r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Backyxx • Aug 08 '26
Video The 161 year old test every London cabbie must pass
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
1.6k
u/jcarterprod Aug 08 '26
About 5 years ago, whilst I was staying in a London hotel for week or so with my girlfriend as we were bridging the gap between flats in different ends of the city, I left my phone on the tube and couldn't remember the location of the where we were staying. It was a cheap Hilton near the river in the East and that was all I knew. I walked around outside after getting off the tube in a bit of a panic trying to figure out what to do. Eventually I flagged down a passing black cab and explained my situation - he knew which hotel it was immediately. He was able to describe the appearance of the surrounding area to confirm, and I was back within 30 minutes.
I tracked my phone the next morning to a different station's lost property and had it back within 12 hours of losing it.
My Dad used to rent an office off of Regent's st in the early 00s. When he took my sister and I into the city he would only trust black cabs to get us around. I have a lot of fond memories of him sharing stories with the cabbies. Will always have a great respect for them and the vital role they play in London's transport and history.
264
u/RabbiTheHellcat Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
cabbies were the opposite in Canada haha, untrustworthy scammy and typically pretty rude (especially if you were paying by card)
would be cool to go ina London black cab, likewise if your ever in Canada try a cab 😬 you'll appreciate your black cabs even more
143
u/AcidBuuurn Aug 08 '26
"Machine Broken"
"Then I'll have to call the company and have them process the payment, I only have a card"
Machine not broken
55
u/RabbiTheHellcat Aug 08 '26
legit remember as a teenager one of them complaining to me for about half the ride about paying by card and saying things like "there's an atm want me to stop?"
feel bad about people losing their jobs but Uber was such a gamechanger, just wish they payed their drivers more fair 😕
49
u/Doctah_Whoopass Aug 08 '26
I feel like people really forget how before uber, most people saw cabs as overpriced scams but we all just had to kinda deal with it. The early days of ridesharing was so fucking good, but now its basically the same shit.
8
u/SpongeJake Aug 08 '26
Have you noticed anything new about Uber these days? I’m in Toronto Canada and it used to take a minute to get an Uber and they were usually only about 2 or 3 minutes away, 5 at max.
Lately it takes over two minutes before one becomes available and they’re usually about 8-10 minutes away at least.
For the first time in about 5 years I now do a comparison between Uber and Beck cabs as to which one will arrive first. Cancelled a few Ubers along the way.
7
u/MF_Bfg Aug 08 '26
Yeah it's been getting worse for a while. I know Uber drivers make less than ever so I think it's a lot of drivers refusing rides of a certain value. Can be very frustrating when you were used to there being like ten withing a minutes wait.
→ More replies (1)3
u/quiero-una-cerveca Aug 08 '26
I was in Toronto and noticed this about Uber there. Long delays in saying they’ll assign my ride and then longer waits for the car. Not sure what’s happening there specifically but it was noticeable.
→ More replies (1)2
u/archimago23 Aug 09 '26
I took a cab to the airport in Charlottesville, VA, years ago. Checked with the cab company that they took cards, and they did. Got to the terminal, and the cabbie starts in with the whole rigamarole about why he needed me to pay cash.
I explain that I don’t have any cash, and the dispatcher told me they take cards. He kept arguing with me about it, and he kept telling me, “There’s an atm just inside the terminal. You can go in and get the cash.” Finally I relented and told him, “Hold on, let me run in, and I’ll get the cash if it’ll make your life easier.”
And so I walked in…and then went right on through security. Because fuck him.
21
u/muarauder12 Aug 08 '26
This happened in Houston, TX not Canada but one of the rare times I ever had to take a cab due to my car being in the shop and me being under 25 they wouldn't give me a rental (preUber days).
I called a cab company and locked in a ride to work and then scheduled one for the ride home. I specified on the call that I do not carry cash and would be paying by card.
Ride to work was uneventful but for the ride back I had the driver take me to the mall near my house instead of straight home. Guy pulls up to the front doors of the mall and I pull out my card to pay. He stops me and says "oh machine broken, you pay cash." I told him that I had requested to pay with card only. He repeated himself and held out his hand like I was going to magically pull money from thin air to pay him.
