
Secret green shelters that feed London’s cabbies - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180430-the-secret-green-shelters-that-feed-londons-cabbies
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Bobbleoxs
As a Londonder, I regular switch between black cab, uber and gett (hailing
service for black cab). I wouldn't say the 'trade is dying', the quality and
reliability of London taxis are far more superior than Uber drivers (with
occasional exceptions). Also I've seen and known of these little green 'sheds'
but never approached them. Always thought they were a "little cult" themselves
in an endearing way.

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chrisseaton
The one thing wrong with black cabs is that they rarely take cards - either
don’t at all or they say the machine is broken. I don’t want the hassle of
using paper money so I can’t use black cabs. If I could reliably use my card,
as I can with Uber, I’d use black cabs again.

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edent
That's not been the case for some time. All licensed cabs must have a working
card reader. See [https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-
hire/accepting...](https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-
hire/accepting-card-payments)

They can be sanctioned by TfL if they don't.

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chrisseaton
They just say the machine's broken!

You might say 'you don't have to pay if it's broken' or 'you can report them'
but I don't want to have an argument with an aggressive cab driver! I just
want to pay by card in the first place, which Uber lets me do 100% of the time
without hassle.

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Angostura
Report them after your transaction is finished and do us all a favour.

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chrischen
I suppose that's what Uber and Lyft fixed. They made "reporting" bad drivers
and credit card transactions mandatory so no one has to do anyone favours.

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sametmax
Exactly. What's bettter than a solution is not having a problem.

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julian_t
Although you can't eat inside unless you're a cabbie, some of them will serve
you tea and a bacon sarnie through a window (I'm thinking of the one outside
the V&A and the one at Temple)

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rexf
That's mentioned in the article:

> Most serve breakfast (sausages, eggs, bacon), sandwiches and hot drinks,
> with the occasional pie or lasagne cooked by the owners at home and reheated
> in the skinny kitchens. Non-cabbies aren’t allowed to sit inside – unless
> issued with a rare invitation – but can order through a window hatch.

> “We bring in more money that way,” said Jude Holmes, who runs the kitchen at
> Russell Square. “I can serve hundreds of people while a driver sits with one
> cup of tea.”

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dfxm12
I wonder how articles like this fuel some kind of FOMO in the non-cabbies.
Like, if someone decides to make it their mission to open up these spaces to
all, just because.

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samfriedman
Not in this case I'd hope, since the charm of these shelters is the fact that
only cabbies use them. Letting the public use them would remove any
interest... "nobody goes there anymore: it's too crowded!"

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ilamont
Great story. Thanks for posting.

I drove a taxi many years ago as a PT job and while we never had anything like
this (it was in a small city in the U.S.) there was definitely a family
feeling and an identity, particularly among the people who had been driving
for years. Of the three companies that owned medallions in the city back in
the 80s only two are left and I am pretty sure it will be down to one before
long, for obvious reasons.

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raihansaputra
Buzzfeed's Worth It program visited one of these shelters on its Tea episode.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g88bGDNRyyg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g88bGDNRyyg)

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cat199
ooh so that's what those things are! :D

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toymachine
oh thats cool. new to me!

