07-06-2016, 12:15 PM
RAMd®d wrote:
I haven't seen the word "hackney" in years, and didn't know it had a division!
Hackney derived from 18th and 19-century horse drawn carriages that were for the most part private and not public. They later became available for public hire, primarily in old Esat Coast cities like Boston, NY, DC and Philadelphia. The regulation was usually given over to police, who then established a new revenue stream originally called the "Hackney Bureau or Department".
Once horses were replaced with licenses or "medallions" local police forces found themselves in possession of a new revenue stream that exists to this day and administered by a Hackney Bureau. Most West Coast cities came into being after such bureaucratic encumbrances became ingrained and thus avoided these, at least in name They went on to develop their own.
Uber and Lift are not favorably looked upon from these hallowed corrupt precincts.