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Top Driver Acquires Master Cabbie Taxi Academy

19 November 1999

Top Driver Acquires New York's Master Cabbie Taxi Academy Acquisition Broadens Training Programs TOP DRIVER PURCHASES NEW YORK MASTER CABBIE TAXI ACADEMY Top Driver's expansion continues with the purchase of New York Master Cabbie Taxi Academy, the nation's largest privately held taxi training company. (l-r) Top Driver chief operating officer Sebastian Giordano and Terry Gelber, owner of Master Cabbie. (PRNewsFoto)[HD] NEW YORK, NY USA 11/18/1999    

    NEW YORK, Nov. 18 -- Top Driver, the nation's fastest growing
driver education company announced today that it has acquired New York's
Master Cabbie Taxi Academy, the country's largest privately-held taxi-driver
training company.  This acquisition follows the recent purchase of the New
Jersey-based Taggart's Driving School, one of the best known driving schools
in the industry.
    (Photo:  NewsCom:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH064 )
    "This acquisition provides Top Driver with a proven platform in an
exciting specialty training area based in the most visible livery market in
the world," said Sebastian Giordano, Top Driver's chief operating officer,
"and, through Master Cabbie, we see tremendous growth potential in other areas
of the country."
    Master Cabbie teaches the majority of New York's nearly 4,800 newly
licensed taxi drivers each year. It provides the required training courses on
topics including street geography, driver-passenger etiquette, a complete city
tour and a defensive driving course.  The Queens-based company guarantees 100
percent job placement for all graduates.  All applicants for a New York City
taxicab driver's license are required to attend an 80-hour authorized course
of training in taxi-related subjects and pass a final examination.  Prior to
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's December 1998 training modification, drivers were
previously required to undergo 40 hours of training.  Applicants must also
pass an examination testing their knowledge of the English language, as
required by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.
    According to Terry Gelber, owner of Master Cabbie, "I have spent the last
three years building a business that the city can be proud of and this
arrangement with Top Driver clearly provides the best opportunity to recognize
my dream of developing a national taxi training academy."
    Gelber gained his experience by driving a cab on the streets of New York
City for 10 years.  Before starting Master Cabbie, he founded the "Hack Poet
Society" comprised of actors and poets performing their parodies of famous
characters to sell out audiences in "The Village," "Soho" and other New York
City neighborhoods.  In 1996, Gelber established Master Cabbie on the premise
that taxi drivers would be best trained by a career cab driver such as
himself.
    Top Driver currently operates 44 locations in five states and intends to
open training centers nationwide employing the latest technology in driver
training and education.  It is the first to deliver a standardized curriculum
with automobile product and service information, auto insurance services and
Department of Motor Vehicle services.
    For more information, contact Top Driver at 1-888-TOP-DRIVER or visit its
web site at http://www.topdriver.com.  A high-resolution photo of Sebastian
Giordano, Top Driver and Terry Gelber, Master Cabbie, is available to download
on The Cherenson Group's web site at http://www.cherenson.com/press_kits.