The History

The Black Cabs' history goes back to the time of horse-drawn cabs which were called Hackney Cabs. The term comes from the French word haquenee referring to the ambling horses used to pull the original Hackney Carriages. The Hackney Carriage originated in London, England in 1625. The cabs still come under some of the old rules from the horse-drawn days. The Black Cabs are the only taxis that are allowed to pick people up from the street. There are also mini cabs in London, however they can only collect someone if they have made a prior arrangement by phone.

Before a taxi driver gets his Hackney Cab Licence he or she must pass a test called 'The Knowledge'. This is a difficult test and requires the cabbie to know the streets of central London like the palm of their hand. Mini cab drivers do not need to pass this test.
The Knowledge

Taxi drivers in London undergo a demanding and arduous testing of their knowledge of the city, its daily traffic patterns and the fastest routes between locations. Estimates suggest that gathering the basic understanding needed to acquire The Knowledge involves a full-time year of study, absorbing the information provided by street maps and travelling around the city itself.

The result is that drivers of official London Hackney Cabs are renowned for their detailed and intimate knowledge of London's streets and attractions. Strangely enough, scientific study has shown that possession and expansion of The Knowledge increases the size of the anterior and posterior hippocampi of the brain - the area that handles spatial memory and spatial navigation.

Compared with baseline controls and inexperienced cabbies, long-serving taxi drivers possessed considerable more developed hippocampi.

The Vehicles

There are currently 3 makes of vehicle licensed to ply for hire in London:

LTI (London Taxis International) - FX4 taxi, Fairway taxi, Fairway Driver taxi, TX1 taxi, TX2 Taxi & TX4 taxi.
Metrocab - Series 1 Metrocab, Series 2 Metrocab, Series 3 Metrocab & TTT Metrocab.
Eco City Vehicles - Mercedes Benz Vito Taxi.
All of these vehicles have to conform to the conditions  of fitness as set out by the PCO (Public Carriage Office).
http://www.taxi-london.net/

The earliest Taxis or Hackney Carriages as they are known, have been working the streets of London since the early 17th century providing the people of London with a renowned taxi service, commonly known as the London Black Cab, recognized as being the best taxis in the world. What makes these taxi drivers the best is known in the taxi trade as The Knowledge. A test designed to ensure every licensed taxi driver in the United Kingdom is competent at this trade and that they offer the highest service levels possible.

Driving a Taxi in the UK is not just a matter of picking up your keys and jumping in your cab, there are a few things you need to do before you can get you license to drive. Firstly you have to be police checked to make sure you have a clean driving license and no criminal record. You must also undertake a medical examination to ensure you’re a fit and healthy person to drive a taxi. Then you are tested on your knowledge of the area you intent to work in. All Local Authorities are responsible for granting taxi drivers licenses they require Hackney Carriage drivers to sit an exam and answer questions such as road locations, routes between given points and places of interest and importance such as hospitals, police stations pubs and clubs etc. All designed to ensure any licensed taxi driver knows his or her area and competent proper person to do so.

The standards of such examinations are set by each local authorities licensing department. Probably the most difficult of all is over seen by the Public Carriage Office in London. To drive one of the world famous Black Cabs or Hackney Carriages as they are also known you have to pass the worlds most intensive taxi training course known as the Knowledge the test itself dates back to 1865 and has changed little since. It requires a driver to have a detailed knowledge of central London within a radius of six miles of Charing Cross Station. There are some 25000 roads and streets 320 runs or routes across town as well as places of interest, tourist attractions and important landmarks to learn. Quite a task for anyone but for the knowledge boys whose ambition it is to drive a London Taxi, a goal that takes on average 40 months to achieve.

You can often see them on scooters with a clipboard and map attached driving around the streets of London learning there way. When they have learnt all they need to know they must sit an examination to test this knowledge and attend a series of interviews known as appearances and answer questions on routes and landmarks. Examples of the type of questions would be to list all the theatres on Shaftsbury Avenue as you would pass them and the Streets and traffic signals you would pass along the way. Another would be to give the shortest route between two points in the city and then take into account traffic during the rush hours and when congestion occurs suggest alternative routes to avoid it where possible.

Its also a fact that in learning the knowledge a persons brain grows so when you next get in a cab and you think the drivers a bit of a know it all he just might !
But whatever you do always use a Licensed Private Hire car or Hackney Carriage Taxi your be in safe hands, at The Taxi Directory thats all we list!

http://www.londontaxiknowledge.co.uk/General-Articles-6.html