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To become a cab driver in London, you have to acquire "The Knowledge," which is their fancy way of saying that you have to memorize all the streets in London. I
by stfu 15y ago
To become a cab driver in London, you have to acquire "The Knowledge," which is their fancy way of saying that you have to memorize all the streets in London. It's quite a process that takes most three to four years to complete.
Crazy. Any bets on for how long they are going to continue this practice? Seems almost as redundant as to teach them how to drive a horse buggy just for the time their engine is dead.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- stfu 15y agoIt might be also a cultural thing. Brits might be expecting a more "perfect" service while most NYC'ians might be fine with a more improvisation'al service for most of the time and when in need hire just a black cab/car service.
- crdoconnor 15y agoDon't know about anybody else, but I hate it - they're so ridiculously overpriced. I'd much rather have a slightly less knowledgeable driver for half the price like in the rest of the world.
- tzury 15y agothere are cabs, in addition to the famous cabbies, which are half priced, and located in almost every second street. However, you will have to call and order their services, as they are not allowed to pick up random passengers from the street.
- Groxx 15y agoThey've been holding out against GPS for quite a while already, I'm going to guess they'll continue to do so for far beyond what seems beneficial.
- ColinWright 15y agoI remain unconvinced that it's crazy. I've been driven in London by a cabbie when there are unexpected road closures and diversions, and there is absolutely no doubt that he did better than any existing system at getting me where I wanted to go efficiently despite the problems. GPS and SatNav is currently no solution for the streets of London. Remember, it's been there a long time, and initially grew without the existence of cars.
- vacri 15y agoI've been driven by cab in London to an address we later found was on the same physical street, it just changed name halfway. The folks at the destination laughed and said that while the cabbie should have just driven straight down the street, his actual route took us about four times the distance it should have... It seems that The Knowledge isn't necessarily implemented for The Punters :)
- teamonkey 15y agoThere's knowing the quickest route to take and then there's taking the longest route you can get away with. Two different problems with the same data set.