Photographer Marian Benes is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘NYC TAXI – Yellow Cab Service, NYC 2002 ’. To see Marian’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Since the beginning of the motorized taxicab in 1907, New York City cabs have been an important means of the modern public transportation network. Today, there are more than 12,000 yellow cabs servicing the city. The number of passengers using taxicab service is reaching more than 200 million per year. For New Yorkers, the yellow cab is an integral part of daily life. Despite so many issues about cabs and cab service, the most interesting subject to me is the taxi driver himself. Every taxi trip includes an encounter with a driver. The drivers are one of the most ethnically diverse groups of professionals in New York. They represent more than 80 countries and speak more than 60 languages. Many immigrants hope to fulfill their dreams by working as taxi drivers. About 400 of them are newly licensed each month. Opposite to their initial plans, they usually leave the industry in droves. Cab drivers’ goal is basically the same for each of them: cruise the streets and pick up fares. The drivers work on average for 10 hours a day, making 20 trips and traveling 140 miles.

Scenes of people hailing cabs on streets full of taxis are well known to everybody. There is, however, one side, hidden to our eyes. My interest focused on the background of the yellow cab service, in places where cars are being repaired, cleaned and maintained. The men, taxi driver and service staff, are the essential part of this photo-series. This story shows their work from a point of view that we, as cab customers, have no idea. This inner world inseparably belongs to their daily routine.

Source:

The New York City Taxicab Fact Book, by Bruce Schaller, Third edition published by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, May 1994
NYC Taxi & Livery Fact Book, by Schaller Consulting, in progress, last update Sept.2002