15 Facts About London Cabbies (and Their Cabs)
Remembering Martin, my cabbie, and a very interesting and informative, if quite soggy, taxi ride.
(Note: The following is a fresh retelling of a taxi ride I had in London a few years ago. The original post was published as an essay in Impressions Travelogue, my previous travel-only-focused blog.)
Martin
Of all the intersections, in all the towns, in all the worlds…he drove into mine. His name was Martin and he pulled up just when I needed him most. And I knew right away it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A few minutes prior, I had stepped out of a very good Mediterranean restaurant (dry Turkish white wine, olives, hummus, herbed bread) and almost literally into Martin's cab. It was pouring rain and I was late for a show in the West End and still had to go to my hotel to change. I had not come to London for the waters but that’s certainly what I was getting. It was 5pm and taking the Tube at that time would have just made me a blundering American and I would have succumbed to desperately watching as time goes by. To top it all off (or not, in this case), I had rushed out of the restaurant without my umbrella. But, Martin was there. It was fate. I was getting into Martin’s cab where I belonged. Had he left without me, I would have regretted it, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of my life.
I jumped quickly into the cab, cold, drenched, and gasping, and the first thing Martin said to me was, “Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for?”
And with water drops still glistening on my face, with a sudden sigh at the warmth of the cab’s embrace, I replied to his question, my eyes piercing his through the mirror,“There was a girl who had just come to London from her home in San Francisco. She met a man about whom she'd heard her whole life. A very great and courageous man. He opened up for her a whole beautiful world full of knowledge and thoughts and ideals. Everything she knew or ever became was because of him. And she looked up to him and worshiped him...with a feeling she supposed was love.”
And Martin stared straight through his mirror and into my soul and replied huskily, “Well, I was wondering...”
And, I, with bated breath, “Yes?”
“Why I'm so lucky. Why I should find you waiting for me to come along. Is it because you’ve heard about cabbies and our KNOWLEDGE?”
And my eyes glinted and sparkled and I smiled my response.
“I congratulate you,” I whispered.
“What for,” he asked.
“Your work,” I said.
“I try,” he said.
And, I replied with not a hint of irony, “We ALL ‘try’; YOU succeed!”
And, Martin, humbly and heroically said, “It’s still the same old story
A fight for love and glory. A case of do or die.”
Riveted and breathless, I whispered, “The world will always welcome lovers, Martin. I’ll go with you anyplace. We’ll get going in this cab and never stop.”
And then Martin removed me from that intersection and, as he did, he looked back at me again and spoke the words that are forever seared on my soul:
“Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.”1
Okay! Sorry. SORRY! I got carried away when I wrote that first line and realized it came from a memory of Casablanca and then I started looking up other quotes from the movie, and, well…then I couldn’t just play it once, not even for old times’ sake!
But there really was a Martin and it really was a beautiful, if rather perfunctory twenty-five or so minute, friendship.
And by the time we arrived at my hotel, £19 later, not only had I dried off (I really was soaking wet) but I had also learned some quite interesting and amazing facts about London cabbies and their cabs.
My New “Knowledge” About Cabbies
1. London cabbies are officially called...cabbies. Their cabs are called black cabs, cabs, or taxis.
2. They are self-employed. They own their own cabs and the money they make is their own. Except, of course, the part that goes to taxes and licensing and fees and petrol and insurance and...
3. This allows for lots of flexibility in scheduling which is the reason Martin chose to be a cabbie. He could take his kids to school, go to their football games, grab a nap...
4. It takes YEARS of studying what is called THE KNOWLEDGE to become a cabbie. Martin studied for 3 1/2 years everyday to learn THE KNOWLEDGE: myriad encyclopedic geography tests on London’s 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks before he could be licensed to do what he does. (I have since asked other cabbies about THE KNOWLEDGE and all agree that it took between three and four years to learn it all. It’s like a college degree! In fact, a recent cabbie told me there are current discussions about offering a university credit or certification or degree of some sort for accomplishing THE KNOWLEDGE.)
5. Some of those tests, of course, were driving tests to make sure he was familiar with every road in London. Wow. That’s got to be better than GPS navigation Uber drivers use. It’s like an AI musical score compared to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
6. There are 25,000 cabbies in London. (My chat with Martin was before the covid regulations and restrictions struck. In 2021, the numbers of London cabbies plummeted and have not yet completely returned to pre-covid levels some cabbies tell me. And Uber’s not helping this.)
