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Then again, the Knowledge is also pretty worthless in a world where GPS receivers are cheap.

• alexfoo 10y ago
  They'll argue that the Knowledge allows them to route around bad traffic, rather than just following what SatNav or app says to do. Many cabbies have SatNavs that show live traffic conditions so they can do this, but they don't use them for navigation directly. Cabbies tend to know a lot more of the time saving shortcuts than the private hire drivers. It's also very nice to be able to get in a black cab and say something like "The Civil Service Club please" and they'll know exactly where to go, no prodding at a phone/SatNav for a minute or asking for a postcode. The downside is that some cabbies use that same knowledge to their benefit. I've been in several cabs where the driver has purposely used a route that's bad for traffic (rather than the obvious alternatives) so they can earn more money for a journey. (This is more common at times when fares are sparse.)
• maccard 10y ago
  I live in a city where all the taxi drivers know where they're going, and regularly have to travel to somewhere that the taxi drivers rely on GPS. On more than once occasion with the GPS-enabled drivers I've had to stop them and give them directions; something I've never had to do when my drivers have local knowledge.
  • golergka 10y ago
    Give them a low review after the ride and help the problem sort itself out.
• arkitaip 10y ago
  Or when you have apps like Waze for real time traffic updates. I have yet to find a built-in car satnav that wasn't horrible and hella expensive but Waze is free and crazy accurate.
• vidarh 10y ago
  Maybe that will be true one day, but I still keep struggling with minicab drivers who we have to guide street by street because their GPS keeps sending them outright idiotic routes that any driver who knows the area will know is going to be heavily congested.