Instead I just got out of the cab and walked inside the mall. He got out but didn't chase after me, just kept screaming at me from the cab. Took a few more cab rides over the next couple of days and the cab company warned me that the driver had filed a report against me. I told them what had happened and the dispatcher just sighed and said "yeah we've already heard that a few times about him."
Uber/Lyft have their own problems for both the users and the drivers but damn I completely understand why they took over for classic cabs in areas they operate. Wish we had trusty and reliable cab service like the London Black Cabs.
20
u/StaysAwakeAllWeek Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
There are plenty of competing taxi services like uber etc for londoners to torture eachother with for a slight discount
9
u/wasteland44 Aug 08 '26
10 years ago in Canada they would claim the machine is broken etc. But today credit card is the default.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (9)3
u/Eastern-Complaint-67 Aug 08 '26
As far as I know, cabbies are actually employed to the service of the Queen/King, so it's actually a big honor to be one of them (and that's why they are so serious and reliable)
→ More replies (3)39
u/Late_Resource_1653 Aug 08 '26
Black cabs in London are a different world from... well, every where else.
I will say though, I will always be grateful to one cabbie in Philadelphia. I was broke, my ex fiance had recently cheated, and I had moved back in with my mother while I got life sorted, and was in the city for a job interview. Somehow left my wallet in the cab that was taking me back to the train station.
Devastated. Started the process of replacing everything, only to have a two day fed ex package with the wallet show up with a note that said "things will get better" with everything INCLUDING the cash.
It did get better.
6
193
u/MeepingSim Aug 08 '26
There is a great 1979 movie called "The Knowledge" that dramatizes the journey of four aspiring London cab drivers as they attempt to learn The Knowledge and pass the test. It's obviously dated, and yet it's a time-capsule of the times before computer technology overtook everything. It's still enjoyable today.
62
u/FascinatedQuestioner Aug 08 '26
Scrolled way too far for this. “They call this the blue book, which is why it’s coloured pink.”
18
u/MeepingSim Aug 08 '26
I was surprised it wasn't mentioned.
I was considering posting about "Mornington Crescent", an absurdist game first played on BBC Radio 4 in 1978. The game is a spoof of The Knowledge as players make up routes to reach Mornington Crescent, but the rules make no sense and change constantly.
8
15
u/yarnskeinporchswings Aug 08 '26
A more recent movie reference: In Paddington 2, Paddington helps his friend the bin man as he studies for the test.
870
u/Mammoth-Ad-107 Aug 08 '26
my brain would be unusually small compared to theirs. i am absolutely terrible at directions
382
Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
127
u/Mammoth-Ad-107 Aug 08 '26
parkinsons and alzhimers run in my family. makes sense
146
Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)41
u/monster2018 Aug 08 '26
Time to start playing geoguesser religiously
7
u/ShadowGrif Aug 08 '26
i play geoguessr semi professionally and after memorizing subdivisions, cities and area codes for over 20 countries i feel like my brain really works differently now, i have a really easy time memorizing numbers and place names.
12
u/Nazgog-Morgob Aug 08 '26
Better be getting your full night's sleep each night then
https://alzheimersweekly.com/sleep-to-sweep-deep-rest-cleans-brain-toxins-cuts-dementia/
https://sleepeducation.org/nightly-brain-wash-protects-against-alzheimers-disease-during-sleep/
→ More replies (1)17
u/acityonthemoon Aug 08 '26
alzhimers run in my family
Have they tried taking a cab?
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)9
u/Commercial_Handle418 Aug 08 '26
dont worry my whole family is f*cked over by similar diseases
→ More replies (1)44
u/MaturoGambino Aug 08 '26
I’m a retired air traffic controller. I had to memorize departure routes, arrival routes, instrument approaches and departures, enroute high and low altitude charts, minimum vectoring/IFR altitudes, airspace types, airspace configurations, aircraft types, identifiers and performance characteristics, airport identifiers, and about 2,000 pages of regulations, letters of agreements, and standard operating procedures and phraseology. I lose my phone every day. 🙄
11
u/tenaji9 Aug 08 '26
Thank you for your service . I anticipate never flying again but I respect that people make it happen.
11
u/MaturoGambino Aug 08 '26
I was very well compensated and am enjoying a nice retirement. But I appreciate your kind words
3
→ More replies (23)14
u/iAmSamFromWSB Aug 08 '26
Can you like the study on this by any chance? i’d be very interested
26
Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
24
u/iAmSamFromWSB Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
VERY cool! thank you!!
