What in the world does the light on top of the cab even mean?

It says “TAXI.” Sometimes the light is on. In some cities, when the light is on, it means “available.” Other cities, when the light is off it means “available.” I think. I don’t know. I don’t get it at all.

So why doesn’t it look like this:

If the light is on, I can read that the sign says “available.” It’s available. Why did we need to be reminded that the bright yellow car with the word “Taxi” plastered on both sides is, in fact, a taxi?

Not that this change ever gets implemented—even though it’d be easy and cheap to roll out, and makes the user experience simply better. The cab companies are probably far busier throwing hissy fits at startups like Uber and Sidecar who saw the same problem (“Why the hell can’t I find an available cab anywhere?”) and came up with far more complicated (yet, admittedly, effective) solutions.