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> In London cab drivers have to spend up to four years learning the street network before they can get around without a map. Chicago or New York taxi drivers ca

> In London cab drivers have to spend up to four years learning the street network before they can get around without a map. Chicago or New York taxi drivers can achieve much the same thing in a day. These days this is less about being able to navigate, and more a way to limit the number of taxi licenses without limiting the number of taxi licenses. Many other cities impose a numerical limit, but London has never had such a limit - they'll issue a license to anyone who can pass the test. It's just a very difficult test.

spikeagally 4y ago
I think knowledge of the city is still much better than relying on GPS. The gap may have narrowed significantly but I'd still rather by driven by someone who knows the streets. One example I regularly encounter is Uber drivers following GPS down these extremely narrow (6ft I believe) bollard lined connecting roads. They are easily avoided if you know the area but every Uber driver will take them while we both hold our breath until we get through it.
- rhdunn 4y ago
  There was a recent Tom Scott video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWREtcDVBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWREtcDVBE) where he was using a GPS and Tom Hutley (a London cabbie) only relied on his London knowledge to get around, travelling the same distance after reaching certain landmarks. It was interesting to watch.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - spikeagally 4y ago
    That was really interesting, thanks for sharing.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Google Maps regularly makes poor decisions to save two minutes. I was reminded of this just yesterday driving in New England where we've had some snow here and there. It took me on a more direct route to a location than I usually take but I let it do its thing. Lots of turns on very secondary roads some of which had some drifting and ice on the road. Nothing very bad but the more main route coming back was definitely better.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  The problem here is that the GPS system doesn't have enough local knowledge encoded into it yet.
fatnoah 4y ago
> In London cab drivers have to spend up to four years learning the street network before they can get around without a map. Chicago or New York taxi drivers can achieve much the same thing in a day. This is such a patently false assertion that it goes well beyond hyperbole. Roads meeting at right angles doesn't mean you magically know how to get to destinations unless the road naming also follows a logical progression. Midtown Manhattan is an example, but that's only a part of New York City, and you still have to worry about things like Central Park and streets that don't span the entire island. It'll still take a cabbie a long time to figure out things like where the corner of Cermak and Bell in Chicago or Willoughby and Marcy are in New York. In fact, they'll learn in the same way I suspect most people do, which is to become familiar with major roads in an area, how they connect, and they learn destinations relative to that.

> In London cab drivers have to spend up to four years learning the street network before they can get around without a map. Chicago or New York taxi drivers can achieve much the same thing in a day. These days this is less about being able to navigate, and more a way to limit the number of taxi licenses without limiting the number of taxi licenses. Many other cities impose a numerical limit, but London has never had such a limit - they'll issue a license to anyone who can pass the test. It's just a very difficult test.

spikeagally 4y ago

I think knowledge of the city is still much better than relying on GPS. The gap may have narrowed significantly but I'd still rather by driven by someone who knows the streets. One example I regularly encounter is Uber drivers following GPS down these extremely narrow (6ft I believe) bollard lined connecting roads. They are easily avoided if you know the area but every Uber driver will take them while we both hold our breath until we get through it.

rhdunn 4y ago
There was a recent Tom Scott video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWREtcDVBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWREtcDVBE) where he was using a GPS and Tom Hutley (a London cabbie) only relied on his London knowledge to get around, travelling the same distance after reaching certain landmarks. It was interesting to watch.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- spikeagally 4y ago
  That was really interesting, thanks for sharing.
ghaff 4y ago
Google Maps regularly makes poor decisions to save two minutes. I was reminded of this just yesterday driving in New England where we've had some snow here and there. It took me on a more direct route to a location than I usually take but I let it do its thing. Lots of turns on very secondary roads some of which had some drifting and ice on the road. Nothing very bad but the more main route coming back was definitely better.
midoridensha 4y ago
The problem here is that the GPS system doesn't have enough local knowledge encoded into it yet.

fatnoah 4y ago

> In London cab drivers have to spend up to four years learning the street network before they can get around without a map. Chicago or New York taxi drivers can achieve much the same thing in a day. This is such a patently false assertion that it goes well beyond hyperbole. Roads meeting at right angles doesn't mean you magically know how to get to destinations unless the road naming also follows a logical progression. Midtown Manhattan is an example, but that's only a part of New York City, and you still have to worry about things like Central Park and streets that don't span the entire island. It'll still take a cabbie a long time to figure out things like where the corner of Cermak and Bell in Chicago or Willoughby and Marcy are in New York. In fact, they'll learn in the same way I suspect most people do, which is to become familiar with major roads in an area, how they connect, and they learn destinations relative to that.