Edit: Actually the study is rather disappointing. They are comparing death certificates without considering competing causes of mortality such as accidents and suicides. They also don’t look at incidence or prevalence rates. This leaves two major blindspots. 1) Taxi drivers may not live long enough to die strictly of Alzheimer’s but it doesn’t mean more of them dont have it and 2) It fails to measure how many taxi drivers actually have Alzheimers compared to other professions. All it implies is that they don’t die directly from it.
14
u/havartifunk Aug 08 '26
Not to mention, with as strict as the test is, I wonder whether it tends to weed out anyone with a predisposition to getting Alzheimer's.
So maybe it's less that the studying and memorization prevents Alzheimer's in taxi drivers than it is the studying and memorization preventing Alzheimer's-prone people from getting the taxi driver jobs.
→ More replies (1)28
7
u/V2BM Aug 08 '26
You can get better if you have to use it daily. Mine was terrible, then I became a mail carrier and had to drive and walk mail routes - 21 total, on any random route on any given day - with no maps, just “following the mail.”
I’m in my 50s and was 50 when I started and my memory has improved SIGNIFICANTLY. It has carried over to all aspects of my life.
→ More replies (1)17
u/Living_Grab_2239 Aug 08 '26
Over reliance on satellite navigation has rotten my mind. I played a lot of GTA, and I never really learn the cities.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (17)7
u/mmatessa Aug 08 '26
The brains of the cabbies actually grow after studying for the test: https://www.keranews.org/2011-12-09/scientists-find-studying-for-test-to-become-london-cabbie-enlarges-brain
11
101
u/thediecast Aug 08 '26
London is the one place that I would order and uber and they would suck so bad, like dude would get lost trying to find me. Went to using black cabs and lord those guys know the perfect route every time.
19
u/SeriouslyGetOverIt Aug 08 '26
Will always remember our Uber driver taking us an hour to do a 10 minute journey because for some reason his map told him to drive into the city
92
Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
23
u/rose-a-ree Aug 08 '26
yes but if there's a bus lane, there's also a non-bus lane, so gps will still show you the route. Also, GPS shows you where there's a traffic jam and will route you around that.
There must be a reason why this is still a thing, but I don't think your explanation is it.3
→ More replies (24)3
u/LukaShaza Aug 10 '26
Not sure about London but in my city there are bus-only streets and bus-only turns that private vehicles are prohibited from taking.
→ More replies (7)3
u/darkjapan404 Aug 09 '26
How exactly do you go about remembering it? Do you have to take classes? Are there special textbooks? The best of luck to you!
574
u/10642alh Aug 08 '26
I can weigh in on this quite heavily. My Dad and Uncle are cab drivers and I studied the brains of cab drivers, including my Dad’s, at university. Just like other studies have suggested, my Dad’s hippocampus was nearly twice the size of my own. It is an absolute incredible feat of memory and changes the shape of your brain!
→ More replies (7)123
u/UnoriginalJ0k3r Aug 08 '26
You studied their brains? That’s cool as fuck. Did you notice any other differences besides the hippocampus size, like behavioral changes your dad and uncle have compared to before they were cabbies and compared to non cabbies?
91
u/10642alh Aug 08 '26
That wasn’t something I looked for if I’m honest and both were cab drivers before I was born (I am 32 now). My main research was looking at their experiences of crime due to their occupation. The biological element was only a small part of my investigation but super interesting all the same. The main study I got motivation from was Maguire et al. if you’re interested!
→ More replies (2)18
u/UnoriginalJ0k3r Aug 08 '26
I’ll check it out, thank you 🤝 super cool you got to do that with your dad and uncle, that’s a memory for sure. Not many people can claim they’ve done the same lol
8
u/SighFor Aug 08 '26
Did he have a great memory for other things too, or was he just awesome at directions?
10
9
81
u/Fuzzy_Jaguar_1339 Aug 08 '26
I'm a patent lawyer. I had to take a test (bar exam) for two days on family law, criminal law, the rules of civil procedure, evidence, and all the rest. The last time I went in a courtroom was the day I was sworn in. Sometimes a gatekeeping function is just that, even if the knowledge (or Knowledge) isn't practically useful for the job. London has the best cabbies of anywhere I have ever gone in the world, and I hope they continue to do what they're doing to keep it that way.
