7:50am | Long Beach Yellow Cab announced its “Taxi Magic Passenger Information Monitor” (PIM) providing Long Beach taxi riders “a rich entertainment experience during the ride and convenient, secure, credit card payment at the end” according to Yellow Cab.
 
The PIM allowing passengers to pay for their taxi ride using the touch-screen monitor, offers a complete speaker system, 3G/4G connectivity, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability, and is designed for easy integration with other in-vehicle devices via a programmable multi-port junction box.
 
“For more than 25 years, Long Beach Yellow Cab has always been a technology leader and has invested in new technologies to streamline our delivery of transportation, always without the need of our regulators to prod us to do so,” said William J. Rouse, General Manager of Long Beach Yellow Cab.  “We are excited to be the first fleet in Southern California to offer the Taxi Magic PIM to our customers.  Passengers will appreciate the Internet-based services available through the touch screen interface, starting with credit card payment that takes mere seconds without having to hand the card to the driver.”
 
 “We are very excited about the opportunity to support a terrific ride experience for Long Beach Yellow Cab passengers while also contributing to its business objectives, said Taxi Magic President Sanders Partee. 
“We designed the PIM for both riders and fleets.  Riders want fast and safe payment where they maintain control of their credit card and the transaction amount.  Taxi fleets want to streamline their credit card and house accounts processing while also generating incremental revenue from advertising, internet services and higher tips.”
 
The PIMs represent a technology investment of more than $150,000 by Long Beach Yellow Cab’s members and the installation of the PIMs is expected to be completed by the end of January 2011.