On the night of 7–8 September [1914] came the most storied event of the Battle of the Marne. Military Governor Gallieni in Paris reinforced the 6th army guarding Paris by shuttling soldiers to the front by rail, truck, and Renault taxis. Gallieni commandeered about six hundred taxicabs at Les Invalides in central Paris to carry soldiers to the front at Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, fifty kilometres away. Most of the taxis were demobilised on 8 September but some remained longer to carry the wounded and refugees. The taxis, following city regulations, dutifully ran their meters. The French treasury reimbursed the total fare of 70,012 francs.
Yeah there’s a famous story from WWI about taxis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_the_Marne
I’d never heard this tale. That is gobsmacking incredible. They ran their meters.