5 ms·

Hello Londoners, I am a black cab driver (Green Badge) and I come in peace

59 points by TranceMan 9y ago

drfuchs 9y ago
You might want to explain to Americans that a "black cab driver" isn't what first comes to mind for them (especially as juxtaposed with "and I come in peace"). It might also be worth a mention what "Green Badge" means.
- hluska 9y ago
  It took me some googling to figure both of those out. I'm still stuck trying to figure out what The Knowledge is. Can anyone help?
  - k-mcgrady 9y ago
    The Knowledge is a test black cab drivers have to take. They basically spend several years learning various streets and routes in the city [1]. It essentially turns them into a human GPS. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom#The_Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - soneil 9y ago
    So London has "Hackney Carriages" ('black cabs') and minicabs. Black cabs are allowed to pick you up on-demand ('streetwork') or at taxi ranks (a designated place where you can expect to find multiple taxis just queued up waiting for you), minicabs you have to order. (Apps are making this a bit hazy, since ordering either via an app is just as easy). The 'green badge' is your licence. There's green, yellow, and 'minicab' licences. Green is a citywide black cab, Yellow is constrained to one area, and minicab is no black cab, but dispatch-only. 'The Knowledge' is the test (and associated training) required to become a black cab driver. It's years worth of study. It's pretty much memorising an A-Z, but also knowing the best routes, at different times of the day, etc. Three vehicles you can expect to see almost everywhere in London are red busses, black cabs, and scooters with a clipboard on the handlebars. The latter are drivers on their multi-year study of The Knowledge. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-test-knowledge.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-te...
    - Joeboy 9y ago
      > It's pretty much memorising an A-Z The A-Z (pronounced 'zed') was the most popular London streetmap in the 20th century.
  - michaelbuckbee 9y ago
    Pre GPS it was a requirement that cabbies have a massive list of places and routes through London memorized (that guy taking 3.5 years to study and pass the entrance exam is pretty par for the course). There's a 1996 documentary on the process that's pretty interesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvFKh_3evC8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvFKh_3evC8 Separately, this is the kind of non robots doing manufacturing automation that I think it's important to think about when we have discussions of future work, etc. Because on the one hand it's stunningly fantastic that what used to take someone 4 years and a series of examinations to achieve is now included for a negligible cost in the pocket supercomputer (of 1996) that we all carry around in our pocket. But, it's also a huge shift for all these industries.
    - ashark 9y ago
      I think anyone who’s Ubered much (or driven much, for that matter) can tell you GPS is not nearly as good as knowing the streets. It may be good enough that it’ll take over, but it’s still a lot worse.
      - dnautics 9y ago
        GPS is better in that there's accountability. For complex cities, as a driver you can really screw over a passenger by taking a convoluted route. As a passenger, you can watch the driver leave the GPS route (or get a trip report) and know that you've been (or are being) screwed.
  - jfk13 9y ago
    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge_(film) It's a drama rather than a documentary, but highly recommended (IMO).
- katpas 9y ago
  You have cabs in NYC though - is it similar? In London the city controls the number of people that can operate black cabs, sets a standard tariff for fares and runs background and license checks. They can be hailed off the street (though also through some apps). And the drivers have to take "The knowledge"[1] a test which takes a few years to pass and means you can give the average cab driver any street name and they can get you there without a GPS. [1]https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing...
  - drfuchs 9y ago
    Yes, but they aren't called "black cabs". An American wouldn't know what you meant; they'd understand "yellow cab" for that, depending on where they're from. And a "black car" service is something completely different, just to add to the confusion: they're limousines that you have to pre-arrange and can't simply hail on the street (though many of them try to cheat when they can).
  - sandworm101 9y ago
    In the US the title reads as "i am a black (cab driver)" rather than "i am a (black cab) driver". It is a race thing.
    - zaphar 9y ago
      I'm a white, U.S. born, citizen and I read it the first way not the second. The context of "Hello Londoners" makes it pretty clear.
      - coherentpony 9y ago
        I'm confused. Do you think the OP is black?
      - mikeash 9y ago
        It will be clear to anyone who’s heard of London’s black cabs (which I’m sure is a lot of people) but it’s probably damn confusing for those who haven’t.
- TranceMan 9y ago
  I agree, maybe the title could be editorialized in this case. I was browsing the /r/London subreddit so assumed too much context for a global forum
  - colanderman 9y ago
    Agreed, "I drive a black cab" would be much clearer for us Yanks. I assumed it was a race thing too.
    - callumlocke 9y ago
      Would you be OK with me asking you to avoid using a standard U.S. English phrase so it's clearer for us Brits? "Black cab driver" is part of our lexicon. It carries a lot of cultural meaning, and it's always phrased like that. You briefly misunderstood it as race-related, then you learned what it means. I don't see a reason to change anything.
      - colanderman 9y ago
        Yes, I would be OK with that.
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  Not all Americans are obsessed with race, and plenty know some things about the UK even if they've never been. I saw "London" and "black cab" and the title was clear... I guess it is due to differing styles of reading, I tend to pattern-match before going left-to-right.
- dghf 9y ago
  This is a perfect example of where the judicious use of a hyphen would bring clarity ("black-cab driver" vs "black cab-driver").
the_d00d 9y ago
All the confusion from Americans is totally understandable. That being said, the title addressed his audience...Londoners. Comments suggesting a title change, so that people he wasn't intending to talk to can understand, is expecting too much. If the topic interests you, take the time to read for more context, maybe even ask, or research it.
- jazoom 9y ago
  We're very progressive in Australia. We have Black & White cab drivers.
katastic 9y ago
I swear something like this has been posted here before... and it had the exact same confusion...

