Hackney carriage: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 20:03, 22 June 2025

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File:2005 LTI TXII Silver Automatic 2.4 Front.jpg

LTI TX2 cab

File:Austin FX4 at St Pauls cathedral.jpg

LTI FX4 cab

File:Beardmore 'London' Taxi from ca 1965.JPG

The Beardmore was an alternative taxi design used in London during the 1960s and 1970s.

A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire.^[1] A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London.^[2] The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.^[3]

In the UK, the name hackney carriage today refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities) or the Department of the Environment depending on region of the country.^[4] Some hackney carriages have also been exported for use in other countries.

Etymology

The origins of the word hackney in connection with horses and carriages are uncertain. The origin is often attributed to the London borough of Hackney, whose name likely originated in Old English meaning 'Haka's Island'. There is some doubt whether the word hack for a horse was derived from this place-name, as the area was historically marshy and not well-suited for keeping horses.^[5] The American Hackney Horse Society favours an alternative etymology stemming from the French word haquenée—a horse of medium size recommended for lady riders—which was brought to England with the Norman Conquest and became fully assimilated into the English language by the start of the 14th century. The word became associated with an ambling horse, usually for hire.

The place-name, through its famous association with horses and horse-drawn carriages, is also the root of the Spanish word jaca, a term used for a small breed of horse^[6] and the Sardinian achetta horse. The first documented hackney coach—the name later extended to the newer and smaller carriages—operated in London in 1621.

The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), hackstand (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi licence) are probably derived from hackney carriage. Such cabs are now regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.^[7]

In modern usage, the term "hackney carriage" remains primarily a term of regulation and not of contemporary speech—whereas "taxi" and "cab" are common parlance. The British carried their practices with them throughout the British Empire and established regulations for public hire transport in many countries. In the 1820s, horses and carriages were imported from England to British Colonial Singapore and, with the passing of the Hackney Carriage Act of 1867, established a Hackney Carriage Department to regulate public transportation; in 1892 jinrikisha regulation was incorporated into the department.^[8]^[9] In 1847, Sydney passed a law to regulate hackney carriages in the city and its vicinity.^[10] Boston's Hackney Carriage Unit was established in 1854 and still uses the term hackney carriage in their contemporary licensing regulations for taxis, sight-seeing vehicles, horse drawn carriages, and pedicabs within the city.^[11] In 1879 British India, the Hackney-Carriage Act was passed to regulate and control hackney carriages.^[12]

History

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Horse-drawn era

The widespread use of private coaches by the English aristocracy began to be seen in the 1580s; within fifty years hackney coaches were regularly to be seen on the streets of London. In the 1620s there was a proliferation of coaches for hire in the metropolis, so much so that they were seen as a danger to pedestrians in the narrow streets of the city, and in 1635 an Order in Council was issued limiting the number allowed. Two years later a system for licensing hackney coachmen was established (overseen by the Master of the Horse).^[13]

"An Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the places adjacent" was approved by Parliament in 1654, to remedy what it described as the "many Inconveniences [that] do daily arise by reason of the late increase and great irregularity of Hackney Coaches and Hackney Coachmen in London, Westminster and the places thereabouts".^[14] The first hackney-carriage licences date from a 1662 act of Parliament, the London and Westminster Streets Act 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 2) establishing the Commissioners of Scotland Yard to regulate them. Licences applied literally to horse-drawn carriages, later modernised as hansom cabs (1834), that operated as vehicles for hire. The 1662 act limited the licences to 400; when it expired in 1679, extra licences were created until the Template:Visible anchor (5 & 6 Will. & Mar. c. 22) imposed a limit of 700.^[15] The limit was increased to 800 in 1715, 1,000 in 1770 and 1,100 in 1802, before being abolished in 1832.^[16] The 1694 act established the Hackney Coach Commissioners to oversee the regulation of fares, licences and other matters; in 1831 their work was taken over by the Stamp Office and in 1869 responsibility for licensing was passed on to the Metropolitan Police. In the 18th and 19th centuries, private carriages were commonly sold off for use as hackney carriages, often displaying painted-over traces of the previous owner's coat of arms on the doors.^[17]

There was a distinction between a general hackney carriage and a hackney coach, which was specifically a hireable vehicle with four wheels, two horses and six seats: four on the inside for the passengers and two on the outside (one for a servant and the other for the driver, who was popularly termed the Jarvey (also spelled jarvie)). For many years only coaches, to this specification, could be licensed for hire; but in 1814 the licensing of up to 200 hackney chariots was permitted, which carried a maximum of three passengers inside and one servant outside (such was the popularity of these new faster carriages that the number of licences was doubled the following year).

File:Hansom cab 1904.jpg

Hansom cab in 1904 outside the Royal Albert Hall, London

Shortly afterwards even lighter carriages began to be licensed: the two-wheel, single-horse cabriolets or 'cabs', which were licensed to carry no more than two passengers.^[13] Then, in 1834, the hansom cab was patented by Joseph Hansom: a jaunty single-horse, two-wheel carriage with a distinctive appearance, designed to carry passengers safely in an urban environment. The hansom cab quickly established itself as the standard two-wheel hackney carriage and remained in use into the 20th century.^[17]

In 1836 the Clarence was introduced to London's streets: a type of small four-wheel enclosed carriage drawn by one or two horses.^[18]^[19] These became known as 'growlers' because of the sound they made on the cobbled streets. Much slower than a hansom cab, they nevertheless had room for up to four passengers (plus one servant) and space on the roof for luggage. As such they remained in use as the standard form of four-wheeled hackney carriage until replaced by motorised taxi cabs in the early 20th century.

A small, usually two-wheeled, one-horse hackney vehicle called a noddy once plied the roads in Ireland and Scotland. The French had a small hackney coach called a fiacre.

Motorisation

Electric hackney carriages appeared before the introduction of the internal combustion engine to vehicles for hire in 1897. In fact there was even London Electrical Cab Company: the cabs were informally called Berseys after the manager who designed them, Walter Bersey. Another nickname was Hummingbirds from the sound that they made.^[20] In August 1897, 25 were introduced, and by 1898, there were 50 more. During the early 20th century, cars generally replaced horse-drawn models. In 1910, the number of motor cabs on London streets outnumbered horse-drawn growlers and hansoms for the first time. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, the ratio was seven to one in favour of motorized cabs.^[21] The last horse-drawn hackney carriage ceased service in London in 1947.^[22]

UK regulations define a hackney carriage as a taxicab allowed to ply the streets looking for passengers to pick up, as opposed to private hire vehicles (sometimes called minicabs), which may pick up only passengers who have previously booked or who visit the taxi operator's office. In 1999, the first of a series of fuel cell powered taxis were tried out in London. The "Millennium Cab" built by ZeTek gained television coverage and great interest when driven in the Sheraton Hotel ballroom in New York by Judd Hirsch, the star of the television series Taxi. ZeTek built three cabs but ceased activities in 2001.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Continuing horse-drawn cab services

Horse-drawn hackney services continue to operate in parts of the UK, for example in Cockington, Torquay.^[23] The town of Windsor, Berkshire, is the last remaining UK town with a continuous lineage of horse-drawn hackney carriages, operated run by Windsor Carriages, the licence having been passed down from driver to driver since the 1830's. The original hackney licence is in place, allowing for passenger travel under the same law that was originally passed in 1662. The city of Bath has an occasional horse-drawn Hackney, principally for tourists, but still carrying hackney plates.

