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Black cabs are, again, the exception to the rule. The vast majority of Ubers in the UK are licensed to local bodies and not Transport for London. Getting a Blac
by maxehmookau 7y ago
Black cabs are, again, the exception to the rule. The vast majority of Ubers in the UK are licensed to local bodies and not Transport for London. Getting a Black Cab licence in London takes _YEARS_. Becoming a licensed minicab driver takes about 1 year.
> I know black cab drivers need to be able to memorize maps of various neighborhoods.
I assume you're referring to what we call "The Knowledge" and it's an exam that takes literally years to pass. You have to be able to name every single road, junction and corner in the entirety of Greater London from memory. The fact that people still use black cabs (and often pay a premium to do so) shows the value in local knowledge over the Google Maps hive-mind.
- repolfx 7y agoWell, or it's because a black cab is often nearby and can be easily flagged on the street, whereas Ubers are technically illegal (or did that get fixed) and cannot be spotted on the street. The Knowledge is archaic. It exists only because regulation is ossifying and because existing black cab drivers feel "I had to do it, so should they". It's literally hardly changed since the 1800s and doesn't even cover all of London, just a six mile radius from Charing Cross. Google Maps can do it better, more reliably and faster than any person, without the massive costs and overheads involved in the entire licensing and examination regime required. The amount of labour hours required for these cabbies to memorise the layout of central London alone is a staggering cost and there's no reason for it.