London taxis are the best!

It is offical, iconic black cabs are number one

By TTM on 04 August 2010 in News

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London taxis have been voted the best in the world for the third year running. This is according to the annual taxi report compiled by Hotels.com.

The majority of travellers (59%) polled across the world said that London’s black cabs were by far and away the pick of the world’s taxis.

Despite also being named the most expensive, London’s taxi drivers fared the best across a number of categories including friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving and knowledge of the area.

London’s taxis beat off competition from New York (favourite amongst 27% of travellers and up 10% compared with last year) and Tokyo (which narrowly came third with 26% of the vote.) The Hotels.com survey found that the German city of Berlin and capital of Thailand, Bangkok, famed for its tuk tuk taxis completed the top 5.

The top ten cities in the world for taxis

Rank	City	% of votes
1	London	59%
2	New York	27%
3	Tokyo	26%
4	Berlin	17%
5	Bangkok	14%
6	Madrid	14%
7	Copenhagen	11%
8	Dublin	11%
9	Frankfurt	10%
10	Paris	10%

Travelling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travellers have upon arrival in a new city, so it is significant for the UK capital’s tourist industry that London taxis are making such a good impression on visitors.

In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of travel from airport to hotel. The majority (55%) of UK travellers said that they regularly take a cab to their hotel when arriving in a foreign city or resort, as opposed to 16% who tend to use a private car, or 14% who prefer to venture onto a train.

The global poll scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability. The overall findings include:

London taxi drivers are the friendliest in the world: Beating taxi drivers across the globe with 8% of the global vote. London black cab drivers beat their Irish (6%) rivals to the title of the world’s most friendly taxi drivers.

Service without a smile in Paris and New York: Clearly with less of a focus on customer service, 12% voted Parisian and New York taxi drivers the rudest in the world.

Roman cabbies are the worst drivers: Almost one in ten travellers (9%) think the Italian capital boasts the world’s worst taxi drivers when it comes to the quality of driving.

It’s all about the knowledge: it’s no surprise that the infamous “knowledge” – a rigorous examination passed by all black cab drivers in London – means a third (36%) voted London taxi drivers as having the best knowledge of their city.

New York, New York: Those heading to the Big Apple will not have to wait long for a car. One in five travellers voted them the most available taxis on the planet.

“A friendly, knowledgeable taxi driver helps form a positive first impression and they are most definitely an important part of any country’s tourism industry.

Bob Oddy, General Secretary of the London Taxi Drivers Association, commented: “Taxi surveys are fast becoming a one horse race. I can’t recall any independent research during recent years which has not placed London cabbies top of the list. I’m confident that the vigorous Knowledge of London training which our drivers are required to undertake is the bedrock of our success.”

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