taxi cabs are an essential part of every city’s transportation system. however the design of taxis remains essential unchanged since the first motorized cars began driving people to their destination at the end of the 19th century. we are beginning to rethink transportation systems to cope with new issues such as urban planning, growing populations and the environment. included in this discussion is the design of the taxi. what will the taxi of tomorrow be like? what will it look like and how will it help us to deal with these issues? these questions and more are being answered by designers and engineers creating their vision for the taxi of the future. this article features examples of taxi designs that travel by land, sea and air taking riders to their destination in new an unusual ways.
taxi tokyo
the taxi tokyo is a design concept created by norwegian designer eva marit toftum. the taxi concept is designed to respond to the increasing amount of vehicle on the road. the new taxi would feature a driving cab, towing a series of passenger cars behind. the system would work by having the passenger units spread throughout the city. passengers would get into the units and set their destination. the driving unit would come by and pick their car up along with a number of others and take each person to their destination. the design minimizes the number of vehicles on the road, sharing load by bundling the cars together. while traveling may take longer, the effect of reducing taxis on the roads would speed up traffic as a whole.
hummel air taxi
if you need to arrive at your destination really fast, than flying there may be the best mode of transportation.the hummel is a two passenger helicopter concept by german designer daniel kocyba. the lightweight copter is ideal for zipping around thanks to its tandem rotor concept that ensures efficient performance with less fuel waste. the hummel also has an unusual folding design that allows it to compact for easy storage and land in tight spaces. it could also be used for medical transportation or monitoring services like the coast guard.
robot taxis
if you aren’t a fan of rude taxi drivers with blaring radios, then the robot taxi may come as a relief. this taxi concept by designer petr kubik does away with the driver all together, replacing them with a computer operated vehicle. the robot taxis can seat two passengers with hand luggage and are ideally suited for large cities filled with congestion. to use them, kubik suggests, a rider would call the operator, who would dispatch a taxi to their location. once inside, the rider would enter their destination into the on-board computer and voila. kubik believes that his design could travel at speeds up to 90 km/h and run for 20 hours using two electric motors.
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