Driver qualification

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Black cabs

File:1937BeardmoreTaxi.jpg

Until the late 1950s, vehicles licensed as London taxis were required to be provided with a luggage platform, open to the street, on the pavement (sidewalk) side, at the front, beside the driver,^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27] in place of the front passenger seat found on other passenger cars (including taxis licensed for use in other British cities).

Though there has never been law requiring London's taxis to be black, they were, since the end of the Second World War, sold in a standard colour of black. This, in the 1970s gave rise within the minicab trade to the nickname 'black cab' and it has become common currency. However, before the Second World War, London's cabs were seen in a variety of colours. They are produced in a variety of colours, sometimes in advertising brand liveries (see below). Fifty golden cabs were produced for the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002.^[28]

Vehicle design

In Edwardian times, Renault and Unic, but also smaller players like Charron and Darracq were to be found.^[21] Fiat was also a presence, with their importer d'Arcy Baker running a fleet of 400 cars of the brand. In the 1920s, Beardmore cabs were introduced and became for a while the most popular. They were nicknamed 'the Rolls-Royce of cabs' for their comfort and robustness. Maxwell Monson introduced Citroën cabs, which were cheaper, but crude in comparison to the Beardmore. In 1930 dealers Mann and Overton struck a deal with the Austin to bring a modified version of the Austin 12/4 car to the London taxi market. This established Austin as dominant until the end of the 1970s and Mann and Overton until 2012. The Austin FX4, launched in 1958, which stayed in production until 1997 under successive manufacturers is perhaps the most iconic and recognised of all hackney carriages and set the basic styling parameters of its successors.

Morrises cabs were also seen, in small numbers, but after the Second World War, produced the Oxford, made by Wolseleys.^[21]

File:A TX4 Taxi at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.jpg

A TX4 hackney carriage at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

Outside of London, the regulations governing the hackney cab trade are different. Four-door saloon cars have been highly popular as hackney carriages, but with disability regulations growing in strength and some councils offering free licensing for disabled-friendly vehicles, many operators are now opting for wheelchair-adapted taxis such as the LEVC TX of London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC). London taxis have broad rear doors that open very wide (or slide), and an electrically controlled ramp that is extended for access.^[29]

Other models of specialist taxis include the Peugeot E7 and rivals from Fiat, Ford, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz. These vehicles normally allow six or seven passengers, although some models can accommodate eight. Some of these minibus taxis include a front passenger seat next to the driver, while others reserve this space solely for luggage.

File:Black London Cab.jpg

An FX4, made from 1958 to 1997. The for hire signage is a distinguishing feature of the hackney carriage.

London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than Template:Convert. One reason for this is the configuration of the famed Savoy Hotel: the hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed the small turning circle to navigate it. That requirement became the legally required turning circles for all London cabs, while the custom of a passenger's sitting on the right, behind the driver, provided a reason for the right-hand traffic in Savoy Court, allowing hotel patrons to board and alight from the driver's side.^[30]

The design standards for London taxis are set out in the Conditions of Fitness, which are now published by Transport for London. The first edition was published in May 1906, by the Public Carriage Office, which was then part of the Metropolitan Police. These regulations set out the conditions under which a taxi may operate and have been updated over the years to keep pace with motor car development and legislation. Changes include regulating the taximeter (made compulsory in 1907), advertisements and the turning circle of Template:Convert.^[20]^[31] Until the beginning of the 1980s, London Taxis were not allowed to carry any advertisements.^[21]

The London Taxis fleet has been fully accessible since 1 January 2000,^[32]^[33] following the introduction of the first accessible taxi in 1987.^[34] On 14 December 2010, Mayor of London Boris Johnson released an air quality strategy paper encouraging phasing out of the oldest of the LT cabs, and proposing a £1m fund to encourage taxi owners to upgrade to low-emission vehicles.^[35] Since 2018, all newly registered taxis in London must be zero emission, and Template:As of more than half of the 14,700 fleet is zero emission capable.^[36]

As part of the Transported by Design programme of activities,^[37] on 15 October 2015, after two months of public voting, the black cab was elected by Londoners as their favourite transport design icon.^[38]^[39]

In 2017, the LEVC TX was introduced – a purpose built hackney carriage, built as a plug-in hybrid range-extender electric vehicle.^[40] By April 2022, over 5,000 TX's had been sold in London, around a third of London's taxi fleet.^[41] In October 2019 the first fully electric cab since the Bersey in 1897, the Dynamo Taxi, was launched with a 187-mile range and with the bodywork based on Nissan's NV200 platform.^[42]^[43]

File:Hackney Carriage Black Cab Digital Advertising TaxiTop Eyetease.jpg

An example of an Eyetease digital screen on top of a hackney carriage

In October 2011 the company Eyetease Ltd. introduced digital screens on the roofs of London taxis for dynamically changing location-specific advertising.^[44]

Variety of models

There have been different makes and types of hackney cab through the years,^[45] including:

Mann & Overton – including Carbodies, The London Taxi Company and currently London EV Company
- Unic sold in London from 1906 to 1930s
- Austin London Taxicab
- Austin FX3
- Austin/Carbodies/LTI FX4 and Fairway
- LTI TX1, TXII and TX4
- LEVC TX (plug-in hybrid range-extender)
Mercedes-Benz
- Vito W639^[46]
Morris
- Nuffield Oxford Taxi
London General Cab Co.
- Citroën
Beardmore
- Beardmore Marks I to VII
Metrocab (originally formed by Metro Cammell Weymann)
- MCW/Reliant/Hooper Metrocab
Dynamo Motor Company
- Dynamo Taxi(Nissan NV200 based)

Notable private owners

Oil millionaire Nubar Gulbenkian owned an Austin FX3 Brougham Sedanca taxi, with custom coachwork by FLM Panelcraft Ltd as he was quoted "because it turns on a sixpence whatever that is."^[47] Gulbenkian had two such taxis built, the second of which was built on an FX4 chassis and was sold at auction by Bonhams for $39,600 in 2015.^[48] Other celebrities are known to have used hackney carriages both for their anonymity and their ruggedness and manoeuvrability in London traffic. Users included Prince Philip, whose cab was converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas,^[49] author and actor Stephen Fry,^[50] and the Sheriffs of the City of London. A black cab was used in the band Oasis's video for the song "Don't Look Back in Anger." Black cabs were used as recording studios for indie band performances and other performances in the Black Cab Sessions internet project.

