Cream-Colored Cabs Soon a Thing of the Past?

Light ivory, as the German cab color is accurately called, has been mandatory for taxis since 1980. That year, all taxi drivers had to abandon black as the standard paint for their cars and switch to the opposite end of the spectrum. "I was there when it happened," said Peter Kristan, who drove cabs at the time. "I never had a problem with people not recognizing me."

Kristan no longer cruises the streets on the look-out for passengers. Instead he's become the president of the Berlin-based TVD taxi drivers' association. His organization supports the proposal to liberalize the color scheme for cabs and is part of a pilot program in Stuttgart. There, black and silver-gray cabs have been granted exemptions since Oct. 1 to test people's reactions to the change.

"Most don't even realize they're sitting in a taxi that's a different color," Kristan said, adding that many taxi companies support a free color scheme because it's easier to sell cars after they're done being cabs. "The drivers I talked to said they don't see any drawbacks," he said.

The end of a trademark?

He probably hasn't talked to Wilfried Martini, who's been driving Stuttgarters in a silver-gray minivan for the past two months. A taxi driver for more than 30 years, Martini hasn't warmed up to the new color. "I think this is complete nonsense," he said. "I can't think of another company that deliberately destroys its trademark."

Instead of introducing new cab colors, the country's 25,000 taxi companies should support making light ivory a registered trademark. As things are now, anyone can drive a car in that color, Martini said.

It's an idea that's also favored by members of Germany's other taxi association, the Frankfurt-based BZP. Last June, that group sent a thank-you letter to German Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe, who has come out in favor of keeping a uniform taxi look.

"This is not just about keeping a valuable corporate identity for our trade," Hans Meißner, BZP's president, wrote at the time. "A significant drop in quality of service would be a medium term consequence of a liberalization as well." Opponents of the change argue that color liberalization would make it much easier for black sheep to enter the market.

Tackling red tape

Officials in the German states of Lower Saxony and Saarland see things differently and will now put the matter before their colleagues in the Bundesrat. They see the color restriction in terms of costly red tape, which ties up government officials' time for no reason. "Why does the government have to regulate such nonsense?" asked Andreas Krischat, a spokesman for Lower Saxony's Transport Ministry.

His Saarland colleague agreed that the cab color debate is a sign of German reluctance to initiate reforms. "This shows how difficult it is to deregulate things here," said Philipp Britz from Saarland's Economy Ministry, which also handles transport issues.

Britz added that his government, which has been granting color exemptions since last year, wants to give cab drivers the opportunity to avoid the costly light ivory paint job and create their own taxi associations with a cab color unique to them, as is the case with New York City's yellow cabs or the white and green beetle taxis in Mexico City.

While many still oppose the plans, others would welcome the change. "Personally I don't have anything against it," said Karl-Heinz Frantzen, a cab driving veteran from Cologne. "The buses here now also come in pretty colors."

Frantzen said he doesn't understand why some of his colleagues worry about losing customers because they wouldn't recognize them as cab drivers any longer. "If I'm in Spain, I can still find a taxi," he said.

Cab uniformity all but gone in Europe

In fact, only one other European Union country still has a mandatory color for its taxis: Portugal adopted Germany's light ivory in time for the world exhibition in Lisbon in 1998, according to Kristan from the TVD. Even London's distinctive "black cabs" now come in red, blue or white as well.

Besides, no one's trying to force people to let go of ivory. "We don't want to get rid of the color," Kristan said. "Everyone who wants to will be able to keep using it. We just think it's unfair that we're forced to use a single color. Imagine if all bakers had to paint their store fronts brown and all butchers had to paint them red." He added that the black and yellow taxi sign on car roofs will always remain a cab's true trademark.

Safety issues

But it's a trademark that is easily acquired by anyone who wants to, meaning that the feeling of safety associated with an "official" cream-colored cab could be jeopardized, said cabbie Isabella Weidhaas. She used to drive cabs in the eastern city of Erfurt, where cabs came in all colors before reunification.

"I still have a taxi sign in the basement," she said.