London black cabbies

F

firebobby

Elite
 South west Buckinghamshire
Just watched a program about the London black cab knowledge and how hard it is to pass, they put in around 8000 hrs of study and tests to gain it. Some have been trying for years to pass it.
Poor buggers turn into nervous wrecks when their being tested. Any Black cab drivers on here.
 
Whilst I appreciated the value of it 20 years ago, today it's irrelevant. Black cab drivers had it way too easy for so long, the annual tax return for a black cabbie is about £5k...yet somehow they all live in big houses in the home counties. All of them hate the changes because now they have to take card payment and actually declare a fair proportion of their earnings.
 
many use sat navs anyway! wonder if the test is still going? bet it's going to go soon.
 
A sat nav is ok if the customer has the postcode for their address. Watching the program, a customer gets into a black cab and says the hotel or place where they want to go and the driver takes them. Without the P Code, would a mini cab driver know how to get to the destination. I don't know as I don't use either. Just amazing how these people do the knowledge and have almost photographic memory of London.
 
Yes, it certainly takes dedication!

When I worked in London I used to see them trundling about on mopeds with a map clipped on the handlebars.

Fair play to those that do succeed - they deserve to make a decent living out of it!
 
Mr Tidy said:
Yes, it certainly takes dedication!

When I worked in London I used to see them trundling about on mopeds with a map clipped on the handlebars.

Fair play to those that do succeed - they deserve to make a decent living out of it!
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The rest of us are screwed to the ground with tax, good luck to those who manage to get away with a bit :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Potentially controversial, but I totally see why Uber is so popular.

They're even popping up here in Berkshire.

A fare that would've cost me £35 in a mini cab on Friday night, was £16.22 with Uber. Didn't even have to worry about having cash on me. It's a different experience using Uber and they do rely on a Sat Nav, but for better than half the price I'm happy to use them.
 
firebobby said:
A sat nav is ok if the customer has the postcode for their address. Watching the program, a customer gets into a black cab and says the hotel or place where they want to go and the driver takes them. Without the P Code, would a mini cab driver know how to get to the destination. I don't know as I don't use either. Just amazing how these people do the knowledge and have almost photographic memory of London.
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Most sat navs have no issue finding things by name. The only real benefit that cabbies have these days is local knowledge and shortcuts.. including bus lane use.
 
Nothing annoys me more than when I get into a taxi and I am asked for a "post code". Immediately tells me my driver doesn't know the area and will take the piss/fastest and not the shortest route to wherever. Too often I've been their sat nav! I also wonder how many visitors to our country have any idea what a post code is let alone whether they are being taken on the most direct route. Black cabs cost for a reason and please don't think the others are not adverse to creative accounting. As for Uber, come to my home town and see the filth they create in one evening whilst waiting for a call from LGW.
 
I was a courier in Glasgow for many years and when I started knew very few places.
I picked it up as I went along using an A-Z map, sometimes stopping every few miles to have a look at it.
After a few months the map was rarely used and only kept to find somewhere I had never heard of before.
I picked up a lot of knowledge of Glasgow and the surrounding areas which I still remember.
Nowadays I give a quick glance at google maps to double check where somewhere is and then I am off.
With modern technology there is no need to know everywhere off the back of your hand and this knowledge of where places are and shortcuts can all be picked up as you go along.
I think personally that the London Knowledge if still going is out of date and holding people back from doing a job they want to do.
A name of a building or place and a simple look on google will give an address or a postcode.
Taxis around where I live have Uber wrote on a lot of them as well.
 
In the program, that was filmed last year by the way, it said there were well over 700 hundred people doing the knowledge last year. Personally, I take my hat off to people who train for thousands of hours (up to 8000) and spent many days and nights on scooters, come rain, snow and shine to memorize places and routes. Then sit 4 exams and only if they reach the mark, they get their badge. Good luck to them I say.
 
8,000 hours isn't that much to learn a trade for a lifetime, most of us do a lot more. Try 3yrs in uni then 15+ exams afterwards plus 5yrs of industry experience to achieve a decent status. Paying stupidly low tax is not on, no matter who you are.
 
Steve84N said:
8,000 hours isn't that much to learn a trade for a lifetime, most of us do a lot more. Try 3yrs in uni then 15+ exams afterwards plus 5yrs of industry experience to achieve a decent status. Paying stupidly low tax is not on, no matter who you are.
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So 2 years of drunken debauchery and 1 years studying. :wink:
Most self employed pay a less tax than PAYE, I did when I was SE.
So I take it that there are no black cab drivers on the forum then or your to ashamed to say so, in fear of being branded a lazy, tax fiddling, mansion owning, dinosaur :)
 
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