7. Only the cars with the yellow lights on top are official London cabbies. These are the only ones we should ever take because there are some which do not have the safety and integrity features of the official black cabs. If you take one that does not have the yellow light on top, you might be harmed (read: harmed). When Martin and I spoke, there were 6-8 assaults a week in non-yellow-light cabs, often those that are pre-booked and come to pick you up at your hotel to take you to train stations, airports, etc. And, to repeat (which is what Martin did about 3 or 4 times), do not use cabs that do not have the official London cab yellow light on top! (He’d probably recommend you take Uber over one of these other non- or lesser-regulated “taxis’.) And, they really hate Uber. Of course they do. The Uber driver’s don’t have THE KNOWLEDGE but take away millions of fares a year from the cabbies anyway. It doesn’t seem fair. But, I admit I do occasionally use Uber. Depends. I try to mostly use cabs over Uber, though.) When the yellow light’s bright, just wave down the taxi, it’s ready for you.
8. When you sit in a London cab, notice the six-digit number on the door. This number matches the license plate. If your cabbie is rude, makes you uncomfortable, takes you the long way round, or is inappropriate in any way, make note of this number and call the police. They will be able to track the cabbie down and pound him into bangers and mash.
9. Business was bad for the cabbies during the London Olympics in 2012, too. Interestingly similar to the covid years, the cabbies had very slow business because everyone in the city had been told to work from home to prevent, except in this case it was to prevent horrible crowds. Martin says the people took to working at home too well and cabbies had a really tough go of it.
10. Cabbies are quadruple-licensed and highly-regulated. Although they own their own vehicles, the government monitors the meter and amount charged quite closely which allows for great integrity and legitimacy. You can trust your London cabbie, Martin says!
11. You can use a credit card in the cab. There might be a service fee. (And recently, a cabbie tacked on 15% to my ride on the card reader. I don’t know how I feel about that. It’s not happened before. I’m uncomfortable.)
12. THE KNOWLEDGE trains cabbies to know wonderful facts, tidbits, and trivia about London. For example, did you know that one of the best museums in all of London is the unsung London Museum? It's true. Martin extolled its virtues. Why, there you can find out about the plague and the fire and the Romans and much more. I wish I had more time, I'd love to see it. One day...
13. London cabbies are also expected to be friendly and polite. How great is that? Wouldn't it be loverly if we were all trained - and expected to be - nice? As a nurse (practitioner), I can think of a few different populations that I wish had this training...
14. If you are not alone, say have two or three friends with you, you can tell the cabbie to turn off the meter and he/she can take you on a London tour for about £35 per hour. (Ask your cabbie what the going rate is and if this is still possible. I’ll ask, too.) That's pretty cheap, splitting two or three ways. Plus, he'll/she'll be a great tour guide! (London cabs can fit 4 or 5 people generally.)
15. When you see those cabs with all the colorful and decorative painting and adverts on the sides, that means that the cabbie is being paid about £1000 a year to be a moving billboard. Remember, even if they’re not black, even with the artwork, as long as there is a yellow light on top, the cab is legit.
A Few More Taxi Tidbits
So, there you have it. It was a tremendously amiable and informative cab ride in the rain! And, I am now forever curious about cabbies.
There are a lot of questions which were sparked during that conversation with Martin, a lot more I want to find out now.
For example, I’d love to see if it’s still possible to do a spontaneous tour with a cabbie and how much it costs now (certainly more than £35!). And, what are they paid for advertising now? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to also sit in on a portion of the cabbies’ training in THE KNOWLEDGE? My word, the things they have to KNOW!
I’d also like to take an in-depth look at exactly how Uber has disrupted the official taxi industry in London.
I’d really like to know,who the cabbies are really, and what they were before? And, what did they do? And what did they think, huh? (It just sort of snuck in there, that Casablanca quote!)
If you’re curious about cabbies and their training or what they know about London, you can hail one to take you to or from Heathrow when you’re flying in or out. The trip is about an hour and will cost about £100, but if you’re so inclined, you can learn A LOT from your conversation with your cabbie!
And Rick Steves, my favorite travel guidebook author, says that “if you overdrink and ride in a taxi, be warned: Taxis charge up to £60 for ‘soiling’ (a.k.a., ‘pub puke’).”2
Eeewww…you must NOT remember this…
Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz. (Warner Brothers, 1942), 1:42. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/casablanca. All italics are direct quotes from the movie with an occasional minor flourish from me.
Steves, Rick & Openshaw, Gene. (2022). Rick Steves London (24th ed.). Hachette Book Group (p.39)