CAB is not an acronym. The word cab is a shortened form of cabriolet, a light horse-drawn carriage that was hired for short trips. When meters arrived, the vehicle became a taximeter cabriolet, then a taxicab, then simply a taxi or a cab.
Where the word comes from
Cabriolet comes from French and describes a carriage with a folding hood. In nineteenth-century cities people hailed them much as we hail cars today, and the short form cab stuck. Taxicab joined the two ideas: the taximeter, which measures the fare, and the cab you ride in. People shortened that to taxi as well.
Cab or taxi in BC
Both words are used, and they mean the same thing. Company names in British Columbia use both: Yellow Cab, Black Top and Checker Cabs and BlueBird Cabs sit next to Vancouver Taxi, Victoria Taxi and Oceanside Taxi. Searching for either word will find the same companies.
The official language is a little different. British Columbia licenses taxis under the Passenger Transportation Act, and the Passenger Transportation Board approves the rates a company may charge. A meter shows the fare as a flag fee plus charges for distance and time.
Not to be confused with
- A cab on a truck or a train, which is the driver’s compartment. Same short form of cabriolet, different use.
- CAB as an abbreviation for other things, such as a board or a bureau. Those are real acronyms. The taxi cab is not.
Call a cab on Vancouver Island
If you came here because you want a ride, our area pages list companies with phone numbers: Victoria, Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum, the Comox Valley and Metro Vancouver. To see what a ride might cost first, try the taxi fare estimator or the Uber estimate calculator.
The next time someone asks, you can tell them the word is older than the car it describes.