Taxis of the United Kingdom
This article possibly contains original research. (March 2010) |
Types of cab
- Hackney carriages (taxis) can be flagged down in the street or hired from a taxi rank.
- Private hire vehicles ('minicabs') are passenger vehicles which can be either a 4-door saloon/hatchback, carrying up to four passengers, or MPVsthat are licensed to carry between 5 and 8 passengers. These may not be hailed in the street.
- Chauffeur cars are a sub-set of private hire; generally a higher-value car such as a Mercedes or Jaguar where the passenger pays a premium but in return receives a higher level of comfort and courtesy from the driver, some of whom wear a uniform.
Hackney carriages
Only licensed hackney carriages can pick up passengers on the street and without pre-booking. London's traditional
There have been many models over the years.
Private hire (minicabs)
In London the term minicab is used to refer to a private hire car and "private hire" is used in the rest of the United Kingdom; that is a car with a driver available for hire only on a pre-booked basis. They began operating in the 1960s in competition with hackney carriages after a loophole in the law was spotted (although in some areas it is possible to hold a dual hackney/private hire licence). A minicab must be booked, for example, by telephone, internet, or fax, or in person at the registered minicab office. A minicab can be booked at the time it is required, but only at the office of a company registered to accept bookings rather than directly with a driver.
Since 2001 minicabs have been subject to regulation in
London
Greater London, a metropolitan area with a population of about 8 million, has no grid plan laying out streets either parallel or at right angles to each other; thus the streets of London follow complex patterns.[5]
History
Horse-drawn
Today, taxicab service in London is regulated by
The Knowledge of London
The London taxicab driver is required to be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger's request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on
It is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab drivers, and applicants will usually need to pass at least twelve "appearances" (periodical one-on-one oral examinations undertaken throughout the qualification process), with the whole process averaging 34 months to pass.[9][10]
Course details
Three hundred and twenty standard routes through
A taxicab-driver must learn these routes, as well as the "
The Knowledge includes details such as the order of theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue, and the names and order of the side streets and traffic signals passed on a route.
There are a number of Knowledge Schools that provide books, maps and classroom tuition which help Knowledge students to learn the 320 runs and points of interest.[11] There are separate, shorter courses for suburban London, with 30 to 50 runs, depending on the sector.[12]
"Knowledge boys/girls"
During training, would-be cabbies, known as Knowledge boys or Knowledge girls, usually follow these routes around London on a motor scooter, and can be identified by the clipboard fixed to the handlebars and showing details of the streets to be learned that day.
Taxi-driver applicants must be 'of good character', meeting strict requirements regarding any criminal record,[13] then first pass a written test which qualifies them to make an "appearance". At appearances, Knowledge boys and girls must, without looking at a map, identify the two points of interest in metropolitan London that their examiner chooses and then choose the shortest and most sensible route from one to the other. For each route, the applicants must recite the names of the roads used, when they cross junctions, use roundabouts, make turns, and what is 'alongside' them at each point.[14]
Academic research
Knowledge boys/girls and their online learning communities have been the subject of academic research, including a PhD dissertation by Drew Ross at
There is evidence that training for the Knowledge can measurably alter the hippocampus of trainee cab drivers. The hippocampus is the area of the brain used for spatial memory and navigation, and is generally larger in taxi drivers than in the general population.[16][17][18]
Film and literature
A humorous 1979
In the
In the Chas—The Knowledge miniseries, which was a spin-off from the comic book Hellblazer, Chas Chandler's job as a taxi driver is the basis for various plot elements of the series.
The Knowledge, its runs, and to a certain extent the role of the PCO, form the basis for a future religion in Will Self's The Book of Dave.[20]
TfL Taxi and Private Hire office
The Taxi and Private Hire office is the body responsible for
History
Since 1600 public carriages for hire have been a feature of
The first horseless cab, the Bersey electric-powered vehicle, appeared in 1897, followed by the first internal combustion engine cab in 1903. At that time London still had more than 11,000 horse-drawn cabs.[citation needed] The last horse-drawn cab was removed from service in 1947.[citation needed] As of July 2019, there are over 21,000 licensed vehicles on London's roads.[21]
Regulation of the trade passed to the Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriages (better known as the Public Carriage Office), formed by the Hackney Carriages, Metropolis Act 1838 and transferred to the Metropolitan Police in 1850. It was originally based in a small building called "the Bungalow"[citation needed] near the original site of Scotland Yard at the north end of Whitehall, remaining there even when the Yard moved to the Norman Shaw Buildings in 1890. It moved to 109 Lambeth Road in 1919, remaining there until 1966, when it moved to 15 Penton Street, Islington. In 2010 it moved again to the Palestra Building at 197 Blackfriars Road, Southwark.
Present role
On the formation of Transport for London on 3 July 2000, the licensing authority changed; however, the day-to-day licensing function remained with the Public Carriage Office.
