How Taxi Drivers BUMP Up The Meter!

The taximeter is a mythical device, but its operation is simple.
In this video I share the true motivations of a taxi driver.

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Simon Hindle, Vintage Taxi Meter working

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00:00 - Intro
00:23 - Going Around the Houses
01:10 - Taximeter History
02:07 - Functions of a Meter
03:16 - The Proof of Efficiency
05:02 - 2 multipliers to Efficiency
05:14 - 1. Flag Fall
06:28 - 2. Tips
07:09 - Short vs Long Journey
09:12 - The London Cabbie ADVANTAGE

[TomtheTaxiDriver]

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[jamesburchell]

As an ex yellow badge driver, I would love to see a episode of you and a surburban driver talking about the differences of the job. Plus I don’t think the general public realise that there are two types of badges out there.

[zivkovicable]

The "Sorry I don't go south of the river", is probably rarer these days, but for South Londoners of a certain age, that has still stuck in our minds & we got used to using more welcoming alternatives.

[vmc]

I drove a taxi cab driver for 22 years and it was a great job. Our meters were highly regulated. They were checked every 6 months. SW Ohio area.

[thomasbeaman]

The TAX MAN is going to LOVE this guy !!! Good luck to ALL the taxi drivers out there !!!

[JohnMitch]

Around 3 years to learn the knowledge, cost of a Taxi, insurance, rising fuel costs makes me wonder why anyone would want to go into the London licensed taxi trade

[sparky]

Tom, you forgot the £4 extras on Xmas and New Year! "There is an extra charge of £4 for journeys made between 20:00 on 24 December and 06:00 on 27 December and between 20:00 on 31 December and 06:00 on 2 January." - tfl.

[Shyted]

Coming to London in March, your videos will encourage me to use taxis.

[Liberty_Freedom_Brotherhood]

When I worked as a mortgage adviser, almost all my taxi driver clients coincidentally declared exactly the maximum 0% income tax threshold.

Good for avoiding taxes, not so good when trying to borrow £200k to buy a house 😂

[MorfMusic]

I love how much this guy sounds like you’d expect a British taxi driver to sound like

In the best way. I like this channel

[vjary]

Liked the analogy of being a cab driver to turning tables in a restaurant, makes total sense. The more jobs you can turn around the greater the potential income, however as you say your day is governed by time, so
i) Are their any legalities on how long you can drive each day, ii) Are you required to stop for set breaks and iii) Can you just keep on going till you've had enough for the day?

[leshoath]

There is no reason why you can’t own your taxi meter. As far as I know, London is the only incensing district where meters are rented but not a legal requirement.
The flag-fall is made up of an initial hire charge (£2.80), plus two 20p elements (40p) equals £3.20.
If you were to only take each journey for £3.20 the flag-fall a distance of 227 metres on rate 1 with no dead mileage between, you would earn £22.80 per mile.

[fallchiron]

Tom, love your videos. Would love to suggest a video about 'Black Cabbie Traditions / Unwritten rules.' For instance you hear about Great Ormund Street hospital fares for children being waived - maybe there are more of these out there?

[TheSebastian]

But Tom, that is assuming you get one job after another
If it comes to a quiet period (say 8/8:30pm) there is an incentive to run up the meter by going further when you know that there’s a low likelihood of getting a new job in the next 30 or so minutes, plus you also haven’t shown us how quickly the meter goes when you’re not at a standstill but when the wheels are actively turning

[richardkaberry]

Tom I’ve had a couple of experiences where a cabbie has said “I don’t know where that is” when asking to go somewhere outside the central area (e.g.Barking). I guess that’s like “I don’t go south of the river.” Shame cos you have to find an alternative to a black cab when that happens.

[nadim]

I'd agree Tom, great video. It's in the cab drivers best interest to get customers quick, the more £3.20 they get per shift, the better. Wish i was allowed to use bus lanes 😪. Was stuck in traffic on commercial road when tower bridge didn't want to shut. Just watched all the black cabs going down the bus lane

[raindog]

In our Town there were two popular spots for drinkers about a mile apart, the fare was 3.80, everyone gave you 5.00, we were literally up and down for about 4/5 hours on a Fri/Sat... consequently nobody would take a fare longer than a mile as every mile after the first mile was 1.00, so you lost money on the longer fares, we were Hackney so we recommended the customer rang private hire. Bad I know, but 300 a night was better than 200 a night.

[keithrussell]

It would be nice to to use a Hackney but on Wednesday I seen a head on between a cab and a car in Bethnal Green in which the crash was at fault of the car not the cabbie. I do hope that the cab was empty at the time and the cabbie wasn't injured in any way. The cab looked similar to your one and sadly going to be written off I also hope that the cabbie will ASAP get a new Hackney and plowing his trade again.

[airplane]

£3.20 is about $3.68 to $4 USD which I thought would be higher than I thought. It be nice taxi drivers let people know beginning fare is and or a idea on what estimate fare be at when done, before the meter start. Time is money

[Moloko_b]

Interesting stuff, Tom lad. I’ve always felt a bit guilty getting short taxi journeys tbh but the one thing I was gonna ask is, isn’t there like special rates on the meter? Like if you pick up after a certain time or working certain days like Christmas Day/Boxing Day? That sort of thing? Also, there were some shady taxi drivers here taking advantage of people going the match (Liverpool and Everton’s ground ) from Liverpool City Centre, charging way over the odds for fares. Sad really because they spoil it for the hard working taxi drivers like yourself out there. Take it easy and safe journeys 👍🏻