Wednesday, local authorities announced they'd finally made an arrest of an arson suspect involved in the taxicab torching during the mayhem in the city streets after the Los Angeles Lakers 2010 championship win. more ›

Need a complimentary lift? TV host Leon Logothetis will give you one should you connect with him and his Kindness Cab. Starting today, Logothetis will drive from NYC to L.A. in a vintage cab, hitting 11 cities along his national route. And he's not just cruising the states for fun. He's offering free rides to strangers for charity. more ›

Don't be surprised if a pink cab arrives in front of your home or stops to give you a lift on the streets of L.A. In support of October's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), three local cab companies have given their vehicles a shiny pink paint job. more ›

It turns out Burbank can't quite force a $15.50 minimum rate on cab fares originating from Bob Hope Airport as initially proposed and passed. That base fare isn't going to happen after all. more ›

An early morning accident has claimed the life of a pedestrian in Hollywood. The driver of a taxi cab heading north on Highland Avenue struck a man, thought to be in his 30s, just a few minutes ahead of 5 this morning, according to L.A. Now. The pedestrian died at the scene. more ›

60-year-old actor Jeff Conaway, known for his role on the TV series "Taxi" and as Kenickie in the 1978 musical "Grease," is hospitalized in a coma following a drug overdose, possibly from pain pills, according to his manager Phil Brock, reports the Associated Press. more ›

Last weekend, John Belitsky and Dan Wuebben hailed a cab at LaGuardia Airport and asked the driver to take them to Los Angeles. It started out as somewhat of a dare when Belitsky's father, a former NYC cab driver, was certain nobody would be up to the task. more ›

Following an approval from the LA City Council, fares for taxi service to LAX will increase by $1.50 a ride, from the current fee of $2.50 to $4, reports the LA Times. The company that runs taxis to and from the airport, Authorized Taxicab Supervision, will receive some of the increased profits, an LAX will receive the rest. more ›

A number of taxicab companies will be offering free rides to the public on Tuesday as Los Angeles voters head to the polls to decide the fate of several City Council seats and a number of ballot measures in the March 8th city election. more ›

A female taxi passenger says she was the victim of sexual assault by her cabbie, according to CBS2, and authorities in Santa Monica are looking for the suspect. The attack allegedly took place on the evening of November 17th, after the victim hailed the cab on Arizona Avenue and requested a ride to her home. more ›

Other cities do it, but in Los Angeles taxi cab franchises are not required to have a fleet of fuel efficient vehicles. Now, thanks to a vote of the L.A. City Council today, a new contract with nine franchises means that by 2016, 80% of cabs on city streets will have to be green. In past months, the issue has been hotly debated with crowds packing committee meetings. Some argued that phasing in clean cars should be done in two years. Others said a five-year contract would allow for industry stability, allowing time to recoup the investment made in new alternative fuel vehicles purchases. more ›

After dropping off a couple honeymooning in Los Angeles from Italy last night in the Cahuenga Pass, the driver of a Beverly Hills Cab vehicle deliberately crashed the taxi into their final destination following a dispute about the fare, according to the Daily News. more ›

Surgery on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's elbow following a vehicle-bicycle incident on Saturday evening was success and he is expected to resume a full schedule this week. But now that Los Angeles' top official has a first-hand experience with how dangerous the streets can be come questions about what's next. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sustained a broken elbow last night during a bicycle accident, but is recovering comfortably at home, reports LA Now. more ›

The owner of the taxi that was lit on fire during riots after the Lakers championship win will receive a large financial gift, according to KTLA. Driver Abraham Teferi will receive $10,000 from AEG, which owns the Staples Center. The 7-minute video of the incident (watch it in full here) was released on YouTube Friday evening by the Los Angeles Fire Department, which hopes helps them in the investigation. Those with information can call the LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section at (213) 485-6095. more ›

A pilot program loosening rules for where taxi cabs can pick up and drop off customers in downtown and Hollywood was extended today by the Los Angeles City Council. The program, first established in 2008, allows drivers to temporarily stop at “No Stopping” and “No Parking” zones and alongside parked vehicles to load and unload passengers. more ›

A lot of people have been getting a kick out of seeing the signs posted in Hollywood and other parts of town explaining how (not) to hail a taxi. For those who know the drill of reaching your arm up and leaning towards the street and hoping the next cab pulls up to the curb in front of you, the signs are precautions about what for many urbanites is second nature. more ›

