Taxi drivers make excellent tour guides. We know London like nobody else. When a taxi driver is your tour guide, you know you will be seeing the top sights, hearing the most relevant facts, and getting between locations as quickly as possible. We do so much more than just drive – we can park up, show you around, take you to the destinations you want to see and give you the full London experience.
Your driver guide will know London in a way that only a professional driver can. Shortcuts, secret locations, facts galore… nothing is beyond the realms of a taxi driver’s knowledge. This is why taxi drivers make such good guides. If you think you will just be sat in a taxi all day, think again (unless you want to be, of course! If you want to sit back, relax and enjoy the sights, just tell us).
Our guides all have different specialisms and can offer you a vast array of tours. This is one of the things that make us unique as a tour company – we have such an amazing pool of talent. Most taxi drivers work alone, but we have gathered together a group of individuals who do more than just drive. Your driver will also be your personal guide for the day, showing you the sights and tailoring your tour to make sure it meets your individual interests.
London has the world's oldest regulated taxi service, with a great tradition of quality, value and safety. Our taxi drivers must pass the world-famous Knowledge of London, and our taxi and private hire drivers must pass Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (previously known as a Criminal Records Bureau, or CRB checks), as well as medical fitness checks.
Black taxis are purpose-built vehicles which can be any colour, not just black. Private hire vehicles cover a wide range of vehicles, including minicabs, chauffeur and executive cars and limousines.
Have a 'for hire' light on their roof. This means they can be hailed on the street or from a taxi rank
Must carry assistance dogs free of charge and are 100% wheelchair accessible. Taxis have an induction hearing loop, high-visibility grab handles, and minimum vehicle dimensions for safer access; and must carry wheelchair users. Find out more
Have fares which are regulated and set by us and are calculated by meter (known as the taximeter
If you want to know if the taxi and driver you're using is licensed by us, these are the things to look out for:
Drivers must have a badge and they must wear it while working. A badge shows that they have passed the Knowledge of London exam. Drivers with a green badge are licensed to pick passengers up anywhere in London and drivers with a yellow badge specialise in local suburban areas
Your driver must display one of these licences in the front and rear windscreens of their taxi. This licence shows the driver's badge number. If it is green, it means that you have an All London taxi driver and if it is yellow, your driver can work in local suburban areas.
As well as the driver's badge number, your taxi must display this white plate on the back of the vehicle. As well as the vehicle's licence number, it shows the licence expiry date, vehicle registration number, and number of passengers the vehicle is licensed to carry.
Must be pre-booked through a TfL-licensed private hire operator, who must provide a booking confirmation to a passenger before their journey starts; the booking confirmation must contain, as a minimum:
Must give you an accurate fare estimate before your journey starts (unless you've pre-agreed a fixed fare). We don't regulate private hire fares, although they are typically distance based
Must carry assistance dogs free of charge, and if they are designated as wheelchair accessible vehicles must carry wheelchair users. Find out more
If you want to know if the vehicle and driver you're using is licensed by us, there are a number of things to look out for:
Private hire drivers must wear their ID, like this, while working. This shows the driver's name, photo and licence number.
Private hire vehicles must have licence discs displayed on the front and rear windscreens. They will show: the TfL licence number, licence expiry date, vehicle's registration number, and the number of passengers the vehicle is allowed to carry. Vehicles and drivers are licensed separately, so make sure to check both.
Sometimes, private hire vehicles will have a pre-booked sticker on display. This is optional and should not be taken as proof that it is a licensed vehicle.
Orlando ground transportationTaxi and private hire drivers are obliged to carry assistance dogs for no extra charge. Our taxis are also wheelchair accessible, and enable the user to travel easily around London - find out more.
If a taxi driver helps you to enter or leave their vehicle, or secure your wheelchair in the passenger compartment, they should not leave the meter running. Drivers who refuse to help with wheelchairs or assistance dogs face prosecution. If this has happened to you, please contact us.
Black taxis are designed with a range of accessibility features specifically included to help disabled and elderly customers. These include: an induction hearing loop, high visibility grab handles and minimum vehicle dimensions to enable safe access.
Pick-Up Point: Write the address of the pick-up point on the bottom of the screen under “PICK UP” or drag the yellow pin on the map to the desired location and the system will autocomplete the address.
Set Pick-Up: Once the pick-up location has been chosen, press the yellow “SET PICK UP” button on the bottom of the screen.
Hailing: You can always choose to hail the vehicle that you want just by tapping its icon on the map. Once you tap on the vehicle, you will see the name of the taxi company, type of vehicle, driver name, and the license plate of the vehicle.
Destination: Next you will set the drop-off address. At the bottom of the screen under “DROP OFF” type in your destination address and tap the yellow “SET DROP OFF” button.
Destination: Next you will set the drop-off address. At the bottom of the screen under “DROP OFF” type in your destination address and tap the yellow “SET DROP OFF” button.
Vehicle Type/Taxi Company: Tap the yellow taxi icon to choose the taxi company and vehicle type that you would like to book. You can even add a message to the driver such as the number of bags you have or any other important information.
Date & Time: Select whether you want to book a taxi right away (asap) or reserve one for a specific time and date.
When you book, the app confirms that the booking has been made and shows all the details of your ride, like the price and the assigned driver and vehicle.
Under “My Trips,” the app also saves the history of all your bookings so you can see all of the rides that you have booked from your account.
Your booked trips that have not been taken yet will be shown under “Open” and will show all of the details of your future ride(s).
Your previous rides will be shown under “Closed” along with information including the trip duration, price paid, the vehicle and driver you rode with, and the date and time of the ride.
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Taking a taxi in Almaty has finally become a more streamlined and painless process but not without a lot of trial and error over the years. This Almaty taxi guide will instruct you on how to successfully take a taxi in the Kazakhstan city as well as give advice to ensure you don’t put yourself in harmful situations like I have endured in the past. It will also give you a couple of apps to help you successfully take a taxi in Almaty.
Taking a taxi in Almaty has been a huge learning curve for me over the years. In fact, the Almaty taxi situation was the main reason I left Kazakhstan a bit early in 2016 when I lived here for the latter part of the year.