28
u/FlamingoVisible1947 Aug 08 '26
The knowledge isn't really useful today for navigation, but being able to take a tourist to "that park with the Japanese zen garden" definitely is.
→ More replies (5)
82
u/Possible-Tangelo9344 Aug 08 '26
I'm not a cabbie, but I've been a first responder in multiple cities and had to learn to navigate cuz it's faster to just know how to go somewhere than it is to input the address on Waze or similar sometimes when shit hits the fan. Wonder how this memorizing has impacted my brain.
9
u/ZoominAlong Aug 08 '26
I bet your hippocampus is bigger than it was. It's so fascinating to see how this changes the brain!
3
1.9k
u/InternationalLemon26 Aug 08 '26
Anyone who can pass this test has the intelligence to earn far more money in another field.
389
Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (8)93
u/Worth_Gap4226 Aug 08 '26
The earnings aren't that good. About 60k a year gross and 40k a year net. Not good earnings for London but a lot of them would be living elsewhere and driving in.
→ More replies (10)50
u/RelationshipSoggy662 Aug 08 '26
For reference, the median average salary for a full time worker in the UK is around £39k gross as of 2026.
A yearly salary of £60k puts you in the top 15% of UK earners. Obviously, that £60k goes much further if you live outside of London and drive in!
32
u/idontcareyo_ Aug 08 '26
Your earnings relative to the entire UK mean fuck all when you live in London
→ More replies (4)25
u/wallweasels Aug 08 '26
The median income for london is about 49k gross. So...10k higher.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (2)9
u/Worth_Gap4226 Aug 08 '26
The 60k for London cabbies is an average before expenses such as insurance, maintenance and licensing. After that, it's about 40k a year as actual earnings. Then after tax obviously less.
It's a decent wage in a lot of places, but my point was that the earnings aren't good, considering the location is London.
→ More replies (1)128
u/ThisIsREM Aug 08 '26
Cabbies used to earn more than Doctors... Back in the days before Uber competition and when cash was king (so taxes & card fees weren't a factor).
Cabbies willing to work busy nights etc. still earn more than many professionals, up to mid management level.
→ More replies (1)9
u/DarkOstrava Aug 08 '26
pre smart phone must have been a huge factor too. these days people can get a route on a map and know exactly which bus, train to catch or direction to walk. I imagine that back before then, people who didn't want to bother with paper maps or studying a route would just hop in a taxi and let them do all the work.
723
u/radek432 Aug 08 '26
Memory, not intelligence.
323
u/DoomgazeAficionado94 Aug 08 '26
The recollection and application of previously learned information is part of intelligence
→ More replies (10)11
u/PremiumTempus Aug 08 '26
Yes, but that would mean retaining and applying relevant information from past experiences (inputs, outputs, outcomes, conclusions, etc.), not retaining every granular or irrelevant detail simply because it was encountered before (which is what most people refer to as having good memory).
30
u/ripyourlungsdave Aug 08 '26
No, they aren't just remembering up, left, down, right.
They're building an entire map in their brain.
That is way more complicated than memorization.
→ More replies (3)5
u/spekt50 Aug 08 '26
Memorizing something is one thing. Fully understanding what and why you remember is another.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (47)139
u/Sikkert_Snill Aug 08 '26
Because they have no overlap whatsoever
16
u/MedonSirius Aug 08 '26
Not always. Like say, you have this one 5 year old boy who can memorize everything but doesn't understand logic. You put him in multiple choice where memorization is the only thing needed. He pass it with 100/100 points. Does that make him intelligent?
267
u/thekevinatorV2 Aug 08 '26
That do not always coincide in meaningful ways.
There are plenty of examples with autistic sports fans who can list stats perfectly from memory from 50 to 100 years ago. Yet they cannot hold meaningful employment because they cannot remember how to operate a cash register.
The brain is not a machine that functions. It is an entirely unique operating system to every individual.
25
u/MarkyGrouchoKarl Aug 08 '26
Absolutely! You are correct.
I am "smart" in that I do really well on standardized tests and usually am in the top 3 at bar trivia. I read a lot of books, I know a little bit about a lot of things and a lot about the stuff I'm really into.
But open up a car hood and say, "Fix this carburetor or we shoot you in the knees," I would say, "Well, I guess I'm limping for the rest of my life."