59 points by TranceMan 9y ago

You might want to explain to Americans that a "black cab driver" isn't what first comes to mind for them (especially as juxtaposed with "and I come in peace"). It might also be worth a mention what "Green Badge" means.

hluska 9y ago
It took me some googling to figure both of those out. I'm still stuck trying to figure out what The Knowledge is. Can anyone help?
- k-mcgrady 9y ago
  The Knowledge is a test black cab drivers have to take. They basically spend several years learning various streets and routes in the city [1]. It essentially turns them into a human GPS. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom#The_Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_Kingdom...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- soneil 9y ago
  So London has "Hackney Carriages" ('black cabs') and minicabs. Black cabs are allowed to pick you up on-demand ('streetwork') or at taxi ranks (a designated place where you can expect to find multiple taxis just queued up waiting for you), minicabs you have to order. (Apps are making this a bit hazy, since ordering either via an app is just as easy). The 'green badge' is your licence. There's green, yellow, and 'minicab' licences. Green is a citywide black cab, Yellow is constrained to one area, and minicab is no black cab, but dispatch-only. 'The Knowledge' is the test (and associated training) required to become a black cab driver. It's years worth of study. It's pretty much memorising an A-Z, but also knowing the best routes, at different times of the day, etc. Three vehicles you can expect to see almost everywhere in London are red busses, black cabs, and scooters with a clipboard on the handlebars. The latter are drivers on their multi-year study of The Knowledge. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-test-knowledge.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-te...
  - Joeboy 9y ago
    > It's pretty much memorising an A-Z The A-Z (pronounced 'zed') was the most popular London streetmap in the 20th century.
- michaelbuckbee 9y ago
  Pre GPS it was a requirement that cabbies have a massive list of places and routes through London memorized (that guy taking 3.5 years to study and pass the entrance exam is pretty par for the course). There's a 1996 documentary on the process that's pretty interesting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvFKh_3evC8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvFKh_3evC8 Separately, this is the kind of non robots doing manufacturing automation that I think it's important to think about when we have discussions of future work, etc. Because on the one hand it's stunningly fantastic that what used to take someone 4 years and a series of examinations to achieve is now included for a negligible cost in the pocket supercomputer (of 1996) that we all carry around in our pocket. But, it's also a huge shift for all these industries.
  - ashark 9y ago
    I think anyone who’s Ubered much (or driven much, for that matter) can tell you GPS is not nearly as good as knowing the streets. It may be good enough that it’ll take over, but it’s still a lot worse.
    - dnautics 9y ago
      GPS is better in that there's accountability. For complex cities, as a driver you can really screw over a passenger by taking a convoluted route. As a passenger, you can watch the driver leave the GPS route (or get a trip report) and know that you've been (or are being) screwed.
- jfk13 9y ago
  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge_(film) It's a drama rather than a documentary, but highly recommended (IMO).
katpas 9y ago
You have cabs in NYC though - is it similar? In London the city controls the number of people that can operate black cabs, sets a standard tariff for fares and runs background and license checks. They can be hailed off the street (though also through some apps). And the drivers have to take "The knowledge"[1] a test which takes a few years to pass and means you can give the average cab driver any street name and they can get you there without a GPS. [1]https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing...
- drfuchs 9y ago
  Yes, but they aren't called "black cabs". An American wouldn't know what you meant; they'd understand "yellow cab" for that, depending on where they're from. And a "black car" service is something completely different, just to add to the confusion: they're limousines that you have to pre-arrange and can't simply hail on the street (though many of them try to cheat when they can).
- sandworm101 9y ago
  In the US the title reads as "i am a black (cab driver)" rather than "i am a (black cab) driver". It is a race thing.
  - zaphar 9y ago
    I'm a white, U.S. born, citizen and I read it the first way not the second. The context of "Hello Londoners" makes it pretty clear.
    - coherentpony 9y ago
      I'm confused. Do you think the OP is black?
    - mikeash 9y ago
      It will be clear to anyone who’s heard of London’s black cabs (which I’m sure is a lot of people) but it’s probably damn confusing for those who haven’t.
TranceMan 9y ago
I agree, maybe the title could be editorialized in this case. I was browsing the /r/London subreddit so assumed too much context for a global forum
- colanderman 9y ago
  Agreed, "I drive a black cab" would be much clearer for us Yanks. I assumed it was a race thing too.
  - callumlocke 9y ago
    Would you be OK with me asking you to avoid using a standard U.S. English phrase so it's clearer for us Brits? "Black cab driver" is part of our lexicon. It carries a lot of cultural meaning, and it's always phrased like that. You briefly misunderstood it as race-related, then you learned what it means. I don't see a reason to change anything.
    - colanderman 9y ago
      Yes, I would be OK with that.
thesmallestcat 9y ago
Not all Americans are obsessed with race, and plenty know some things about the UK even if they've never been. I saw "London" and "black cab" and the title was clear... I guess it is due to differing styles of reading, I tend to pattern-match before going left-to-right.
dghf 9y ago
This is a perfect example of where the judicious use of a hyphen would bring clarity ("black-cab driver" vs "black cab-driver").

the_d00d 9y ago

All the confusion from Americans is totally understandable. That being said, the title addressed his audience...Londoners. Comments suggesting a title change, so that people he wasn't intending to talk to can understand, is expecting too much. If the topic interests you, take the time to read for more context, maybe even ask, or research it.

jazoom 9y ago
We're very progressive in Australia. We have Black & White cab drivers.

katastic 9y ago

I swear something like this has been posted here before... and it had the exact same confusion...