Chapter: Absurd Yet True
The Knowledge is the world’s most demanding training course for taxi drivers. All licensed London taxi drivers need to pass a special test before they can drive one of the capital’s famous black taxis. The test was initiated in 1865 and has changed little since. It’s claimed that the training involved ensures that London taxi drivers are experts on London, and have an intimate knowledge of the city. The taxi driver is required to be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger’s request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on satellite navigation or asking a controller by radio. The Knowledge is based on learning 320 routes (or runs). This helps them learn the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks and places of interest in the six mile radius of Charing Cross (the “centre of London”).
Applicants will usually need at least twelve “appearances” (attempts at the final test), after preparation averaging 34 months, to pass the examination. It takes between two and four years to pass the All-London Knowledge. Two-thirds of all applicants who apply will fail, some will sustain serious injuries and many more will become divorced while studying The Knowledge. People have compared this education with a Ph.D thesis. These taxi drivers really are the “Doctors of the Road” in that sense.
What is unique is that these drivers are independent contractors that own their own taxis, and have more or less no association with the government. The drivers can choose to work more or less depending on their own circumstances. Once you are licensed you can work anywhere in the Greater London area. It’s said that working 50 hours per week all year will give these taxi drivers around 50,000 GBP (almost $80,000) in salary.
Possible Moral
Benefits of becoming a black-taxi driver? Your independence, better pay than most London workers and the right to be called one of the best at what you do.
Story from We All Need Heroes: Stories of the Brave and Foolish.
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We All Need Heroes
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