
Hello Londoners, I am a black cab driver (Green Badge) and I come in peace - TranceMan
https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/71smpc/hello_londoners_i_am_a_black_cab_driver_green/
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the_d00d
All the confusion from Americans is totally understandable. That being said,
the title addressed his audience...Londoners. Comments suggesting a title
change, so that people he wasn't intending to talk to can understand, is
expecting too much. If the topic interests you, take the time to read for more
context, maybe even ask, or research it.

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jazoom
We're very progressive in Australia. We have Black & White cab drivers.

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katastic
I swear something like this has been posted here before... and it had the
exact same confusion...

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drfuchs
You might want to explain to Americans that a "black cab driver" isn't what
first comes to mind for them (especially as juxtaposed with "and I come in
peace"). It might also be worth a mention what "Green Badge" means.

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hluska
It took me some googling to figure both of those out. I'm still stuck trying
to figure out what The Knowledge is. Can anyone help?

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soneil
So London has "Hackney Carriages" ('black cabs') and minicabs. Black cabs are
allowed to pick you up on-demand ('streetwork') or at taxi ranks (a designated
place where you can expect to find multiple taxis just queued up waiting for
you), minicabs you have to order. (Apps are making this a bit hazy, since
ordering either via an app is just as easy).

The 'green badge' is your licence. There's green, yellow, and 'minicab'
licences. Green is a citywide black cab, Yellow is constrained to one area,
and minicab is no black cab, but dispatch-only.

'The Knowledge' is the test (and associated training) required to become a
black cab driver. It's years worth of study. It's pretty much memorising an
A-Z, but also knowing the best routes, at different times of the day, etc.

Three vehicles you can expect to see almost everywhere in London are red
busses, black cabs, and scooters with a clipboard on the handlebars. The
latter are drivers on their multi-year study of The Knowledge.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-
te...](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-test-
knowledge.html)

~~~
Joeboy
> It's pretty much memorising an A-Z

The A-Z (pronounced 'zed') was the most popular London streetmap in the 20th
century.

