opened the door. Any more than that is in the realm of conjecture.
Were this in West Virginia (where I lived for 22 years), the passenger would have simply been looking for a chance to spit out his tobacco chew.
My dad had that awful habit for years, and employed the same intersection-as-spittoon strategy. (Yuck.)
That taxi reminds of the London cabs. This looks like downtown Eugene during rush hour (crickets chirping). That’s the old First National Bank of Oregon building in the background.
I see alot of these being used as cabs around the airports in Chicago.
Xb1’s are occasionally seen as cabs in Northern California, usually re-painted in some very loud green or blue, but not many. I totally agree, however, the Xb1 would be a great cab esp considering how easy the car is to get in and out of – just flip your legs out like the guy in the picture hopefully did not do. On the down side, the rear seat does not adjust (not that I’ve ever even considered adjusting the back seat of any cab I’ve been in) and the luggage space in back could be limiting for larger groups or couples with very large items. But also very manueverable in cities and at airports and excellent visability for the driver.
Back in 2004, I had heard of these, but didn’t see one until one drove by on Alameda in front of the NBC studios in Burbank while my wife and I were waiting in line to attend the Tonight Show in September of that year on one of our anniversary trips. It was black. We were shown on camera in the audience, BTW!
Also, at that time, lots of panther taxi cabs out there had these funny little dog dish hubcaps that remained stationary while the car moved with little ads on them! Funny to see, but it was SoCal!