TAXI BLOGS OF THE WORLD

Taxi bloggers hail from cities all over the world. San Francisco. London. Dublin. Sydney. Melbourne. Canberra. Perth. Edmonton. Madison. Munich. Philadelphia. Boston. DC. Portland. Las Vegas. Bangkok. Porto Alegre. We're a loosely knit network of quasi-sociologists in perpetual motion. We have links to each others' pages on our blog rolls. We read up on each others' tribulations and trials. And when we leave a comment, it's among the most empathetic, because we know what it's like to be toiling on the road with human cargo. It might vary from one metropolis to another, but it's essentially the same. Delivering people from A to B. By way of Z if necessary.

I want to specifically thank and give mad props to the few dedicated cabdrivers of New York City who post entries regularly, especially the ones who make the extra effort of uploading photography they shoot throughout their shifts. Noah Forman, at NYC TAXI PHOTO, refers to them as "SHIFT SHOTS." And so this post is an ode to that style of taxi blogging. My blog, much like theirs, tends to shift, almost capriciously, between stories, pictures, video clips, poetry, and so on. And then there's Gene. This cabbie's fabulous material is split into two blogs. One for tales and one for photos. These can be found at CABS ARE FOR KISSING and PICTURES FROM A TAXI. And there's also the KING OF NEW YORK HACKS, with his unique approach to documenting our beloved city. And I must add the newest addition to our city's taxi blogging community: NYC TAXI BLOG.

Last, but certainly not least, is the one person who was a significant part of my original inspiration for writing down and sharing my taxicab encounters. Her name is Melissa Plaut and her blog, NEW YORK HACK, was transformed into a successful book after being discovered by a publisher. It's called HACK: How I Stopped Worrying About What To Do With My Life And Started Driving A Yellow Cab.

Although there are many more wonderful cabdriving bloggers out there worth checking out (all linked on my blog roll way down below), I must narrow down my favorites to this:
GIL'S PRIZE FOR THE SIX BEST TAXI BLOGS OUTSIDE OF NYC:

#1: DAY CABBIE. She's one of the few female San Francisco hacks and has a truly engaging style of writing.
#2: BOSTON: THE HACK. He's a refugee from the newspaper industry, drives a cab in Beantown, and writes about it with a vengeance.
#3: REAL CAB DRIVER. Stories from the streets of Madison, Wisconsin.
#4: THIS FARE CITY OF PORTLAND. She has a great sense of humor about the job.
#5: CAR 58, WHERE ARE YOU?. Two drivers. One taxi. In the Australian capital.
#6: DUBLIN TAXI. There are more cabs in that town than in NYC. The details are in the pudding.

As you can see, I often start and end my dispatches with a picture taken from the taxi.
Directly above is a view from the inbound upper level of the Queensboro Bridge when traffic entering the city was at a standstill. The picture at the beginning is from the inbound lower level of that same bridge. That wide avenue in the background is probably First. I wish all my fellow taxi bloggers freedom from writers' block, traffic jams, tickets, and sour passengers. Remember, if you drive in NYC, I co author another blog that serves as a more technical, occupational hazards sort of bulletin board. Let me know if you'd like to be added as an author.