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its an good idea,but this will only when london minicab driver bring their prices down to earth. I was a mini cab driver in london for 2 years but i still think that prices are to high on mini cab. Good luck Black cab boys. I`m a mini cab driver but in croydon.

- Syed, croydon

Daytime: Edgware tube to Soho in a mini cab: £22.00. Black cab to Soho - not a single one would take me. Soho to Edgware tube at night - £28.00. Black cab to Edgware tube at night - not a single one would take me. The black cabs want short runs at high rates, they take you around the back streets, "Faster, mate" to run up their meters and then you HAVE to give them a tip.

Good things about black cabs: the drivers speak English, the cabs are always clean. But if they won't take you, those points are irrelevant.


- Jojo, Middx

I couldn't agree more with Thomas the taxi! I work nights and struggle to ply for hire on a street where I am the only taxi with his light on.
Th real menace is these clipboard johnnies operating outside clubs. Three girls going to St Johns Wood and West End Lane from Movida......£17.40 on rate three in my brand new cab!! Guess how much clipboard johnnie quotes! £45 pound!!!!!
One final thing for you all to ponder on.
Go to the website of London's largest minicab company and get an online quote from the Tower of London to Chigwell. I promise you it is cheaper on our most expensive tariff in a taxi.

- Ian The Taxi, Chigwell

Every time we see a story like this, the Private hire trade, their family and friends make posts accusing the Taxi trade of failing to be available in the west end after midnight. This might fool the people that don’t come to the west end. But the folks who are about, in the west end will testify there are always cabs to be found. Since the new Licensing laws were introduced there is no big rush at closing time. The mini cab touts will have to find a new myth to perpetuate. This one is as false as “ mini cabs are cheaper”.

- Thomasthetaxi, London

Said booking booth has a twenty quid minimum fare, liberty!

- Les, London

Is John of Westminster for real??? He wants somebody to be available to take him less than a mile in a £36,ooo taxi at 3am on a sunday morning and charge less than £6. Try calling a plumber at that time,mate....or save the environment and walk!!!

- Mark, london uk

im sure the public all believe taxi drivers are big money makers, im sure its the same in london as it is here in australia,its barely a living and i dont blame the black cabbies for trying to protect the little income they get,drivers in austalia get 45% of what they turn over, if you take home $100 a day your lucky, then pay tax and g.s.t. (vat). by the way if you convert $100 into stirling we get about 45 pounds a day gross, so wake up people taxi drivers are just living day to day

- Noel Waters, gold coast australia

This seems to be a problem that has no end! People just want a taxi when they need it, period!

Nevertheless, it is important that people book minicabs only through a licensed operator via telephone or office.

Surprisingly, www.CallTOConnect.co.uk solves this problem by connecting people to licensed minicab operators via 02070001998. The number asks you to enter the postcode of where you want a minicab from, followed by the # key, and immediately the caller is connected to an operator in the postcode entered.
I find it to be really superb !

- Richard, London

It's no wonder these black cabbies have got the hump. They spend up to 5 years doing the knowledge only to have these minicab drivers come along and threaten their livelihood.

The minicab rank is illegal, simple. If Westminster council want it to stay then they need to go through the proper steps to get the law changed. Until then it must go. We can't have councils just breaking laws when they see fit.

Oh yeah by the way the bloke who said it cost him £6 for that short journey. Let's not forget that it costs nearly £2 minimum fare on a bus! so maybe black cabs are not the only highway robbers!! (and also I don't think it's the cabbies that set the fares either, that's TFL unless I'm mistaken)

- Dave, Grays, Essex.

In this recession there are plenty of cabbies out at night and will be more in the next few months.Mini cab touts charge twice as much as black cabs as for the chap who payed £6.20 from St Thomas hosp to Marsham st late one night how mean can you be is that exspensive no a minicab has a £5 pickup charge for starters.Get real Londoners wake up and smell the coffee.

- Michael Francis, Fethiye

Taxicabs cannot serve the whole market - there are almost none of them around after 11.30pm and they get very choosy about where they'll go.

They're dinosaurs and don't exactly excel themselves with their calmness nowadays... some of the most aggressive (and, to cyclists, dangerous) driving in the daytime in London is by them.

And may I mention that there are occasions when I've stood with friends of black descent hailing a cab, and taxis only stopping when I'm doing the hailing?? And my friends are meant to accept their line that the drivers are professionals and can choose who they stop for. Well, sorry, might that not be ignoring the laws and the prevailing attitudes in this country about access to services. You just do not get that with licensed minicabs because you have the knowledge that it is prebooked.

All the above is why we need a more diverse taxicab driver pool. Oh but let's remember the LTDA protested last year about measures to increase ethnic minority takeup of driver training. Beeping their horns outside the LDA offices in southwark and saying lots of generous and openminded things to the press along the lines of "I got where I am today without any leg up so why should anyone else".

- Colin, london

I fully support the scheme by Westminster - The black cab drivers have got a cheek. If you could get a black cab at night in the West End then I'd see their point - but you can't.

