NYC Cabbie Drives 2 Friends Across US For $5,000
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) — A New York City cab driver has racked up the fare of a lifetime.
Mohammed Alam is being paid $5,000 to drive a pair of friends to Los Angeles. The trio left Saturday night and reached Los Angeles Friday morning.
Investment banker John Belitsky, of Leonia, N.J., and Daniel Wuebben, of Queens, N.Y., wondered if it would be possible to take a taxi from New York to Los Angeles. The pair asked Belitsky's father, a New York City cab driver, if it was viable and he said yes.
When they took on the challenge to cab-it to California, they found Alam at LaGuardia Airport and brokered the deal. The trio is traveling in a hybrid Ford Focus Yellow Cab that is certified as a "green" cab. Along the way, the group made stops in Omaha, Denver, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
Belitsky and Wuebben haven't decided how they'll get back yet. As for the cab driver, he says a friend will meet him in Los Angeles and help him make the drive home.
The trip is being documented through Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. Footage will be saved for later use in a documentary. When completed, the trip will be amongst the longest cab fares in history.
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