Twenty-five thousand streets, 100,000 landmarks, 320 main routes criss-crossing the most congested city in Europe, all committed to memory. This is what it takes to drive one of London’s iconic black taxis.
Since 1865, London taxi drivers have had to pass “the Knowledge of London,” a gruelling training course that requires knowing every street within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross, the junction that intersects Whitehall and the Strand in the centre of the city. When a passenger hails a taxi and gives a destination, the driver will know where it is and the best way to get there, all without consulting a map or satnav. In addition to road names and directions, the driver will be familiar with every major point of interest.
“Now that can be a restaurant, a theatre, a hotel, a sports facility—obviously government buildings, public buildings … anything that the public is actually going to want to go to,” explains Derek O’Reilly, an experienced black cab driver and training manager at Knowledge Point School, the largest school for London’s taxi drivers.
More here – Motherboard
PS: Imagine that – a country where Taxi drivers know where they are going….INCONCEIVABLE…