Ghosthunting With... featured a black cab owned by host of the show, Yvette Fielding. Bez of the Happy Mondays owns one, shown on the UK edition of Pimp My Ride. Noel Edmonds used a black cab to commute from his home to the Deal or No Deal studios in Bristol. He placed a dressed mannequin in the back so that he could use special bus/taxi lanes, and so that people would not attempt to hail his cab.^[51]

The official car of the Governor of the Falkland Islands between 1976 and 2010 was a London taxi.^[52]

In other countries

File:Wetzikon - Bahnhofstrasse - Wildbach 2010-07-01 12-24-20 ShiftN savagely cropped.jpg

A London taxi (TXII model) in Switzerland

Between 2003 and 1 August 2009 the London taxi model TXII could be purchased in the United States. Today there are approximately 250 TXIIs in the US, operating as taxis in San Francisco, Dallas, Long Beach, Houston, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Newport, Rhode Island, Wilmington, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon. There are also a few operating in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The largest London taxi rental fleet in North America is in Wilmington, owned by The British Taxi Company. There are London cabs in Saudi Arabia, Romania, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Cyprus, and in Israel, where a Chinese-made version of LTI's model TX4 built by Geely Automobile is available. In February 2010, a number of TX4s started operating in Pristina, Kosovo,^[53] and are known as London Taxi.^[54]

File:SHB786K - London Cab TX4 in Singapore, SMRT owned front view.jpg

A London taxi (TX4 model) in Singapore

Singapore has used London-style cabs since 1992; starting with the "Fairway". The flag-down fares for the London Taxis are the same as for other taxis. SMRT Corporation, the sole operator, had by March 2013 replaced its fleet of 15 ageing multi-coloured (gold, pink, etc.) taxis with new white ones. They are the only wheelchair-accessible taxis in Singapore, and were brought back following an outcry after the removal of the service.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

File:Bakutaxi.jpg

A London taxi (TX4 model) in Baku

By 2011 a thousand of a Chinese-made version of LTI's latest model, TX4, had been ordered by Baku Taxi Company. The plan is part of a program originally announced by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transportation to introduce London cabs to the capital, Baku.^[55]^[56] The move was part of a £16 million agreement between the London Taxi Company and Baku Taxi Company.^[57]^[58]

File:TOYOTA JPNTAXI Nihonkotsu Taxi.jpg

A Nihon Kotsu Toyota JPN Taxi

Although the LEVC TX is more expensive and exceeds the Japanese size classifications to gain the tax advantages Japanese livery drivers enjoy with the similarly designed but smaller Toyota JPN Taxi, Geely has attempted to break into the Japanese market.^[59] Alternatively, while the Toyota JPN Taxi doesn't meet the passenger capacity or turning radius Conditions of Fitness required by Transport for London, it does meet the emissions and accessibility requirements that may make it an ideal option for cities outside of London without the seating requirements or as a private hire vehicle while still evoking the familiar black cab profile.^[60]

File:Beijing London Taxi.jpg

A London taxi in Beijing

During the 2008 Olympic Games, there were about 100 Hackney carriages operating in Beijing.

United Kingdom law

Laws about the definition, licensing and operation of hackney carriages have a long history.^[61] The most significant pieces of legislation by region are:

In England and Wales: the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. In Wales, responsibility for licensing is now devolved to the Senedd. In September 2017, a consultation started about the future of such licensing.
In London: the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 and the London Cab Order 1934.
In Scotland: the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.
In Northern Ireland: the Taxis Act (Northern Ireland) 2008^[61]

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

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External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Taxi fare calculator based on fares set by local authorities
Taxis and private hire Transport for London Public Carriage Office
London hackney coach regulations, 1819. Genealogy UK Genealogy and Family History.
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-{{Globalize|date=May 2025}}
 {{Short description|British car for hire}}
 {{Hatnote group|
@@ Line 11: / Line 10: @@
 [[File:Beardmore 'London' Taxi from ca 1965.JPG|thumb|The [[William Beardmore and Company#Road vehicles|Beardmore]] was an alternative taxi design used in London during the 1960s and 1970s.]]
-A '''hackney''' or '''hackney carriage''' (also called a '''cab''', '''black cab''', '''hack''' or '''taxi''') is a carriage or car for hire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/hackney|title=Definition of "hackney"|publisher=Onlinedictionary.datasegment.com|access-date=20 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018201834/http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/hackney|archive-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a '''remise'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/remise|title=Definition of remise by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com|access-date=20 November 2011}}</ref> A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London.<ref>{{cite news |title=We know where we're going: London's women black cab drivers |url=https://www.ft.com/content/87d24bce-6c0c-11e9-9ff9-8c855179f1c4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/87d24bce-6c0c-11e9-9ff9-8c855179f1c4 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Financial Times|quote=Black cabs are synonymous with Britain; as strong a symbol of the London traffic-scape as red double-decker buses.}}</ref> The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.<ref>{{cite news |title=London taxis, black cabs and minicabs |url=https://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/taxis |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Visit London}}</ref>
+A '''hackney''' or '''hackney carriage''' (also called a '''cab''', '''black cab''', '''hack''' or '''taxi''') is a carriage or car for hire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/hackney|title=Definition of "hackney"|publisher=Onlinedictionary.datasegment.com|access-date=20 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018201834/http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/hackney|archive-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London.<ref>{{cite news |title=We know where we're going: London's women black cab drivers |url=https://www.ft.com/content/87d24bce-6c0c-11e9-9ff9-8c855179f1c4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/87d24bce-6c0c-11e9-9ff9-8c855179f1c4 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Financial Times|quote=Black cabs are synonymous with Britain; as strong a symbol of the London traffic-scape as red double-decker buses.}}</ref> The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.<ref>{{cite news |title=London taxis, black cabs and minicabs |url=https://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/taxis |access-date=18 June 2022 |work=Visit London}}</ref>
 In the UK, the name ''hackney carriage'' today refers to a [[taxicab]] licensed by the [[Taxicabs of the United Kingdom#TfL Taxi and Private Hire office|Public Carriage Office]], local authority ([[non-metropolitan district]] councils, [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]]) or the [[Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)|Department of the Environment]] depending on region of the country.<ref>[https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/about-us/london-assembly/london-assembly-publications/where-guv "Where to, Guv?"], London Assembly Transport Committee report into the Public Carriage Office, November 2005</ref> Some hackney carriages have also been exported for use in other countries.
 ==Etymology==
-{{See also|Hackney horse|Hackney pony}}
 The origins of the word hackney in connection with horses and carriages are uncertain. The origin is often attributed to the [[Hackney, London|London borough of Hackney]], whose name likely originated in Old English meaning 'Haka's Island'. There is some doubt whether the [[Hack (horse)|word ''hack'' for a horse]] was derived from this place-name, as the area was historically marshy and not well-suited for keeping horses.<ref>'Oxford English Dictionary' online pay site accessed 18 April 2018</ref> The [[American Hackney Horse Society]] favours an alternative etymology stemming from the French word ''haquenée''—a horse of medium size recommended for lady riders—which was brought to England with the Norman Conquest and became fully assimilated into the English language by the start of the 14th century. The word became associated with an ambling horse, usually for hire.
@@ Line 22: / Line 21: @@
 The New York City colloquial terms "hack" (taxi or taxi-driver), [[Taxicab stand|hackstand]] (taxi stand), and hack license (taxi licence) are probably derived from hackney carriage. Such cabs are now regulated by the [[New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = About TLC – TLC| access-date = 13 November 2023| url = https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/about-tlc.page |website=[[New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission]]}}</ref>
+In modern usage, the term "hackney carriage" remains primarily a term of regulation and not of contemporary speech—whereas "taxi" and "cab" are common parlance. The British carried their practices with them throughout the [[British Empire]] and established regulations for public hire transport in many countries. In the 1820s, horses and carriages were imported from England to [[British Colonial Singapore]] and, with the passing of the Hackney Carriage Act of 1867, established a Hackney Carriage Department to regulate public transportation; in 1892 [[Rickshaw|jinrikisha]] regulation was incorporated into the department.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jinrikisha Station begins operations |url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=749e2a91-e826-4063-b04d-848a64862d2e |website=[[National Library Board]] (Singapore) |date=13 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Hackney Carriage Syces and Rikisha Pullers in Singapore: A Colonial Registrar's Perspective on Public Transport, 1892-1923 |first=Peter J. |last=Rimmer |title=The Underside of Malaysian History : Pullers, Prostitutes, Plantation Workers |publisher=Singapore University Press |year=1990 |isbn=9971-69-127-2 |page=131 |url=https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/p-library/singapore-malaysia/Peter%20J.%20Rimmer/The%20Underside%20Of%20Malaysian%20History-Pullers,%20Prostitutes,%20Plantation,%20Workers%20%281697%29/The%20Underside%20Of%20Malaysian%20History-Pullers%20-%20Peter%20J.%20Rimmer.pdf}}</ref> In 1847, [[Sydney]] passed a law to regulate hackney carriages in the city and its vicinity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hackney Carriages Sydney Act 1847 No 21a |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb//au/legis/nsw/num_act/hcsa1847n21266/ |website=[[Australasian Legal Information Institute]] |access-date=2025-06-22}}</ref> [[Boston]]'s Hackney Carriage Unit was established in 1854 and still uses the term hackney carriage in their contemporary licensing regulations for taxis, sight-seeing vehicles, horse drawn carriages, and [[pedicab]]s within the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hackney Carriage Unit |website=Boston Police Department |url=https://police.boston.gov/hackney-carriage-unit-2/ |access-date=2025-06-22}}</ref> In 1879 [[British India]], the Hackney-Carriage Act was passed to regulate and control hackney carriages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hackney Carriage Act, 1879 |url=https://kpcode.kp.gov.pk/homepage/lawDetails/159 |website=Government of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]}}</ref>
 ==History== <!-- This section is linked from [[Carriage]] -->
@@ Line 434: / Line 435: @@
 | collapsed             = yes
 }}
-[[File:Havana - Hackney coaches.jpg|thumb|Hackney coaches]]
+=== Horse-drawn era ===
 The widespread use of private [[Coach (carriage)|coaches]] by the English aristocracy began to be seen in the 1580s; within fifty years hackney coaches were regularly to be seen on the streets of London. In the 1620s there was a proliferation of coaches for hire in the metropolis, so much so that they were seen as a danger to pedestrians in the narrow streets of the city, and in 1635 an [[Order in Council]] was issued limiting the number allowed. Two years later a system for licensing hackney coachmen was established (overseen by the [[Master of the Horse (United Kingdom)|Master of the Horse]]).<ref name="Dowell1884">{{cite book |last1=Dowell |first1=Stephen |title=A History of Taxes and Taxation in England: volume III |date=1884 |publisher=Longmans, Green & co. |location=London |pages=40–45}}</ref>
@@ Line 442: / Line 443: @@
 There was a distinction between a general hackney carriage and a hackney [[Coach (carriage)|coach]], which was specifically a hireable vehicle with four wheels, two horses and six seats: four on the inside for the passengers and two on the outside (one for a servant and the other for the driver, who was popularly termed the ''[[Coachman|Jarvey]]'' (also spelled ''jarvie'')). For many years only coaches, to this specification, could be licensed for hire; but in 1814 the licensing of up to 200 hackney [[Chariot (carriage)|chariots]] was permitted, which carried a maximum of three passengers inside and one servant outside (such was the popularity of these new faster carriages that the number of licences was doubled the following year).
-[[File:Hansom cab 1904.jpg|thumb|left|Hansom cab in 1904 outside the [[Royal Albert Hall]], London]]
+[[File:Hansom cab 1904.jpg|thumb|upright|Hansom cab in 1904 outside the [[Royal Albert Hall]], London]]
 Shortly afterwards even lighter carriages began to be licensed: the two-wheel, single-horse [[Cabriolet (carriage)|cabriolets]] or 'cabs', which were licensed to carry no more than two passengers.<ref name="Dowell1884" /> Then, in 1834, the [[hansom cab]] was patented by [[Joseph Hansom]]: a jaunty single-horse, two-wheel carriage with a distinctive appearance, designed to carry passengers safely in an urban environment. The hansom cab quickly established itself as the standard two-wheel hackney carriage and remained in use into the 20th century.<ref name="McCausland1948">{{cite book |last1=McCausland |first1=Hugh |title=The English Carriage |date=1948 |publisher=Batchworth Press |location=London}}</ref>
-[[File:The-passing-of-the-growler-Punch-1907.png|thumb|right|London [[Clarence (carriage)|growler]] {{Circa|1900}}]]
 In 1836 the [[Clarence (carriage)|Clarence]] was introduced to London's streets: a type of small four-wheel enclosed carriage drawn by one or two horses.<ref>Knox, Thomas Wallace (1888) ''The pocket guide for Europe: hand-book for travellers on the Continent and the British Isles, and through Egypt, Palestine, and northern Africa'' G. Putnam, New York, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mxEbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA34 page 34], {{OCLC|28649833}}</ref><ref>Busch, Noel F. (1947) "Life's Reports: Restful Days in Dublin" " ''Life Magazine'' 15 September 1947 [https://books.google.com/books?id=M0IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9 page 9], includes a photograph of a growler.</ref> These became known as 'growlers' because of the sound they made on the cobbled streets. Much slower than a hansom cab, they nevertheless had room for up to four passengers (plus one servant) and space on the roof for luggage. As such they remained in use as the standard form of four-wheeled hackney carriage until replaced by motorised taxi cabs in the early 20th century.
@@ Line 461: / Line 459: @@
 Horse-drawn hackney services continue to operate in parts of the UK, for example in [[Cockington]], [[Torquay]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cockingtoncourt.org/latest-news/2014/9/9/cockington-carriages-plan-for-the-future-a468|title=Cockington Carriages plan for the future – Cockington Court|website=www.cockingtoncourt.org|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=24 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024190712/https://www.cockingtoncourt.org/latest-news/2014/9/9/cockington-carriages-plan-for-the-future-a468|url-status=dead}}</ref> The town of [[Windsor, Berkshire]], is the last remaining UK town with a continuous lineage of horse-drawn hackney carriages, operated run by Windsor Carriages, the licence having been passed down from driver to driver since the 1830's. The original hackney licence is in place, allowing for passenger travel under the same law that was originally passed in 1662. The city of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] has an occasional horse-drawn Hackney, principally for tourists, but still carrying hackney plates.
+== Driver qualification ==
+{{See also|Taxis of London#Knowledge of London}}
+In London, hackney-carriage drivers have to pass a test called [[The Knowledge]] to demonstrate that they have an intimate knowledge of the geography of London streets, important buildings, etc. Elsewhere in the UK, councils have their own regulations. Some merely require a driver to pass a [[Disclosure and Barring Service|DBS]] disclosure and have a reasonably clean driving licence, while others use their own local versions of London's The Knowledge test.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
 ==Black cabs==
@@ Line 472: / Line 474: @@
 [[Morris Motors|Morrises]]  cabs were also seen, in small numbers, but after the Second World War, produced the Oxford, made by [[Wolseley Motors|Wolseleys]].<ref name=AC4459a/>
-[[File:A TX4 Taxi at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.jpg|thumb|left|A [[TX4]] hackney carriage at [[Heathrow Airport]] [[Heathrow Terminal 5|Terminal 5]].]]
+[[File:A TX4 Taxi at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.jpg|thumb|A [[TX4]] hackney carriage at [[Heathrow Airport]] [[Heathrow Terminal 5|Terminal 5]]]]
 Outside of London, the regulations governing the hackney cab trade are different. Four-door [[Sedan (automobile)|saloon cars]] have been highly popular as hackney carriages, but with disability regulations growing in strength and some councils offering free licensing for disabled-friendly vehicles, many operators are now opting for wheelchair-adapted taxis such as the LEVC TX of [[London Electric Vehicle Company]] (LEVC). London taxis have broad rear doors that open very wide (or slide), and an electrically controlled ramp that is extended for access.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Wheelchair Taxis with Ramps |work=Wheelchair Travel |date=2021 |access-date=17 April 2021 |url= https://wheelchairtravel.org/london/taxis/}}</ref>
@@ Line 480: / Line 482: @@
 London taxis must have a [[Turning radius|turning circle]] not greater than {{convert|8.535|m|0|abbr=on}}. One reason for this is the configuration of the famed [[Savoy Hotel]]: the hotel entrance's small [[roundabout]] meant that vehicles needed the small turning circle to navigate it. That requirement became the legally required turning circles for all London cabs, while the custom of a passenger's sitting on the right, behind the driver, provided a reason for the [[Right- and left-hand traffic|right-hand traffic]] in [[Savoy Hotel#Savoy Court|Savoy Court]], allowing hotel patrons to board and alight from the driver's side.<ref name=GuardianSavoy>{{ cite journal | url = https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1501,00.html | title = Why does traffic entering and leaving the Savoy Hotel in London drive on the right? | journal = [[The Guardian]] | publisher = Guardian News and Media Limited | access-date = 26 May 2017 }}</ref>
-[[File:Paddington Trail - The Bear Of London.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A hackney carriage featuring in a London-themed [[Paddington Bear]] statue in Trafalgar Square, 2014]]
 The design standards for London taxis are set out in the ''[[Conditions of Fitness]]'', which are now published by [[Transport for London]]. The first edition was published in May 1906, by the Public Carriage Office, which was then part of the [[Metropolitan Police]]. These regulations set out the conditions under which a taxi may operate and have been updated over the years to keep pace with motor car development and legislation. Changes include regulating the [[taximeter]] (made compulsory in 1907), advertisements and the turning circle of {{convert|8.535|m|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="LVTA"/><ref name=conditions>{{cite web |url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/taxi-conditions-of-fitness-update-2019.pdf |title=Construction and Licensing of Motor Taxis for Use in London: Conditions of Fitness, as updated 17 September 2019|publisher=[[Transport for London]]: Public Carriage Office |date=17 September 2019 |access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref> Until the beginning of the 1980s, London Taxis were not allowed to carry any advertisements.<ref name=AC4459a/>
@@ Line 489: / Line 490: @@
 In 2017, the [[LEVC TX]] was introduced – a purpose built hackney carriage, built as a [[plug-in hybrid]] [[Range extender (vehicle)|range-extender electric vehicle]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2,500th LEVC TX taxi rolls off production line |url=https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/98450/2500th-levc-tx-taxi-rolls-off-production-line |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=Auto Express |language=en}}</ref> By April 2022, over 5,000 TX's had been sold in London, around a third of London's taxi fleet.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 April 2022 |title=LEVC CELEBRATES SALE OF 5000TH TX ELECTRIC TAXI IN LONDON |url=https://levc.com/levc-celebrates-sale-of-5000th-tx-electric-taxi-in-london/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=LEVC |language=en-US}}</ref> In October 2019 the first fully electric cab since the Bersey in 1897, the Dynamo Taxi, was launched with a 187-mile range and with the bodywork based on [[Nissan NV200|Nissan's NV200]] platform.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Electric London black cab launches with 187-mile range {{!}} Autocar |url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/electric-london-black-cab-launches-187-mile-range |access-date=2019-10-24 |website=www.autocar.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 October 2019 |title=First 100% electric black cab for 120 years launches in London |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/23/first-100-electric-black-cab-for-120-years-launches-in-london |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
-===Driver qualification===
+[[File:Hackney Carriage Black Cab Digital Advertising TaxiTop Eyetease.jpg|thumb|An example of an Eyetease digital screen on top of a hackney carriage]]
-In London, hackney-carriage drivers have to pass a test called [[Taxicabs of the United Kingdom#The Knowledge|The Knowledge]] to demonstrate that they have an intimate knowledge of the geography of London streets, important buildings, etc. Learning The Knowledge allows the driver to become a member of the [[Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers]]. There are two types of badge, a yellow one for the suburban areas and a green one for all of London. The latter is considered far more difficult. Drivers who own their cabs as opposed to renting from a garage are known as "mushers" and those who have just passed the "knowledge" are known as "butter boys".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/09/history-london-black-cabs The history of London's black cabs], theguardian.com, 9 December 2012.</ref> There are currently around 21,000 black cabs in London, licensed by the Public Carriage Office.<ref>[http://www.kabsure.co.uk/public-carriage-office.html About the Public Carriage Office], {{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751202/taxi-and-phv-england-2018.pdf|title=Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Statistics, England: 2018 |page=2}}</ref>
+In October 2011 the company Eyetease Ltd. introduced digital screens on the roofs of London taxis for dynamically changing location-specific advertising.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mark Prigg|title=The video screen coming to a cab near you|url=http://prigg.thisislondon.co.uk/2011/10/the-video-screen-coming-to-a-cab-near-you-soon.html|website=ThisIsLondon|publisher=London Evening Standard|access-date=17 July 2015|date=11 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231022422/http://prigg.thisislondon.co.uk/2011/10/the-video-screen-coming-to-a-cab-near-you-soon.html|archive-date=31 December 2011}}</ref>
-Elsewhere, councils have their own regulations. Some merely require a driver to pass a [[Disclosure and Barring Service|DBS]] disclosure and have a reasonably clean driving licence, while others use their own local versions of London's The Knowledge test.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
-===Notable drivers===
-*Alfred Collins, who retired in 2007 at the age of 92, was the oldest cab driver and had been driving for 70 years.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6470443.stm Longest serving cabbie honoured], bbc.co.uk; accessed 26 May 2017.</ref>
-*[[Fred Housego]] is a former London taxi driver who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz ''[[Mastermind (TV series)|Mastermind]]'' in 1980.<ref name="observer">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/feb/09/features.magazine107|title=What happened next?|publisher=[[The Observer]]|last=de Garis|first=Kirsty|date=9 February 2003|access-date=7 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3046254.stm|title=Take our Mastermind quiz|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=7 July 2003|access-date=7 June 2014}}</ref>
-*[[Clive Efford]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP for the London constituency of [[Eltham]], was a cab driver for 10 years before entering [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]] in 1997.
-===Private users===
-Oil millionaire [[Nubar Gulbenkian]] owned an Austin FX3 Brougham Sedanca taxi, with custom coachwork by FLM Panelcraft Ltd as he was quoted "because it turns on a [[Sixpence (British coin)|sixpence]] whatever that is."<ref>The sixpence was the smallest coin in circulation, so the phrase was a [[hyperbole]] meaning that it had a tight turning radius.</ref> Gulbenkian had two such taxis built, the second of which was built on an FX4 chassis and was sold at auction by [[Bonhams]] for $39,600 in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22792/lot/42/|title=Bonhams The millionaire Paul Mellon wants to buy Gulbenkian's FX3, but Gulbenkian would not sell, but did allow Mellon to have replica built. This was also constructed by FLM Panelcraft, but on an FX4 chassis and was fitted with an American Ford 6-cylinder engine and automatic gearbox, as Mellon kept it in the USA: The ex-Nubar Gulbenkian,1960 AUSTIN FX4 BROUGHAM SEDANCA Chassis no. FX4AT033U010|website=www.bonhams.com}}</ref> Other celebrities are known to have used hackney carriages both for their anonymity and their ruggedness and manoeuvrability in London traffic. Users included [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]], whose cab was converted to run on [[liquefied petroleum gas]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3631.asp|title=Prince Philip's taxi|publisher=Royal.gov.uk|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016095223/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3631.asp|archive-date=16 October 2008}}</ref> author and actor [[Stephen Fry]],<ref>[http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/2008/10/10/stephen-fry-in-america ''Stephen Fry in America''], stephenfry.com, 10 October 2008.</ref> and the [[Sheriffs of the City of London]]. A black cab was used in the band [[Oasis (band)|Oasis's]] video for the song "[[Don't Look Back in Anger]]." Black cabs were used as recording studios for indie band performances and other performances in the [[Black Cab Sessions]] internet project.
-''[[Ghosthunting With...]]'' featured a black cab owned by host of the show, [[Yvette Fielding]]. [[Bez (dancer)|Bez]] of the [[Happy Mondays]] owns one, shown on the UK edition of ''[[Pimp My Ride]]''. [[Noel Edmonds]] used a black cab to commute from his home to the ''[[Deal or No Deal]]'' studios in [[Bristol]].  He placed a dressed mannequin in the back so that he could use special bus/taxi lanes, and so that people would not attempt to hail his cab.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://uk.motor1.com/news/281925/noel-edmonds-taxi/ |title=Noel Edmonds dodged traffic by illegally driving a taxi in Bristol |work=motor1.com |date=30 November 2018 |access-date=2020-08-25}}</ref>
-The official car of the Governor of the [[Falkland Islands]] between 1976 and 2010 was a London taxi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.20773 |title=Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falkland Islands|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806224821/http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.20773|archive-date=6 August 2011}}</ref>
-===In other countries===
-[[File:Wetzikon - Bahnhofstrasse - Wildbach 2010-07-01 12-24-20 ShiftN savagely cropped.jpg|thumb|left|A London taxi (TXII model) in Switzerland]]
-Between 2003 and 1 August 2009 the London taxi model [[TXII]] could be purchased in the United States. Today there are approximately 250 TXIIs in the US, operating as taxis in San Francisco, [[Dallas]], [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], [[Houston]], [[New Orleans]], [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], [[Newport, Rhode Island]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina]] and [[Portland, Oregon]]. There are also a few operating in [[Ottawa|Ottawa, Ontario]], Canada. The largest London taxi rental fleet in North America is in Wilmington, owned by The British Taxi Company. There are London cabs in Saudi Arabia, Romania, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Cyprus, and in Israel, where a Chinese-made version of LTI's model [[TX4]] built by [[Geely Automobile]] is available. In February 2010, a number of TX4s started operating in [[Pristina]], [[Kosovo]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://unmik.unmissions.org/united-nations-resolution-1244 | title=United Nations Resolution 1244 | date=18 January 2016 }}</ref> and are known as London Taxi.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ben-Gedalyahu|first=Dubi|title=Eldan to sell Chinese 'London taxi'|newspaper=[[Globes (newspaper)|Globes]]|location=Tel Aviv|date=18 August 2009|url=http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/Eldan%20to%20sell%20Chinese%20%22London%20taxi%22_h_hd_2L34nDZ8oD5mnC30mD3amE3WvBcXqRMm0.html|access-date=18 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224182107/http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/Eldan%20to%20sell%20Chinese%20%22London%20taxi%22_h_hd_2L34nDZ8oD5mnC30mD3amE3WvBcXqRMm0.html|archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref>
-In the United States, the [[Boston Police Department|police department]] of the city of [[Boston]] has a Hackney Carriage Unit, analogous to taxicab regulators in other cities, that issues ''Hackney Carriage'' [[taxi medallion|medallions]] to its taxi operators.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boston Police Hackney Carriage Unit |url=http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/hackney |access-date=20 November 2011 |publisher=Cityofboston.gov}}</ref>
-[[File:SHB786K - London Cab TX4 in Singapore, SMRT owned front view.jpg|thumb|A London taxi (TX4 model) in Singapore]]
-Singapore has used London-style cabs since 1992; starting with the "Fairway". The flag-down fares for the London Taxis are the same as for other taxis. [[SMRT Corporation]], the sole operator, had by March 2013 replaced its fleet of 15 ageing multi-coloured (gold, pink, etc.) taxis with new white ones. They are the only wheelchair-accessible taxis in Singapore, and were brought back following an outcry after the removal of the service.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
-[[File:Bakutaxi.jpg|thumb|A London taxi (TX4 model) in Baku]]
-By 2011 a thousand of a Chinese-made version of LTI's latest model, TX4, had been ordered by Baku Taxi Company. The plan is part of a program originally announced by [[Ministry of Transportation (Azerbaijan)|Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transportation]] to introduce London cabs to the capital, [[Baku]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Meidment|first=Neil|title=Manganese Bronze seals biggest London taxi order|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-manganese-bronze-idUSTRE7225WO20110303|publisher=Reuters|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jaglom|first=Ben|title=Manganese takes black cab to Azerbaijan|url=http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1607588/manganese-takes-black-cab-to-azerbaijan.thtml|access-date=4 March 2011|archive-date=7 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307042107/http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1607588/manganese-takes-black-cab-to-azerbaijan.thtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> The move was part of a £16&nbsp;million agreement between the London Taxi Company and Baku Taxi Company.<ref>{{cite web|title=1,000 London taxis for Azerbaijan|url=http://business.scotsman.com/business/1000-London-taxis-for-Azerbaijan.6728118.jp|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=British firm wins £16m Azerbaijan order for its Chinese built taxis|url=http://www.worksmanagement.co.uk/article/31946/British-firm-wins-16m-Azerbaijan-order-for-its-Chinese-built-taxis.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505132109/http://www.worksmanagement.co.uk/article/31946/British-firm-wins-16m-Azerbaijan-order-for-its-Chinese-built-taxis.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref>
-[[File:TOYOTA JPNTAXI Nihonkotsu Taxi.jpg|thumb|A Nihon Kotsu Toyota JPN Taxi]]
-Although the [[LEVC TX]] is more expensive and exceeds the Japanese [[Vehicle size class#Japan|size classifications]] to gain the tax advantages Japanese livery drivers enjoy with the similarly designed but smaller Toyota JPN Taxi, [[Geely]] has attempted to break into the Japanese market.<ref name="LEVC Japan">{{cite news |last1=Mihalascu |first1=Dan |title=LEVC TX Electrified London Black Cab Lands In Japan, Targets Toyota's JPN Taxi |url=https://www.carscoops.com/2020/01/levc-tx-electrified-london-black-cab-lands-in-japan-targets-toyotas-jpn-taxi/ |publisher=Carscoops |date=17 January 2020}}</ref> Alternatively, while the [[Toyota JPN Taxi]] doesn't meet the passenger capacity or turning radius [[Conditions of Fitness]] required by [[Taxis of the United Kingdom#TfL Taxi and Private Hire office|Transport for London]], it does meet the emissions and [[accessibility]] requirements that may make it an ideal option for cities outside of London without the seating requirements or as a private hire vehicle while still evoking the familiar black cab profile.<ref name="JPN Taxi UK">{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Perry |title=The Toyota JPN Taxi: Changing the Asian landscape, can it change the UK's? |url=https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/2019/01/29/the-toyota-jpn-taxi-changing-the-asian-landscape-can-it-change-the-uk-s |publisher=Taxi Point |date=29 January 2019}}</ref>
-[[File:Beijing_London_Taxi.jpg|thumb|A London taxi in Beijing]]
-During the [[2008 Olympic Games]], there were about 100 Hackney carriages operating in Beijing.
 ===Variety of models===
@@ Line 548: / Line 515: @@
 ** [[Nissan NV200#Nissan e-NV200 London Taxi/Dynamo Taxi|Dynamo Taxi]]([[Nissan NV200]] based)
-===Use in advertising===
+=== Notable private owners ===
-<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
+Oil millionaire [[Nubar Gulbenkian]] owned an Austin FX3 Brougham Sedanca taxi, with custom coachwork by FLM Panelcraft Ltd as he was quoted "because it turns on a [[Sixpence (British coin)|sixpence]] whatever that is."<ref>The sixpence was the smallest coin in circulation, so the phrase was a [[hyperbole]] meaning that it had a tight turning radius.</ref> Gulbenkian had two such taxis built, the second of which was built on an FX4 chassis and was sold at auction by [[Bonhams]] for $39,600 in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22792/lot/42/|title=Bonhams The millionaire Paul Mellon wants to buy Gulbenkian's FX3, but Gulbenkian would not sell, but did allow Mellon to have replica built. This was also constructed by FLM Panelcraft, but on an FX4 chassis and was fitted with an American Ford 6-cylinder engine and automatic gearbox, as Mellon kept it in the USA: The ex-Nubar Gulbenkian,1960 AUSTIN FX4 BROUGHAM SEDANCA Chassis no. FX4AT033U010|website=www.bonhams.com}}</ref> Other celebrities are known to have used hackney carriages both for their anonymity and their ruggedness and manoeuvrability in London traffic. Users included [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]], whose cab was converted to run on [[liquefied petroleum gas]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3631.asp|title=Prince Philip's taxi|publisher=Royal.gov.uk|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016095223/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3631.asp|archive-date=16 October 2008}}</ref> author and actor [[Stephen Fry]],<ref>[http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/2008/10/10/stephen-fry-in-america ''Stephen Fry in America''], stephenfry.com, 10 October 2008.</ref> and the [[Sheriffs of the City of London]]. A black cab was used in the band [[Oasis (band)|Oasis's]] video for the song "[[Don't Look Back in Anger]]." Black cabs were used as recording studios for indie band performances and other performances in the [[Black Cab Sessions]] internet project.
-File:Hackney Carriage Black Cab Digital Advertising TaxiTop Eyetease.jpg|An example of an Eyetease digital screen on top of a hackney carriage
-File:14-08-09-london-taxi-RalfR-11.jpg|[[Primelocation]] livery
+''[[Ghosthunting With...]]'' featured a black cab owned by host of the show, [[Yvette Fielding]]. [[Bez (dancer)|Bez]] of the [[Happy Mondays]] owns one, shown on the UK edition of ''[[Pimp My Ride]]''. [[Noel Edmonds]] used a black cab to commute from his home to the ''[[Deal or No Deal]]'' studios in [[Bristol]].  He placed a dressed mannequin in the back so that he could use special bus/taxi lanes, and so that people would not attempt to hail his cab.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://uk.motor1.com/news/281925/noel-edmonds-taxi/ |title=Noel Edmonds dodged traffic by illegally driving a taxi in Bristol |work=motor1.com |date=30 November 2018 |access-date=2020-08-25}}</ref>
-File:14-08-09-london-taxi-RalfR-07.jpg|[[Vodafone]] livery
-File:14-08-09-london-taxi-RalfR-06.jpg|[[Vita Coco]] livery
+The official car of the Governor of the [[Falkland Islands]] between 1976 and 2010 was a London taxi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.20773 |title=Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falkland Islands|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=20 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806224821/http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.20773|archive-date=6 August 2011}}</ref>
-</gallery>
+===In other countries===
+[[File:Wetzikon - Bahnhofstrasse - Wildbach 2010-07-01 12-24-20 ShiftN savagely cropped.jpg|thumb|A London taxi (TXII model) in Switzerland]]
+Between 2003 and 1 August 2009 the London taxi model [[TXII]] could be purchased in the United States. Today there are approximately 250 TXIIs in the US, operating as taxis in San Francisco, [[Dallas]], [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], [[Houston]], [[New Orleans]], [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], [[Newport, Rhode Island]], [[Wilmington, North Carolina]] and [[Portland, Oregon]]. There are also a few operating in [[Ottawa|Ottawa, Ontario]], Canada. The largest London taxi rental fleet in North America is in Wilmington, owned by The British Taxi Company. There are London cabs in Saudi Arabia, Romania, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Cyprus, and in Israel, where a Chinese-made version of LTI's model [[TX4]] built by [[Geely Automobile]] is available. In February 2010, a number of TX4s started operating in [[Pristina]], [[Kosovo]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://unmik.unmissions.org/united-nations-resolution-1244 | title=United Nations Resolution 1244 | date=18 January 2016 }}</ref> and are known as London Taxi.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ben-Gedalyahu|first=Dubi|title=Eldan to sell Chinese 'London taxi'|newspaper=[[Globes (newspaper)|Globes]]|location=Tel Aviv|date=18 August 2009|url=http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/Eldan%20to%20sell%20Chinese%20%22London%20taxi%22_h_hd_2L34nDZ8oD5mnC30mD3amE3WvBcXqRMm0.html|access-date=18 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224182107/http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/Eldan%20to%20sell%20Chinese%20%22London%20taxi%22_h_hd_2L34nDZ8oD5mnC30mD3amE3WvBcXqRMm0.html|archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref>
+[[File:SHB786K - London Cab TX4 in Singapore, SMRT owned front view.jpg|thumb|A London taxi (TX4 model) in Singapore]]
+Singapore has used London-style cabs since 1992; starting with the "Fairway". The flag-down fares for the London Taxis are the same as for other taxis. [[SMRT Corporation]], the sole operator, had by March 2013 replaced its fleet of 15 ageing multi-coloured (gold, pink, etc.) taxis with new white ones. They are the only wheelchair-accessible taxis in Singapore, and were brought back following an outcry after the removal of the service.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
-In October 2011 the company Eyetease Ltd. introduced digital screens on the roofs of London taxis for dynamically changing location-specific advertising.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mark Prigg|title=The video screen coming to a cab near you|url=http://prigg.thisislondon.co.uk/2011/10/the-video-screen-coming-to-a-cab-near-you-soon.html|website=ThisIsLondon|publisher=London Evening Standard|access-date=17 July 2015|date=11 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231022422/http://prigg.thisislondon.co.uk/2011/10/the-video-screen-coming-to-a-cab-near-you-soon.html|archive-date=31 December 2011}}</ref>
+[[File:Bakutaxi.jpg|thumb|A London taxi (TX4 model) in Baku]]
+By 2011 a thousand of a Chinese-made version of LTI's latest model, TX4, had been ordered by Baku Taxi Company. The plan is part of a program originally announced by [[Ministry of Transportation (Azerbaijan)|Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transportation]] to introduce London cabs to the capital, [[Baku]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Meidment|first=Neil|title=Manganese Bronze seals biggest London taxi order|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-manganese-bronze-idUSTRE7225WO20110303|publisher=Reuters|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jaglom|first=Ben|title=Manganese takes black cab to Azerbaijan|url=http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1607588/manganese-takes-black-cab-to-azerbaijan.thtml|access-date=4 March 2011|archive-date=7 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307042107/http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1607588/manganese-takes-black-cab-to-azerbaijan.thtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> The move was part of a £16&nbsp;million agreement between the London Taxi Company and Baku Taxi Company.<ref>{{cite web|title=1,000 London taxis for Azerbaijan|url=http://business.scotsman.com/business/1000-London-taxis-for-Azerbaijan.6728118.jp|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=British firm wins £16m Azerbaijan order for its Chinese built taxis|url=http://www.worksmanagement.co.uk/article/31946/British-firm-wins-16m-Azerbaijan-order-for-its-Chinese-built-taxis.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505132109/http://www.worksmanagement.co.uk/article/31946/British-firm-wins-16m-Azerbaijan-order-for-its-Chinese-built-taxis.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref>
+[[File:TOYOTA JPNTAXI Nihonkotsu Taxi.jpg|thumb|A Nihon Kotsu Toyota JPN Taxi]]
+Although the [[LEVC TX]] is more expensive and exceeds the Japanese [[Vehicle size class#Japan|size classifications]] to gain the tax advantages Japanese livery drivers enjoy with the similarly designed but smaller Toyota JPN Taxi, [[Geely]] has attempted to break into the Japanese market.<ref name="LEVC Japan">{{cite news |last1=Mihalascu |first1=Dan |title=LEVC TX Electrified London Black Cab Lands In Japan, Targets Toyota's JPN Taxi |url=https://www.carscoops.com/2020/01/levc-tx-electrified-london-black-cab-lands-in-japan-targets-toyotas-jpn-taxi/ |publisher=Carscoops |date=17 January 2020}}</ref> Alternatively, while the [[Toyota JPN Taxi]] doesn't meet the passenger capacity or turning radius [[Conditions of Fitness]] required by [[Taxis of the United Kingdom#TfL Taxi and Private Hire office|Transport for London]], it does meet the emissions and [[accessibility]] requirements that may make it an ideal option for cities outside of London without the seating requirements or as a private hire vehicle while still evoking the familiar black cab profile.<ref name="JPN Taxi UK">{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Perry |title=The Toyota JPN Taxi: Changing the Asian landscape, can it change the UK's? |url=https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/2019/01/29/the-toyota-jpn-taxi-changing-the-asian-landscape-can-it-change-the-uk-s |publisher=Taxi Point |date=29 January 2019}}</ref>
-==Digital hailing==
+[[File:Beijing_London_Taxi.jpg|thumb|A London taxi in Beijing]]
-saw the launch of many digital hailing applications for hackney carriages that operate through smartphones, including [[GetTaxi]] and [[Hailo]]. Many of these applications also facilitate payment and tracking of the taxicabs.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
+During the [[2008 Olympic Games]], there were about 100 Hackney carriages operating in Beijing.
 == United Kingdom law ==
@@ Line 572: / Line 550: @@
 * [[Cabmen's Shelter Fund]]
 * [[Cabvision]]
-* [[Illegal taxicab operation]]
+* [[Illegal taxi operation]]
 * [[M4 bus lane]]
 * [[Toyota JPN Taxi]]
@@ Line 584: / Line 562: @@
 ==References==
 {{Reflist|30em}}
+== Further reading ==
+* {{Cite book |title=Omnibuses and Cabs : Their Origin and History |first=Henry Charles |last=Moore |year=1902 |publisher=[[Chapman & Hall]] |ol=6913211M}}
 ==External links==
-{{Commons category|Taxis of London}}
+{{Commons category|Hackney carriages}}
 {{EB1911 poster|Cab}}
-* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131105053341/http://fairwayownersclub.com/ Fairway Owners Club and Forum]
 * [https://www.bettertaxi.com/taxi-fare-calculator-united-kingdom/ Taxi fare calculator based on fares set by local authorities]
 * [https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/ Taxis and private hire] Transport for London Public Carriage Office

Hackney carriage: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 20:03, 22 June 2025

Contents

Etymology

History

Horse-drawn era

Motorisation

Continuing horse-drawn cab services

Driver qualification

Black cabs

Vehicle design

Variety of models

Notable private owners

In other countries

United Kingdom law

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Navigation menu

Hackney carriage: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 20:03, 22 June 2025

Etymology

History

Horse-drawn era

Motorisation

Continuing horse-drawn cab services

Driver qualification

Black cabs

Vehicle design

Variety of models

Notable private owners

In other countries

United Kingdom law

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Navigation menu

Search