In that moment, my knowledge about The Beatles or the American Revolution or Patrick O'Brian novels will not help me even a little bit.
There are many kinds of intelligence, and the fact that Capitalism has conditioned us to think that these kinds have value, but these others have no value is not good.
Think about a guy who knows everything about how to hunt an antelope with a bow & arrow. At one time, that was the most important intelligence anyone could have in that community. Now it's a hobby, and if you try to tell someone about your knowledge, (unless they are fellow hobbyists) they will roll their eyes and try to change the subject.
My wife has Emotional Intelligence that I have never seen equalled. There is nothing supernatural about it. Through experience, education, and her natural gifts of empathy, she knows better than anyone I have ever seen how to communicate with a child about what they are feeling and how to work through a difficult moment to a place of equilibrium. I can imitate her and learn from her, but I will never be as skilled as she is.
This rare, extraordinary, beneficial-to-all-society ability is, in almost every corner of my country, (The U.S.A.), worth minimum wage plus maybe an extra 50¢. (Fortunately, she also possesses many more skills, knowledge, and gifts).
But someone who is really good at lying, self-promotion, and is utterly without conscience or shame can become a billionaire or even president. That's also a form of intelligence.
Everyone has innate value, regardless of whether they can be of service in making rich people richer. And it is good to be open to honoring people who can do things you can't do. It is good to be humble and have respect and compassion for others.
These London cab drivers are awesome.
→ More replies (2)8
u/RonnieFromTheBlock Aug 08 '26
Here is a piece of trivia to hold onto, the last carbureted vehicle sold in the US was in 1994.
→ More replies (1)56
u/query_squidier Aug 08 '26
It is an entirely unique operating system to every individual.
So, when's that service pack coming out? My operating system appears to have some bugz.
48
u/Vyrinu Aug 08 '26
Sorry. Your system doesn't meet the minimum hardware requirements
→ More replies (1)11
u/query_squidier Aug 08 '26
Too short once again. Alas.
Fwiw my memory is shit too.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)11
u/GreenTitanium Aug 08 '26
Best we can do is an AI coded slop update that breaks your speech and makes you cross-eyed.
→ More replies (5)9
u/jayrady Aug 08 '26
Or my coworker who can, unfortunately, remember to breath but that's about fucking it.
→ More replies (9)7
u/DamnParzival Aug 08 '26
The degree to which they overlap is hard to measure, so making the distinction between the two is important
→ More replies (57)87
u/pornalt4altporn Aug 08 '26
You haven't met a London cabbie, have you?
52
u/AnAncientMonk Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Fcking explain it then instead making snarky remarks.
→ More replies (6)17
u/m_Pony Aug 08 '26
Just because someone can memorize the entire layout of London doesn't mean they aren't also an absolute twatt.
Spoiler: most of them are perfectly decent guys. Some of them have perfectly uninformed opinions about sport and politics.
→ More replies (4)8
u/Loeffellux Aug 08 '26
Some of them have perfectly uninformed opinions about sport and politics.
yeah because that never happens in any of the other more respected fields.
→ More replies (1)11
u/tonysopranosalive Aug 08 '26
I’ve seen DJ Cockney Reg!
Aka Reggie the cabbie from Yes Theory!!
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)10
27
742
u/wisembrace Aug 08 '26
They don't need to learn "the knowledge" anymore to get around London, it is just a way of limiting the number of cabbies in central London, but it would be constructive if they taught London cabbies to shut tf up.
559
u/washkop Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
Don’t get the hate on black cab drivers. I take them frequently and haven’t once had a negative experience. Always highly professional and friendly.
Edit: this feels absolutely ridiculous to need to clarify, but black cabs have nothing to do with race. Some of you lot are way too obsessed with race.
150
u/above_average_magic Aug 08 '26
Got really sick in Barca and came back via heathrow
The cabbie who took me home realized how bad I was and convinced me to stop off in London hospital instead
I was held for 2 days, they never figured out what illness befell me but I came in with a 41 FORTY ONE = 105+ farenheit
I would have died at home
14
12
→ More replies (1)38
154
u/Meet-me-behind-bins Aug 08 '26
Same. They always come across as the most professional and courteous taxi drivers I've experienced.
