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"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
- George Orwell

Driverless Taxi  
  A taxi that does not require a driver.  

This is probably the first mention of this idea.

It is safe to say that the new model almost revolutionized America in more ways than one. in New York alone, three hundred taxi men were killed before the rioting started by the introduction of the new car as a driverless taxi was finally introduced. But the public wanted the new cars. They were tired of the Pirates of Broadway. It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.


('Living Machine' by David H. Keller, MD)

Technovelgy from The Living Machine, by David H. Keller.
Published by Wonder Stories in 1935
Additional resources -

He also describes its use:

Old people began to cross the continent in their own cars. Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting. The blind for the first time were safe. Parents found they could more safely send their children to school in the new car than in the old cars with a chauffeur.

The robotic or automated taxi is a frequently explored theme in sf; see Tin Cabby from Cities in Flight [1957], the autocab from Between Planets [1951] and the autonomic cab from The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch [1964].

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Living Machine
  More Ideas and Technology by David H. Keller
  Tech news articles related to The Living Machine
  Tech news articles related to works by David H. Keller

Driverless Taxi-related news articles:
  - The Point Of View Of An Autonomous Car
  - Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'

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