If you saw as many cabs in the West End at night as you saw during the day yesterday - then there wouldn't be a problem.

The black cab drivers want it all thei own way - the sooner more of these private hire schems are introduced the better!

- David, London

I understand the black cabs being angry of the fact that blaggers// touters are taking there custom away altho when a black cab driver see a person drunk on the way on there journey they just drive by.

Altho this protest was not right as this caused major disruption to people in general. Even genuine Licenced mini cabs with fares booked from tthere office going into the west end was disrupted yet they was doin an honest living day of work.

So all the mini cabs are not to blame even at some offices i have seen out of the west end blaggers come and take fares from outside there office there is nothing we can do it is down to the law.

Most of the genuine mini cab drivers cannot stand blaggers.

For instant a lady in holloway alone walkin no black cabs in that area mini cab drives by she flags it down what the mini cab has to drive by no some times you have to do it!!

- Caroline, ec1

Often I would be travelling back from work and require a taxi from Central London home, to be honest i would say that 80% of Black Cabs would always insist that it's too far for them (9miles) so therefore I now only use minicabs.

- Adrian, Wembley, London

i drive a minicab and tout everyday iam phv driver for a firm in westend i can nick work of the streets because their aint any one to stop you i can pick which job i want and charge as much as i like thankx boris.

- Fred Walker, london

In answer to John from Westminster, Stand and deliver. Your money or your wife. Aaargh!

- Village, London

I live in paddington when I get a black cab from were I work in soho I am charge £9.60 by the meter. a mini cab wants to charge me £25

- Hen, London w2

Westminster City Council is just doing what it wants and is not listening to anyone. I hope the black cabs will win this battle.
They are even charging scooters and motorcycles for parking now and no one was consulted. There will be a lot more blockades in ths borough if they do not start to listen to what poeple want.

- Thierry Muller, Balham, London

As i understand it, The Knowledge is all about, not just knowing London but also character assesment and fitness for the job, thats why there is a 70+% drop out rate in the Knowledge.
Are Sat nav's now so advanced they can judge a good character ?

- Alistair, London

I agree with Dave from White City. It's rare for a black cab to be found in the West End of London late at night and I think the scheme being piloted is a great idea. It will cut down the number of people using illegal minicab companies and it's a far safer (and cheaper) option.

- Victoria, London

i love black cabs they no were there going and you feel safe.When my daughter goes out i no she is safe coming back in a london cab.Yes it is some times hard to find a cab at night but that is only two hours of the night the rest of the evening all you see is yellow lights , there is not a shortage at night just a couple of very busy hours when everyone comes out on the streets trying to get home

- Terry, london

I use mini's every time I visit London (yearly at least). I like setting fare terms before even getting into the taxis. Black Cab drivers have been arrogant and one took me to the wrong address and ranted and raved at other drivers--even hitting the fender of another car.

- Ginger White, Arizona USA

I am appalled that all Westminster Council are doing is allowing mini cabs to pick up off the street - there has always been a clear demarkation between the two and this is not a good option - with a black cab you get a metered fare and if you ask any of them they can give you a rough estimate of how much it will cost - as with any trade there are good and bad - but the mini cabs are never clean and they charge you way more - and in this weather black cabs are sturdier and disabled friendly - not something a mini cab can boast! - I wonder how much your previous commentator has paid by both mini cab and black taxi for the same journey - I would bet that the taxi is cheaper!!The few "older" cabbies that won't go south are few and far between now - and that used to be the biggest problem for me - credit crunch time - they will take you where you want and no worrying about getting in and out - the doors and layout are so easy...

- Deborah, London

Ah how well I remember when we first started up our mini-cab business in Tottenham N. London, way back in the sixties. Great fun competing with the black cabs. We still had to have commercial insurance and we got ours (for 100 pounds) from that company on the Great West road that went bust and the proprietors fled back to India, or was it Cyprus, as millionaires. I had two cars. One was a big old Austin Princess. I used to put on a chauffeur's cap and do all the wedding jobs. Heady days.

- Jon Vickers, SC USA

If he really wants to get people home safely at night, he would do better to tow away the many illegal minicab touts who park wherever they like and bring traffic to a standstill, which would then allow the black cabs to get into the West End to where they are needed.

- Bill Anbadge, Kingston, London

Hear Hear Daniel. This is just protectionism of Balck cabs nothing less. They are over priced and as a consumer why should I be forced into the extortionate prices of black cabs and not have the choice of a registered mini cab? The fact they have done the knowledge is irrelevant to me I know how to get home and just want to do it without too long for a reasonable price. Also I have been in a Black Cab that was using a Sat Nav - so much for the knowledge!

- Janine, London

I never ever use black cabs any more. Way over-priced, miserable grumpy drivers. I use a really efficient upmarket licensed mini cab firm. You black cabbies have priced yourselves out of the market. Drop your prices, grow a smile, get a life.

