4 ms·
Black Cabs in London are wonderful, except: 1. When you need one at about 10pm in the City, and stand on the street corner for ages watching dozens of them go
by Jaruzel 9y ago
Black Cabs in London are wonderful, except:
1. When you need one at about 10pm in the City, and stand on the street corner for ages watching dozens of them go by with their lights off and no passengers.
2. When you are less than 1/2 a mile north of the Thames, and the cabbie refuses the ride because he 'doesn't go south of the river, mate'
3. Same as #2 but 'doesn't go north of the river, mate'
4. Same as #2 and #3 but for inside/outside the north/south circular ringroad.
5. Deliberately ignoring your route request, and then snarles the cab up in non-moving traffic all while the meter is still running (Black Cabs charge by time, not distance).
- vidarh 9y agoIn nearly 20 years of relying extensively on black cabs as I don't have a drivers license, I've never experienced a single one of the above. Sounds like you're exceptionally unlucky.
- Anderkent 9y agoLet me guess: you're white, male, in your 30s+, and usually in a suit when calling a cab?
- vidarh 9y agoRarely in a suit. The rest, yes, but the same also applies to my black ex, who incidentally also uses taxis far more than me. No doubt there's plenty of racism in the UK, but of all the places she's complained about racist behavior, black cabs has never been of them. Maybe we've just been lucky. Or maybe you've been extremely unlucky.
- Theodores 9y agoI think the TfL night bus service is a game changer for a lot of people, you may be waiting for 20 minutes for a connect to what would be zone 5+ but the personal security aspect is pretty good and there are no 'South of the river' games played by bus drivers. I like being under CCTV for my journey when on the night bus. For me it is not 'let's grab an Uber', it is 'drat, missed the last train, where and when do I get the night bus?' Because traffic is considerably lighter at night the bus goes at a good speed and during the day the bus has its own lane, one which Uber can't be in. I appreciate that if you have some very important clients arriving then you want to book them a cab, plus there are plenty of other reasons to get a cab, however, TfL is putting together a transport system for everyone, not just people stuck in their apps.
- DanBC 9y ago> (Black Cabs charge by time, not distance). that's incomplete. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares/tariffs https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares/tarif... > The meter automatically adds a charge based on time for any part of a taxi journey when the speed drops below 10.4mph. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares