Amos Tamam has single-handedly brought dramatic change to the taxi cab industry within New York City. An electrical engineer who arrived from Israel in 1998, Amos Tamam has been working to revolutionize the taxi cab industry ever since. He has succeeded in numerous ways.
Much of Amos Tamam’s work has related to using technology to allow taxi cabs to take credit cards. In 1992, Amos Tamam created the first credit card enabled taxi meter. Working with American Express, Tamam developed the prototype which found its way into taxi cabs in New York City.
Tamam has now created a system which allows New Yorkers and Philadelphia residents to pay for their taxi rides by credit card. Not only is this convenient for passengers, but it also helps to improve the safety for taxi drivers. If a taxi driver takes credit card payments, it can reduce the amount of cash he or she carries, and thus reduce the chances of a rubbery.
Amos Tamam continued his work within the industry, developing an advanced devise that allowed taxi drivers to use one circuit board and have access to roof lights, signal lights, meter information, emergency lights and voice reminders. This project, completed in 1997, was followed by Amos Tamamn’s development of one of the most advanced taximeters in the world.
While Tamam’s inventions are primarily in New York and Philadelphia at this point, he is working to bring the innovation to other cities as well.