With the introduction of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 the role of the PCO has been expanded to include the licensing of private hire operators, drivers and vehicles, bringing the capital into line with the rest of England and Wales.
In November 2005, in the report Where to, Guv?, the London Assembly's Transport Committee reported on a review of the Public Carriage Office and made some key recommendations.[1]
Elsewhere
Outside London, taxis are licensed by the local authority,
Elsewhere there are two types of "taxi"—hackney carriages (licensed under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847), which may pick up fares on the street or be pre-booked and have a meter that charges a rate set by the local authority (alternatively the driver may negotiate a lower fare with the customer), and private hire vehicles (licensed under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976) which must be pre-booked and whose rates are set by the private hire operator. Hackney carriages may only pick up fares off the street in the area in which they are licensed—however, they and private hire vehicles may pick up anywhere in the UK as long as they are pre-booked, and the driver, vehicle and operator are all licensed in the same borough. Some authorities have entered into agreements with neighbouring authorities to deputise each other's enforcement officers so they have the power to apprehend "trespassing" taxis from outside their area.
The legal way for a driver to ply outside their area is to obtain multiple licences, one for each licence authority area.
Luton is reported to have the highest number of taxicabs per head of population in the United Kingdom.[43]
See also
- Cabmen's Shelter Fund
- London Cab Drivers Club
- Taxicabs by country
- The Knowledge (1979 film)
References
- ^ a b "Where to, Guv?", London Assembly Transport Committee report into the Public Carriage Office, November 2005
- ^ "Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics: England 2015" (PDF).
- ^ "Taxicab Make And Model History". London-taxi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ "Apply for a private hire vehicle licence". Transport for London. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ "The Knowledge, London’s Legendary Taxi-Driver Test, Puts Up a Fight in the Age of GPS" Blog post by Jody Rosen The New York Times Magazine November 2014
- ^ Webb, Sidney; Webb, Beatrice (1922). "Ch.4: The Improvement Commissioners". Statutory Authorities for Special Purposes. English Local Government. Vol. 4. 1922: Longman, Green. p. 240.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "CONSTRUCTION AND LICENSING OF MOTOR TAXIS FOR USE IN LONDON" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
- ^ "Taxi Statistics UK". www.nimblefins.co.uk. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ "The Knowledge". Public Carriage Office, Transport for London. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012.
- ^ "The Knowledge :: A-Z Maps". www.az.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "London Taxi Knowledge Schools",
- ^ "Applicants for a Taxi Driver’s Licence – The 'Knowledge of London' Examination System", Public Carriage Office, Transport for London
- ^ "Requirements in order to obtain a taxi licence in London – by: Transport for London". Infotaxi.org. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ "The Knowledge Boys". Scientific American Frontiers. Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- S2CID 145574225.
- PMID 10716738.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-2401-0.
- ^ "Taxi drivers 'have brain sat-nav'". BBC News. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
- IMDb
- ISBN 978-1596913844.
- ^ a b "Licensing information". Transport for London.
- ^ "Taxi and Private Hire Byelaws and Conditions". Eastbourne Borough Council. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "Taxis and private hire vehicles". Portsmouth.gov.uk. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ City and County of Swansea (28 January 2010). "# # Vehicles – Hackney Carriage". Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ City and County of Swansea (17 June 2010). "Vehicles – Private Hire". Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ "East Riding taxis branded with new livery". Just Beverley.
- ^ "Blue handbook for hackney carriages". Brighton & Hove City Council. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ "Cab drivers say council colours make taxis look like 'dustbin cars'". Maidenhead Advertiser. 8 August 2013.
- ^ "New taxi livery for East Riding". Yorkshire Coast Radio.
- ^ "About Hackney Carriages". Basildon Council.
- ^ "Taxi licensing" (PDF). Cardiff Council.
- ^ "Consultation launched over taxis in west Suffolk". East Anglian Daily Times. 29 January 2020.
- ^ "How can I tell which Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Drivers, Vehicles and Operators are licensed currently by Bradford Council?". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
- ^ "Conditions Applicable to the Licensing of Hackney Carriage Vehicles, part 1.3" (PDF). Application Pack For A Hackney Carriage. St Albans City & District Council.
- ^ "Guide to Using Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles". Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council.
- ^ "Taxis". Bristol City Council.
- ^ "Guildford's taxis to become 'corporate teal' as driver's court case is dismissed". Surrey Live. 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Conditions of licence and enforcement" (PDF). Portsmouth City Council.
- ^ "Hackney carriage licences". Southampton City Council.
- ^ "Hackney carriage vehicle licensing". Scarborough Borough Council.
- ^ "Hartlepool taxis to stay yellow - drivers vow to 'stand up, scream and shout' over suggested change". The Scotsman. 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Derby cabs yellow to black change criticised". BBC. 23 August 2019.
- ^ "Luton South" Archived 8 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, UK Polling Report