It was last month on May 17th, 2 a.m. when a 31-year-old female hailed a cab in front of Ecco in Hollywood to grab a ride home. Armen Ayvazian was her driver, according to the LAPD, and when she got home, he allegedly followed her inside where he sexually assaulted her. Detectives caught up with the North Hills man last week and arrested him without incident. But police believe there are more victims out there and if you recognize him (a photo of his cab is below), give the police a call. more ›

Bell Cab introduced the city's first hybrid taxis in Los Angeles today in what politicians hope is the just the first of many in the city's fleet of 2,303. Controller-Elect and current Transportation Committee Chair, Councilmember Wendy Greuel requested the city to create a green taxi plan and today challenged other cab companies to follow suit. "Taxi's in Los Angeles might be different colors on the outside, but my goal is for them all to be green on the inside," she said. more ›

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." more ›

There are plenty of websites that will be your "what to do" guides in Hollywood, but only one will tell you how to get there and what obstacles you'll face. If know Hollywood Boulevard, you know street closures for movie premieres and other events happen often. And that's NavigateHollywood's strongest point: more ›

The LAPD will be releasing a composite sketch later today of a taxi cab driver that they say "targets lone females and is responsible for at least 5 sexual assaults." There have been a series of sexual assaults that occurred between August and December of last year. This is reminiscent of a two-part CSI:NY episode where the serial killer taxi driver would trap people in his car and take them away. more ›

Along with a moratorium on foreclosure-related evictions, the LA City Council yesterday also passed a three-month moratorium banning any new signs (billboards, supergraphics and the conversation to digital billboards) for three months while the City Attorney and Planning Department draft permanent changes to the City’s sign ordinance to better regulate advertising in the City. more ›

It's nearing the end of the six-month hail-a-taxi pilot program for downtown and Hollywood and taxis are apparently still hanging out at taxi stands and not cruising streets picking up fares curbside. In July, the city temporarily lifted limits on where a taxi can pull over to pick up a passenger--usually a ticketable offense. more ›

There's only 120 taxis operating in Burbank, but twenty of them have been hybrids since May. Cities across that nation have already started programs (NYC plans to have all 13,000 taxis to be hybrid in 5 years) but Los Angeles is a little behind with its 2,303 fleet. "We're researching the issue very carefully. We want to do it right," said Tom Drischler, taxicab administrator for Los Angeles, to the LA Times in the Burbank hybrid article. "We really want to get something going this year. We hope to present a program to the Board of Taxi Commissioners this fall." One hurdle for officials to solve is the safety partition, which is hard to put in a hybrid. Before they were mandated, a cabbie was being murdered about every 18 months. more ›

Will Los Angeles start feeling more urban and navigable for pedestrians in downtown and Hollywood? Yesterday, the city council approved a 6-month pilot project to allow taxis more freedom of where to pick up and drop off customers. Basically, they just can't block bus stops, but handicap and red zones will be fair game. Blogdowntown reports one taxi driver's sigh of relief. We're just excited to be able to cruise from the Arts District to South Park at night with ease. more ›

On Wednesday, the City Council will be voting on a six-month taxi cab pilot program for downtown and Hollywood. But the Department of Transportation has a concern, according to a report (.pdf) of theirs: "There is a possibility that during peak hours, key lanes of traffic could be impeded by taxi operations generated by the pilot program." LA Times Road Sage Steve Hymon translates: "They're scared silly of anything that may slow down some bloke in a car." more ›

• Q: How is the San Fernando Valley like 1950's Mississippi? A:Apart from the wide lots, racism is once again rearing its ugly head. Hate crimes have nearly doubled so far this year from the same period last year with Jews and blacks taking the brunt of the attacks.
• Q: When is it time to say goodbye to your dog? A: How about when you spend $20,000 looking for your lost pooch, which one Encino man has spent the last four years three-weeks in his ongoing search for fido.
• Q: When is it going to become easier to hail a taxi in Downtown L.A.? A: Soon, if a Hail-a-Taxi pilot program, previously approved by the city's Taxicab Commissioners, is implemented.
• Q: How do some people adapt to life after war? A: By winning the Mr. California pageant, which a 21-year-old Iraqi war vet from Seal Beach did recently.
• Q: How will Obama do in California during the general election if (and when) he faces McCain in November? A: If a recent LA Times/KTLA poll is any indication, pretty damn well.
• Q: When are politicians just like us? A: When they also face home foreclosures, as is the case with Long Beach Rep. Laura Richardson. She reportedly lost her Sacramento home in a recent foreclosure auction and has defaulted on properties in Long Beach and San Pedro.

This one is a little hard to wrap your mind around. A taxi driver transporting two women to the Ramona Gardens housing project in East LA ended up in a situation when he stopped to drop them off. Daily News explains: more ›