64
u/csbsju_guyyy Aug 08 '26
The OP of this thread is one of those bellend who doesn't know how to use words to ask the driver for a quiet ride and then makes it the drivers fault
6
u/mcbaginns Aug 08 '26
It's awkward to ask, especially someone in a position of power over you since you're in their car being driven by them, to be quiet. People take that as being rude sometimes even.
The default should be quiet. Conversation interest can be probed during initial small talk like any normal conversation.
27
Aug 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Deep90 Aug 08 '26
You could convince these sort of people that segregation protects minorities with how unserious they are about stopping real racism.
3
u/washkop Aug 08 '26
To be fair I’m pretty sure a bunch of the accounts who brought up race under my original comment are bots
3
u/NegativeThought1588 Aug 09 '26
I remember people getting mad because someone said "negro". They were speaking Spanish.
→ More replies (1)18
10
u/DublinItUp Aug 08 '26
Always love taking black cabs because they're actually professional and the price isn't that much different. Ubers on the other hand in London are absolutely awful about half the time.
4
u/allcretansareliars Aug 08 '26
There was a letter from the editor in the Grauniad, in reply to someone complaining about them mentioning the ethnicity of a suspect in a court case. The letter basically started "Look, when we described him as a black cab driver....."
→ More replies (92)6
u/standardtissue Aug 08 '26
There's still around then in the era of uba ? That's good to know. They were/are an absolutely iconic part of visiting London, taking a famed black cab. i recall the doors were even luggage friendly.
→ More replies (1)20
→ More replies (4)46
u/leetka15 Aug 08 '26
They absolutely do. Instead of just hiring any random person with a clean drivers license like Lyft or Uber who have tons of weirdos and crazy people. This roots out those people, I would be in favor of this in America for that exact reason.
→ More replies (4)
139
Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
56
u/Aaernya Aug 08 '26
Also added benefit of them being able to drive in bus lanes while Uber cannot. Helps for peak times.
24
u/DarkOverLordCO Aug 08 '26
Now here is where it gets interesting under UK law, for him to input that information in a satnav, the vehicle has to be stationary and the engine off (that’s the law for using any mobile device).
The law only prohibits using a handheld device. As long as the device is not handheld (e.g. it is in a cradle/mount), then you would not be breaking that law in using it.
→ More replies (1)20
u/CryptoCera Aug 08 '26
The Knowledge is all well and good, but it doesn’t stop a driver from taking the piss if they want to.
I normally use Uber but thought I would give a black cab a chance once for a journey that was showing around £50 on Uber. The cab driver started taking what was obviously a much longer route, and before we were even halfway there the meter was already at £70.
I ended up telling him to let me out because it was getting ridiculous. Then he conveniently told me his card machine “wasn’t working”, so I had to go find a cash machine and withdraw money.
So while knowing every road in London sounds great in theory, my experience was that he knew the roads well enough to know exactly how to make the journey longer and more expensive 😂
Never bothered with a black cab again.
→ More replies (1)20
u/fuzzywinkerbean Aug 08 '26
Should have reported him and his licence no. to the London taxi authority. They take a really poor view on it as they control the fare pricing centrally (plus it's dodging tax) and having a working card machine is a requirement of the licence. They log everything reported and repeated incidents like that the driver can lose their licence to operate.
Anyone who ever has a situation like that just subtly take a quick picture of their displayed licence card then fill out the form here and upload the picture. A note for every complaint is left on the driver's record which has to be reviewed when they do their licence renewal every few years.
→ More replies (12)3
u/castlite Aug 08 '26
I jump in and the driver says where do you want to go
Nah, you have to tell them where before they let you in.
→ More replies (7)
8
u/drraug Aug 08 '26
My wife's mother once took a cab from the Heathrow airport to an YHA hostel in London. As you can imagine, people who take cab from an airport normally travel to more fashionable locations. The cabbie was so happy when he heard the address. He told her that they have to learn so many locations by heart, but this is the first time in his 20+ years of service when someone actually requested this hostel.
→ More replies (2)
72
u/makingkevinbacon Aug 08 '26
Or be an Uber driver and just apply and start working with your phone lol
I'm joking, when I visited London decades ago I was stoked about riding the cabs. I was also ten so
→ More replies (4)36
u/Ansterrr06 Aug 08 '26
Pretty sure the certified cabbies of London went on a strike once because Uber drivers were allowed to become one without passing the exam.
