To not understand the point of black cabs now?

[Userlavender]

Aside from all the uber controversy (i use addison lee and local minicabs) can someone please tell me - what is the point of black cabs in 2017?!

They are insanely expensive, surely the knowledge is irrelevant now that everyone has satnav and they love going the long way round to get extra £££? This has happened to me a few times. Cab to the airport using my local minicab which sends driver details and tracking is £18. With a black cab the estimate is 'about £80'. Surely they are no longer sustainable due to prices? Am I missing something? Who are all these people who pay black cabs their ridiculous prices?

Who are all these people who pay black cabs their ridiculous prices?

MPs, BBC workers and other quango employees who can reclaim the costs on their expenses form, so don't care how much it costs or whether they can get it cheaper.

@roundabout I aggressively dislike black cabs. That's why. Of course I don't have to use them but it annoys me that it's slightly inconvenient for me at times to book alternative transport because they are hogging and slowing everything down

And if black cabs didn't exist, I'm quite sure you would find something else was hogging and slowing everything else down.

They are the only ones licensed to pick you up off the street. If they were not given preferential treatment in this respect then no one would take them.

Well I think all the relevant points have been raised here. I think now we are just going round in circles now. It's clear the poster is staunchly against the existantce of black cab and the different rules that apply to them. The general consensus seems to be pro black cabs. I don't really know what more there is to be said that hasn't already been said?

Private Hire and minicabs can't be hailed in the street, only black cabs and licensed taxis.

*I've never seen a black cab in a rural area of london. Only a minicab - local ones.

If you had half a clue about the subject you are arguing so passionately about you would know why that is.

don't know how i ever got my 80k job without it!

Wealth and income are not an indicator of intellect. If you were as intelligent as you think you are you would know that and not try and qualify yourself with a salary that by London standards is actually pretty mediocre.

Private Hire and minicabs can't be hailed in the street, only black cabs and licensed taxis.

But an online app like Uber is virtually the same as it can locate the closest cab which in a big city like London could be just a few seconds away. There's no real reason why there should be a difference between black cabs and private hire anymore because of it. Hailing by sight is being replaced by hailing via app.

An online app like Uber is better than hailing, as it can call cabs in nearby streets to where you are and can inform cabs a distance away that there is a lot of demand in a particular area, drawing the cabs more efficiently to where they're wanted the most.

What is a black cab ?

does not compute outside central London

Ta1kin surely you know black cabs? I'm in Devon and we have them!

My destination was a very well known large hospital, and I was surprised that the driver asked me if I had a preferred route!
Obviously he wanted to know if he could get away with a longer route to charge more.

Glad your inference "obviously he wanted to know if he could get away with alonger route is complete rubbish!!!!

I live in London and use black cabs all the time and have done for years and years. I currently get at least one black cab a day in the working week.

The reason taxi drivers ask you to state if you have a preferred route is because often people will make a fuss afterward that they should have gone xyz way and try not to pay or get a discount because "if you'd gone this way it would be quicker".So its easier if its agreed at the start. In London there are usually several ways to a destination and one that you expect to be quicker may not be because of a police incident/new road closure etc.

And sometimes the passenger will know the quickest way and have superior current local knowledge if it is a journey they do regularly (like me every day) and know for example that this morning some new road works have been put it.

I couldn't begin to estimate how many taxis I've used over the years but it must be thousands. I think in all of that time I had maybe 2 or 3 journeys where I thought the driver was taking the piss.

I'm not saying it never happens but it isn't common. If you suspect your driver has done this, then you should raise it with them at the end of the journey and take their number and report them.

Userlavender now all black cabs have to have card payment facilities in them and have done since October 2016. They prefer to be paid in cash because of the commission on card machines but they all legally have to accept card payments.
tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/accepting-card-payments

I really don't like black cabs either, and unfortunately it's not just a case of dont like them don''t use them as they are anti-competition and lobby against alternatives. And they are really obnoxious in their anti-competition stunts (like parking on the roads at all the entrances to heathrow, thus blocking the airport for anyone else trying to access it by road. Or parking on all the bridges in London. etc) . They have been fighting Uber (and Addison Lee before them) with stunts like that, or by hurling racists slurs at the drivers.

