Comparing London to New York Taxi Drivers

Across the globe, the city taxi driver plies his trade, couriering the wayward traveler to his/her destination. As a tourist or newcomer to any big city, you will hope your taxi driver will know how to get you to your destination without driving you in circles or even - as has happened to me - ask you for directions.

New York, compared to London, is a fairly simple city to navigate. Or should I say Manhattan compared to the city of London. Much of this is in part due to the horrendously complicated street configurations that London has. Roads curve and twist. There are one way streets, roundabouts, crescents, and a plethora of tiny little roads that end almost as soon as they begin. This funky London Street layout can confound even the most experienced London Driver. Most of the City of London's roadways date back to at least Victorian era and many go back further than that to times when the idea of Motorized transportation would have been inconceivable. New York on the other hand managed to keep things simple. Streets basically running North/South and East/West with the occasional anomaly such as Broadway cutting across avenues but all in all a very easy city to traverse. Certainly if you're a tourist and you give your driver an address that includes either an Avenue or a Street Number then it will most likely be a simple commute. London tourists will have to rely on the London Taxi-Drivers Knowledge of the City to get to the myriad of oddly named streets.

Because of the complexity and difficulty of the London taxi driver's job a standardized test was set up for all aspiring taxi drivers. My respect for the London Taxi driver really soared when I learned exactly how much work has to go into studying for and passing this exam. The exam/test is called 'The Knowledge" and has been in effect since 1865. It involves an intimate knowledge of some 25,000 London Streets, including Theatres, Hospitals, Hotels etc. all within a 6 mile radius of 'Charing Cross'. That's basically every single street in London. As well as this they need to have a good knowledge of all the arterial main roads leading into London. Needless to say this is a time-consuming affair and can take from 2-4 years to learn according to how much time the would-be taxi-driver has to spare to run the routes, something that is usually done on a motorbike/moped. No need for speed here. With your clipboard and route in hand you traverse all these streets day after day after day, doing your best to commit them to memory. This must certainly require an aptitude the likes of which I certainly don't possess. The final test are both written and oral which means you have to think on your feet in real-time, just as you would have to do in real-life if you're passenger is giving you an address or asking a question. Becoming a London taxi driver takes a commitment of time and energy I can't image New York Taxi-Drivers have to face in getting their licenses.

An interesting factoid associated with the 'Knowledge'. According to the BBC, the 'University of London' has run tests that show that the part of the brain called the 'Hippocampus' in the grey matter actually grows simply because of immense storage of all this information. This is the part of the brain controlling navigation and certainly serves as proof of to just how difficult the 'Knowledge' test is that the brain has to physically accommodate this information in this way. So, the next time your on holiday and you hail a Black London Taxi save a thought for all the work the poor guy/gal's put into it getting to be a Taxi Driver. If they are ameniable see if you can stump them perhaps by giving them a weird address or location, likely as not you won't be able to.