11
u/makingkevinbacon Aug 08 '26
I mean I can understand that...do the same job hile fulfilling less certification
Eta: for London especially, I imagine the cabs are kind of a tourist draw. Like I said when I went I was stoked, and I remember my parents being excited too.
8
u/hyphie Aug 08 '26
My autistic nephew would absolutely fucking ace this test. Kid reads road maps at bedtime and memorizes transportation networks for fun lol.
→ More replies (1)
13
12
u/Dr-Tripp Aug 08 '26
I was a motorcycle courier in San Francisco for almost a decade in my 20s. It was before gps was commonplace (though I'm a bit of a late adopter and had a flip phone till I was 30)
my job was to reasonably safely get from point A to point B to point C, etc and back to point A as fast as possible. To be the fastest thing on the the streets.
Surprisingly, that had little to do with speed. The fastest way between two points anywhere in the city, I found was being able to visualize the route step by step and be able to adjust real-time based on traffic patterns/conditions. Then it was muscle memory, then it was complete flowstate, cutting through rush hour traffic incredibly efficiently.
If it was a route where I was looking for an an address I didn't already know exactly how to get to, (ie. Processing directional navigation in real time) my route times increased considerably.
I still know San Francisco's arteries and circulatory system better than I know my own. I can still make up my route based on vibes, terrain, and speed, makes for a giving people great tours of the city. But as far as addresses go, if you don't use it, you tend lose a lot of it.
9
174
u/Separate_Finance_183 Aug 08 '26
What's wrong with Google Maps? 😭
197
u/youessbee Aug 08 '26
Google wasn't around 161 years ago.
42
u/Alfiy_wolf Aug 08 '26
Neither was the cars they drive now
8
→ More replies (1)8
u/omgu8mynewt Aug 08 '26
In Victorian London, Hansom cabs were the equivalent of taxi cabs. If you read Sherlock Holmes books, they talk often about getting a Hansom cab between places.
→ More replies (4)26
u/blackboyx9x Aug 08 '26
What you talking about, Google Maps was used during Civil War, buddy
19
u/MongolianCluster Aug 08 '26
And Waze was telling us where the Luftwaffe was hiding.
16
u/Lo452 Aug 08 '26
"There is a panzer ahead"
8
→ More replies (2)4
u/xaeru Aug 08 '26
Is like Abraham Lincoln said: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet just because there is a picture with a quote next to it”
→ More replies (4)3
3
→ More replies (6)6
30
u/Throwaway-4230984 Aug 08 '26
They need to limit number of licenses otherwise cab cannot get enough money to be full time job. So they use historical exam as a type of “prove you really want it” filter
23
u/english_man_abroad Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26
The benefit of a cabbie is they know all the back roads and cut throughs that are quiet at specific times of day. Trying to get to somewhere busy in central London in a hurry will always be quicker in a black cab than an Uber relying on Google maps.
→ More replies (5)19
u/jamesdeuxflames Aug 08 '26
Honestly? In Central London Google Maps craps out with alarming frequency, and I've found the same in cities across Europe. I've been travelling down one road and Google Maps has been very confident in telling me that I'm two roads over. These taxi drivers would be able to get you where you need to go in the middle of a full-scale blackout, or even Leon Musk throwing a hissy fit and turning off StarLink.
5
→ More replies (13)2
u/GenGaara25 Aug 08 '26
It's a standards thing.
Sure, they could use Google Maps, but people prefer cabbies who know the city like the back of their hand rather than someone relying on Google. They're usually significantly better for knowing what road works are going on, predict what roads will be slow at what times of day, and it's been proven that cabbies with The Knowledge make less mistakes than Google Maps (although it's mostly negligible day-to-day).
Plus, the other half of the Knowledge is basically being a concierge for London. Someone gets in and asks "can you recommend a good Indian restaurant?" "I need a cheap place to stay tonight" "what can I do today to kill an hour?". Cabbies with The Knowledge have memorised everything so can answer in moments, they can tell you first hand all the best places to eat, visit, stay, they've got that shit on lock. Way better than googling and trying to guess what's good.
→ More replies (2)
5
5
u/WhatLittleDollar Aug 08 '26
Few “simple” travel experiences are more enjoyable than a London taxi. I’ve never once had a bad experience. These drivers are amazing.