Oh, and last time I had to take one, the driver had to use Sat Nav.

Their cars are also some of the least environmentally friendly allowed on the road.

I could go on...

At the end of the day, I just don't think you get a better service from black cabs. I've had all sorts of attitude from drivers, including refusing to take me to my destination because it wasn't the direction they wanted to go in, to just general condensing obnoxiousness.

My local cab company, has wheelchair accessible cabs. You have to request when you call.

I love black cabs: I feel safe and I think sat navs are rubbish in London anyway.
They were also useful for buggies.

@popgoestheweaz couldn't agree more re anti-competition. I think it is outrageous that they get away with it.

Thank goodness I know a reasonable mini cab service, of I wou,d not be able to get about easily (I don't live in London, live semi rural). The buses are crap round my way.

Don't know why everybody is harping about Addison Lee, just looked for a quote fir a 2 mile journey and they quoted me £18😮😮😮😮 Black cab prices, I usually pay my licenced cab company £4.70 fir that journey.

I take it most people on this thread are talking about London.
I am in the South west and we have black cabs and minicabs.
The only difference is that black cabs can be hailed in the street /found in taxi ranks, whereas minicabs have to be booked. Black cabs are slightly more expensive but carry more passengers than the average minicab and you can take your wheelchair or pram on.
Both can use bus lanes. Both are regulated, requiring licensing and a knowledge of the city test.
We don't have Uber and therefore I don't get all the fuss. What do they do that a taxi or minicab don't?

I have lived in London since I graduated and have used black cabs a lot - for almost 14 years at a very large law firm I would use them sometimes daily (late trips home from the office). I have always loved black cabs for the convenience and knowledge of the drivers, and the ease with a buggy, but in all the years I have used them, it was not infrequent for me to experience 1) refusal to pick up / take me to my destination as it wasn't convenient, 2) open racism, 3) blatant attempts to take the pi ss with the route (once memorable trip from Canary Wharf to Kensington late at night when I nodded off involved going via Oxford Street - not on my dollar but it was obvious what he was up to when I woke up and called him on it).

Having said that, I have met more lovey black cab drivers than not and as a group it does seem a shame to lose this resource.

I do however find it hard to argue with the Uber model and they are so much cheaper than black cabs, though clearly Uber needs to be held to account on driver standards and vetting procedures. A couple of months ago I got an Uber for a short ride and the driver had clearly been drinking as the smell of booze was almost overpowering in the car. Even if just hungover I think he must have been over the limit to drive...

The problem is that Black Cabs are selling a premium product but they won't admit it. They have failed to move with the times and are suffering for it- all cabs had the ability to pay by card by last October. Cash has been on the decline for years! The convienence of a cashless transaction would have had a great appeal. They were in a prime position to revolutionise the taxi industry as they were the leaders and an iconic brand, however they failed to capitalise on this and invest in the technology needed to do this. As a result they have lost their business for all but a few who can still buy the premium product.

I feel sorry for the taxi drivers who spent time and money gaining a qualification that would ultimately become redundant but that's the way the world works. If a sparky doesn't bother to learn about new electrical systems available, he inevitably sees his business fade away...

Really, only wealthy people get black cabs, it's so expensive.

Really, only wealthy people get black cabs, it's so expensive.

Maybe where you live.
Here, most people get one after a night out. The areas with all the pubs and clubs are where the taxi ranks are. Walk out of a pub and into a cab. Easy and not that expensive.

They are very expensive, I am in Milton Keynes, so not that further north. If I am going out for the night, I prefer book a cab so it's there when I am ready to go. I don't like staying out too late, so I am home whilst others are still out.