As I was leaving a London club early in the morning today, I noticed the huge line of illegal cabs waiting for customers.

I can't count the number of times I've had cars stop out of the blue and their driver asking me if I needed a ride.

< meanwhile the one legal cab I found refused to take me >

Any comment from our Londoners? Isn't this activity on the rise? Do you use them?

You would have to be crazy to do so, particularly if you are a woman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...on/3114059.stm

Scary... although the probability of getting one of these hyper-sickos is slim enough.

The London Mayor decided to deal with the issue of illegal minicabs by regulating and legalising them.

Details are at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/ and still forbid touting for business on the streets, but do regularise the industry to some extent.

That said, I'd never take one off the street, and I certainly wouldn't recommend a single woman takes one.

Regular taxi fares (aka black cabs) have been adjusted several times since the Mayor came to power - first they went up significantly in the evenings, which meant that cab drivers earned enough in the early evening so they didn't have to work late nights; the evening rates have now been reduced again to persuade drivers to work later.

Addison Lee can provide a car just about anywhere in London on 10 minutes notice. During peak times (e.g. 1am on a Saturday night) the wait can be longer, but the cars can be booked in advance.

They're reliable, they're clean, they're insured, the drivers speak English, and the cabs all have GPS so they never get lost. They're slightly cheaper than black cabs during the day, and significantly cheaper at night.

I have a friend who was injured in an uninsured minicab. It's been a nightmare. Ever since then, it's black cabs or reputable, insured firms for me.

It may be my North Face jacket and American accent, but every time I've asked a minicab driver for a price quote, it was either the same as or actually more than the black cab price. Maybe I could get the price down if I stood there and negotiated for twenty minutes, but it's easier to just get a black cab. For longer trips, black cab drivers are often willing to negotiate flat rates below meter; I don't know if that's allowed or if they're dodging taxes or whatever.

The only time I've ever really used them was with a group, late at night when we needed to catch a "last train" or something and nothing else was available.

I did pick one up from Heathrow once I'm ashamed to say - I asked for Chelsea and he had no idea where it was - but he quoted me a fare! He didn't even know if it was towards London or not and I ended up having to direct him because we were off airport property before I realised I was in the Twilight Zone.

S.

Yeah, there's a lot of them about, particularly in areas that the black cabs don't like to serve (such as where I live in South London). Fortunately, I've got a very good local minicab company (their only annoying feature is turning up too early for airport runs, when I'm still in the shower ), but otherwise... You're stuck with what you can get. Clapham Junction, Clapham and Brixton are particularly bad for this.

I've taken them a few times, in groups, and they've been fine. I would never get in one alone. Wherever I am in the world, one rule applies to taxi journeys: only ever get in one you've asked for yourself. If they approach you, the chances of a rip-off (or worse) tend to be greatly increased.

The situation's not as bad as some other places. Amsterdam, for example, allows any old mupped to stick a 'taxi' sign on the roof, and charge pretty much what they want. There are (or have been) 'mafia' operations outside several major hotels, and sweeps at Schiphol have uncovered a scary amount of firearms in the taxis. JFK is pretty bad for touts, as can be Roissy at times. The good thing about the London situation is that you can see exactly what you're getting. A black cab is a black cab, a reputable minicab is something else, and a 'gypsy cab' something else entirely.

The problem has got 'worse' over the last few years. I have probably only used them 3/4 times as an in extremis solution (or when a late night curry/bagel is needed). To date, I've had no problems and normally manage to haggle a good-ish fare.

Given the general scarity of black cabs late at night, it's either a 'minicab' or the Fright bus. Neither are that appealing. But that is the state of public transport in London today, sadly.

Actually, never had a problem with transport in London, including the night bus. I have 2 tube lines to get me to work, and it takes me 15 minutes. I can get to most rail termini in half an hour, and airports in an hour (35 mins for LCY). I have about 40 bus routes to choose from, and 5 at night, one running at a 10-minute interval. The night buses are generally busy, clean and CCTV-secured. I use them regularly, and have only ever seen one problem (but that was just drunked bravado).

Maybe we're better off South of the River

I went to Turnmills a few weeks ago with Kirstin and a friend of mine from school, we left at 4.30am and there were no black cabs.

We got accosted and followed by some illegal minicab guys, though as Jonny is from London we hobbled (poor Kirstins feet were so blistered) round to St Pauls and caught a night bus that was meant to go to Bow Road or Bow Church though we ended up in Leytonstone obviously heading the wrong way. We got off the bus at around 5am and waited around in the bloody freezing cold and by chance a cab went by. Cost us �12 to get back

[This message has been edited by fbgdavidson (edited Jan 26, 2004).]

As you learned (or should have learned) when you were a kid, never get into a stranger's car.

If I know where I am going and it is a reasonably long trip I would want to negotiate a flat rate. But some taxi drivers have to account for all the miles driven, making it difficult for them to offer discount rates under the meter rate. (Other taxi drivers "rent" the cab for a flat rate from the dispatcher each day and can arrange anything they want.)

Do illegal cabs show up in the cab line at the airport? I would hope not, particularly since if I am next in the passenger line and an illegal cab is next in the cab line I would reject it and expect the next cab to take me.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm


[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited Jan 26, 2004).]

AllanJ - most London 'minicabs' operate without meters, on a negotiated fare. Only the black cabs are metered. This varies place to place...

In major airports, it's pretty rare for illegal cabs to get to the official taxi rank, but then that depends on the airport. Places like PRG and BUD don't really have official taxi ranks, but rather 'Dispatchers' for private companies. LHR and LCY are the only airports in Greater London, so are restricted to 'licenced hackney carriages'.

And, of course, how valuable this is depends on local legislation for taxi licencing. If you're effectively allowed to stick a taxi sign on your roof and take fares, then you're not 'illegal', but how reliable and safe are you?

You could always try Zingo...

I have: many, many times. Generally, the triangulation fails (seeing as the cells overlap so much in Central London). So you give your details to an operator. And then, nothing. No cab in a suitable distance at all.

Seems the uptake with the drivers themselves is pretty low (surprising, seeing as they can only really make money from it...) So the only times and places it's useful are... When and where there's a shedload of taxis already kicking about. Give it time, it will work eventually. Just not yet.