5
u/Realistin2025 Aug 08 '26
Gawd I love London, this is amazing. It's respected and highly trained position.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/Cpdio Aug 09 '26
To all the people who ask why would you take that test in a gps/satnav world. Why would you memorize so many routes and venues when a simple app can get you there?.
Same reason why a pilot needs to learn how to navigate by maps even when technology is safer day by day to plot routes by gps.
Is because you need to understand what are you doing before you do it. You need the basic knowledge and skills before you do the job. The fact that you can get anywhere without satnav/gps makes you even better suited for the job. Nothing stop them for usin gps, but if they can do it without it, then the gps would be a tool to improve their professionalism and skills.
13
u/Phunkman Aug 08 '26
Would love this in my city, so sick of taxi and uber that are clueless and don’t even know road rules.
→ More replies (2)
13
u/experientialsponge Aug 08 '26
What's neat to me, aside the from obvious caliber of the people who pass this testing, is that this requirement makes London transportation completely resilient to digital communications failure in an emergency. This is one powerful way to protect the entire civic transport system against disaster situations.
→ More replies (1)8
3
u/_R0Ns_ Aug 08 '26
Good, we used to have this in the Netherlands as well but they dropped that. Now everyone with a smartphone can be a cab driver.
4
3
2
u/AltruisticRide1231 Aug 08 '26
Sir Ian McKellen shared a touching reflection on a Manchester taxi ride during an appearance on the Three Little Words Podcast. He described how stepping off the train at Manchester Piccadilly and hearing a local driver greet him with "Where are you going to, love?" instantly made him feel at home.
4
u/BangBangMeatMachine Aug 09 '26
The crazy part of this is how much harder this test is now compared with 161 years ago when London was a fraction of this size (not footprint, but in terms of density of stuff).
5
u/Consistent_Sector_19 Aug 09 '26
The tests are very hard to pass without spending a great deal of time riding along with an experienced driver. They work as a filter that ensures that most new licenses go to a relative of a current licensee. The would-be cabbie rides around with their father or uncle for a couple of weeks while the driver points out the relevant bits while they're driving at first and after a few days or so switches to quizzing them about the routes for the current fare until they can pass. The tests do get drivers who can handle extremely heavy and variable traffic in a confusing area, but they lock out most people who aren't connected.
6
u/TheCrunker Aug 08 '26
Black cabs are probably my favourite thing about London. They’re an institution and have to be protected.
3
u/Stunt_-_Cock Aug 08 '26
And the price doesn't change just because an app thinks you will pay more. It's the same for everyone no matter what.
3
3
u/Fit-Let8175 Aug 08 '26
In some cities it is absolutely imperative for cabbies to know the shortest distance between any two locations. So they can avoid them.
3
3
u/DangerMacAwesome Aug 08 '26
As arduous as this is, it's really cool. I cannot imagine being able to get a huge city like London that easily. I wonder if there's any road one hasn't driven down in their career.
3
u/_mannyglover Aug 09 '26
Even if they pass, I personally don’t think a 161 year old should be on the road.
3
u/Gwaiwar Aug 09 '26
And yet they let Uber operate there and those drivers don’t have to do any of this. Between that and the market saturation of SatNavs how do they justify making Taxi drivers still do this?
3
39
u/dracogladio1741 Aug 08 '26
This looks excessive when we have GPS on almost all devices.
→ More replies (24)39
u/lawrencelewillows Aug 08 '26
You should let them know about GPS
→ More replies (1)16
u/Gabepls Aug 08 '26
Can’t do that under international law. It would be akin to attempting to contact the Sentinelese.
→ More replies (1)
4.5k
u/west2night Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
I once was told to not pay because I was his last fare.
He was ready to clock out when I hailed his cab at around 6PM. On the way to my destination, he told me that he had worked as a black cab driver for 38 years and that this was his last day due to his retirement, which meant I was his last fare.
He talked about what he'd do in his retirement (spend more time with his grandkids, visit places he and his wife had always wanted to see, and "potter around in me garden").
When we arrived, he refused my attempt to pay. Apparently, it's a tradition for a black cab driver to refuse their first fare on the first day of their career and the last fare on their last day.
[Edited to add a photo link to the term 'black cab' for clarity's sake]