Chariots, Horses, and Taxis: The Disruptive History of Vehicles for Hire

Missouri History Museum AT&T Room
5700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112 United States + Google Map

Registration not required. FREE and OPEN to ALL. Middle and high school students welcome. Parking is free in the History Museum lots, on the street in Forest Park, or in the East and West lots across from the Judith and Dennis Jones Visitor Center.

Featured Speaker: Ray A. Mundy, Ph.D., Barriger Professor of Logistics & Transportation; Director, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Missouri – St. Louis

The necessity for taxi service regulation within metropolitan areas originated a long time ago with the Romans relegating chariot traffic to outside the walls of Rome due to congestion and (horse-made) pollution. As for regulation of commercial, or vehicles for hire, much of the current regulatory structure in Great Britain and North America stems from King Charles I of England who initially forbade that “any hired coach be used or suffered in London” in 1635. Gloriously ignoring their King, these horse-drawn carriages became extremely popular and quickly overcrowded the streets of London, setting up a framework pattern for nearly 400 years of regulation, de-regulation, and re-regulation of vehicles for hire. Much of the current legal battles of Uber vs. traditional taxis follows this very same historical pattern.

Dr. Ray Mundy, Director of UMSL’s Center for Transportation Studies, provides a fascinating overview of the history of coach and taxi regulations from the 1600’s through to today’s current disruption of Transportation Network Companies (Uber and Lyft).

Chariots, Horses, and Taxis is a Perspectives on Science & History Series public science seminar of The Academy of Science – St. Louis and the Missouri History Museum presented in conjunction with the History Museum exhibition, Route 66: Main Street Through St. Louis, on display at the Museum through July 16, 2017.