Jump to content

Recommended Posts

You are still all missing the point. There is a total oversupply. They clog up streets. They polute. Politicians kowtow to their lobby. A tory government, a tory mayor. Pro-market. Yet black cabs are not a market working well.


They may be wonderful drivers, going through numerous hopes and great company. But still too many of them.


I knew some great tool makers. A desirable white collar job. No tool makers any more as technology and loss of manufacturing industry makes them almost redundant. And print workers. And film developers. And wheeltappers and shunters.

Malambu...what are you smoking old chap? There are almost four times as many minicabs in London than there are black cabs. The last lot of TX4s had catalytic standards enforced to reduce emissions and no cabbie will keep his engine running to waste fuel on a slow moving rank.


The future probably involves constantly circulating, electric, driverless cars and cycling....until then...

indiepanda Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> In what way are mini cabs safer than black cabs?

> The standards black cab drivers have to meet far

> exceed those of mini cabs.


The fact they are booked in advance means there's a record of who's car you've been in and when. That would give me a lot more piece of mind than whatever these standards are which black cab drivers are supposed to meet.


> I don't get the convenience point either - if I am

> leaving work late at night I can usually pick up a

> black cab on the street in a few minutes where

> Addison Lee suggest booking twenty minutes in

> advance.


If you find it more convenient then fair enough. I find it more convenient to book one, get a text when it arrives, and then sit back and relax - without having to listen to the driver moan about going south of the river, or constantly ask for directions.

Licensed pre booked mini cabs are safer for the reasons given. There have been a few rogue black cab sex attacks in recent years, people assume when they see a black cab that the driver is who he is supposed to be, which is not always the case. Also black cabs can lock you in, which is not a nice feeling.

Cabbies would like to lynch the guy who basically drove an old de-commissioned black cab and committed that assault or the "I've won the lottery" rhohypnol guy. But they are the high profile exceptions to a trade that prides itself on safety and reliability....and pale compared to the number of incidents of various types reported from mini cabs...


I use Uber, Hailo, and flag cabs down on the street...Addison Lee...sometimes Keen Group...the airport guy who does dulwich in that oversized silver Merc...they all have a place...but London would be a poorer city without its famous black cabs.

The safety thing... I didn't want to bring up the lottery rapist incident because it's clearly an exception, but nevertheless it seems to me that these sorts of crimes are less likely to be committed by an Uber driver because of the greater traceability.


Obviously black cabs are iconic, and they do have their place... they're convenient for toursists and business travellers I guess. But as a "local", I find it hard to think of a situation when there isn't a better alternative.

  • 2 weeks later...

Cabbies blocked the streets round Victoria on Tuesday wanting their special treatment, which is looks like Boris is giving them through limiting mini cab numbers. Ban Uber and they will win the lottery (or perhaps that is ban cyclists as well).


I imagine that cabbies were not out in support in the 1980s for mining communities or print workers.


What is worse is that there was a knock on effect with the Queen gridlocking central London on Wednesday. Dunno what she has to complain about.

Uber's seemed cheaper initially. Last week I used an Uber for 1 leg of a journey - ?18. 2 hours later a Black Cab back for the reverse trip - ?14. That was on the normal fee structure. Black Cab drivers in central London have amazing route knowledge that a sat-nav unfortunately can't replicate regarding traffic patterns and quickest routes at different times of the day.


Black cabs are very reasonable for short journeys in town, particularly with 4 or 5 passengers on the same route, often working out cheaper than the Tube. I agree Black Cabs should have enforced low emissions.


Mini-cabs are generally far more economical for longer journeys. However the last I caught from Heathrow back to East Dulwich in peak hour morning traffic took almost 2 1/2 hours, so you do get what you pay for - they blindly follow the satnav routing.

Word of warning, never ever mention Uber whilst riding in a black cab.

A fortnight ago, a friend and I were en route from Soho to ED in one, the journey was slow, and

I said something about how we should have used Uber, not to the driver, but to my friend. The driver was obviously eavesdropping on our conversation, he pulled over sharply and made us get out!!! For mentioning Uber, dear or dear.

Clearly they can't handle the competition.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Every year they ask for more and every year it is an exhausting process pushing back on that for local residents and councillors. What annoys me is that at the post event consultation/ feedback this year, I specifically asked them if the rumours around applying for two weekends next year were true. They told me no. So that was a lie. Anyway, we go again. 
    • Double In New or great condition  Or super comfortable air bed Any1 pls
    • Rant ahead: You're not one of them but unfortunately, there's a substrate of posters here that do very little except moan and come up with weird conspiracy theories. They're immediately highly critical of just about any change, and their initial assumption is that everyone else is a total fucking contemptible idiot. For example: don't you think that the people who run the libraries will have considered the impact of timing of reconstruction on library users? (In fact, we know they have - because they've made arrangements at other libraries to attempt to mitigate the disruption). After all, these are the people that spend their whole working week thinking about libraries and dealing with library users (and the kids especially). You don't go into the library game for the chicks and fame - so it's fair to assume that librarians are committed to public service and public access to libraries, including by kids. Likewise the built environment people (engineers, architects, construction managers, project managers, construction contractors, subcontractors or whoever is on this job) are told to minimise disruption on every job they do. The thing that occurs to us as amateurs within 30 seconds of us seeing something is probably not something a full time professional hasn't thought about! Southwark Council, the NHS, TfL, Dulwich Estate, Thames Water, Openreach - they're not SPECTRE factories filled with malevolent chaosmongers trying to persecute anyone. They're mostly filled with people who understand their job and try to do their best with what they've been given - just like all of us. Nobody is perfect or immune from challenge, and that's fair enough, but why not at least start from the assumption that there's a good reason why things have been done the way they have? Any normal person would be pleased that their busy, pretty, lively local library is getting refurbished, and will have more space and facilities for kids and teens, and will be more efficient to run and warmer in winter. But no, EDT_Forumite_752 had kids who did an exam 20 years ago, and this makes them an expert on library refurbishment who can see it's all just stuff and nonsense for the green agenda and why can't it all be put off... 😡😡😡
    • I completely misread the previous post, sorry. For some reason I thought the mini cooper was also a police vehicle, DUH.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...