- Annabelle, london

Black cabs are over-priced and limited in availability. You can never find one going the right way after 10pm. The need for the Knowledge has been superceded by sat-nav technology. It's about time more mini-cabs were allowed to work legally in Central London. I'd welcome more ranks across the entire capital

- Dave, White City, London

Last Sunday morning at 3am, a black cab charged me £6.20 to travel from St, Thomas's hospital (where my wife had been admitted) to Marsham Street, a distance of 0.8 miles.

Cabbies are the new highwaymen!

- John, Westminster

Minicabs are not cheaper though!! Me and my friends came out of a bar in Leicester square at 2am. Minicabs were quoting £60 from there to Holloway. We took a black cab which came to £18 with 2 drop offs. Big difference.

I've noticed a lot minicab drivers almost bullying you to get into there cars when you come out of clubs/bars following you around shouting "minicab minicab" at you. The public decide who to use.

If someone in a car pulled up alongside you monday morning saying "Do you want a lift you?" would tell them where to go. What is the difference then when a minicab driver does exactly the same thing on fri/sat night. There isn't any.

That is the main reason why I never get in the minicabs who tout for customers. You have no clue who they are and they charge way over the top.

- Andrew, London

Black cabs are a London icon, but they are just too scarce weekend evenings/nights. The battle they are trying to fight was lost nearly forty years ago. Minicabs are here to stay, at present they outnumber the black cabs two to one and they provide a service that black cabs either can't or won't. Anybody tried booking a black cab on the telephone from coldharbour lane to go to camberwell green. It won't happen. Also minicab companies respond to the market eg. I can call any one of a number of minicab companies and book a car with my credit card, black cabs are not in this market at all.
One solution to get black cabs out when they are scarce ie. saturday night/sunday morning would be to take away rate 3 monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday when there are plenty of cabs to cover the work and then they would have to work saturdays. Or, actively promote the knowledge of london to increase the number of cabs out there. At the same time we should make an offence of being carried in an unlicensed vehicle, to stop the touts once and for all. If the passengers were committing an offence too it would soon stop.

- Charlie Blue, london

I have some sympathy with the cab drivers, but have experienced some difficulty in the past getting to north London using a cab. For this reason I always leave central London well before 9pm, and advise my friends and friends who are potential tourists to do the same. It's chaos after 12. And forget about the night buses.

- Mark Wright, Milan, Italy

Brilliant idea. I hope it becomes permanent. I only ever get grief from black cab drivers, and Mark Lee is right - it is impossible to get one after 10pm - in stark contrast to NYC - they are also way over price.

- Ben Farrell, London

taxis, are too expensive,outdated and their to serve the well off ,and the naive tourist.the ordinary londoner cant afford their inflated fares. people should have more transport choices in london why the special treatment??.

- Daniel Powell, United Kingdom

Good luck to the Black Cab Drivers.

They have to study for years on the knowledge to get their badge, why should a fly by night be allowed to rank up at a bus stop, no doubt with a sat nav as a guide!

- Denise, London UK

Westminster are spot on with their comment "We would welcome ideas from black cab drivers on how to increase their availability in the West End.”

Black Cabs are fantastic, and I would choose one over a minicab any day of the week. BUT it's near-on impossible to find a black cab in central London at twelve, one, or two in the morning. Then, when you do manage to find one, invariably you get the whole "I'm not going south of the river at this time of the night mate" line.

I'm quite happy to see measures to support the black cab trade - but if, and only if, cabbies up their game and are more numerous late at night.

- Mark Lee, Vauxhall

Yesterday I saw a blue taxicab follow a cyclist south along Waterloo Bridge, tailgate him for a few seconds, then quickly swerve out and fishtail him. Whatever the taxi man thinks the cyclist did, or should have done, this was putting the cyclist's life in jeopardy for what I imagine must have been some perceived infraction of the rules, or that the taxi man thought the cyclist had slowed him down.

If you want Londoners to distinguish between yourself and often lawless minicabs, you need to start obeying the law - stay out of cyclist boxes at red lights and don't drive intimidatingly, to bully cyclists. They have every right to be on the road.

I am happy to pay more for a civilised passenger experience, but cabbies need to make more effort, otherwise we will go for the cheaper option. I do realise most cabbies have respect for cyclists, but you really need to build a shame culture with some top down leadership, fast, to avoid more reputational damage.

- Reg, London

Minicabs have got exemptions from parking restrictions in the West End. Taxis get tickets for letting people use ATMs, and when using toilets. Westminster Council have a campaign of victimising Black cab drivers.They have put 'out of order' signs on meters by the toilets in Horseferry Road that taxi drivers use and have stationed 3 Parking Attendants there. These Parking Attendants will stand laughing and joking with mini cab drivers parked on double yellow and red lines all over the Borough. The public should be aware that just because a mini cab has a licensed sticker, you are still not insured if your journey has not been booked through an office.(In case of an accident).

- Brian Storm, London

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