"psychedelic and dance-pop music including the influences of acts such as The Who, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Queen, Genesis, Talking Heads, The Bee Gees, and Vangelis's film scores. The EP also includes two dance remixes which showcase contemporary influences such as Radiohead and Daft Punk. Black Taxi (band) Black Taxi is a rock band that formed in Brooklyn in 2007. The band is considered one of New York City's premier live acts, and consistently sells out venues along the East Coast. To date the band has released three full-length albums, ""Things of That Nature"" (2009), ""We Don't Know"
"be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger's request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on satellite navigation or asking a controller by radio. Consequently, the ""Knowledge of London"" is the in-depth study of a number of pre-set London street routes and all places of interest that taxicab drivers in that city must complete to obtain a licence to operate a black cab. It was initiated in 1865, and has changed little since. It is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab drivers, and applicants will usually need to pass"
"The Knowledge (film) The Knowledge is a 1979 British comedy-drama television film about a group of men doing ""The Knowledge"", the training required to become a London taxi driver. It was directed by Bob Brooks with an ensemble cast including Nigel Hawthorne, Mick Ford, Jonathan Lynn and Maureen Lipman. Four out of work Londoners apply to do ""The Knowledge"" to become London taxi drivers. They have to contend with learning 20,000 streets and 500 set routes as well as Mr Burgess, a notoriously sadistic examiner from the Public Carriage Office. In 1978 Jack Rosenthal received a telephone call from Bob"
"learning the city's road network to gain 'The Knowledge'. All London taxicabs are licensed by TfL's Public Carriage Office (PCO), who also set taxicab fares along with strict maximum vehicle emission standards. Black cabs can be hailed on the street or hired from a taxicab rank (by all the mainline railway stations and around the major business, shopping and tourist centres). Taxicab fares are set by TfL and are calculated using a Taximeter in the vehicle (hence the name 'Taxicab') and are calculated using a combination of distance travelled and time. Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs or minicabs) are cars which"
"taxi (as opposed to minicab) drivers. Instead, they are required to undergo a demanding process of learning and testing called The Knowledge. This typically takes around three years and equips them with a detailed command of 25,000 streets within central London, major routes outside this area, and all buildings and other destinations to which passengers may ask to be taken. Taxicabs have been both criticized for creating pollution and also praised as an environmentally responsible alternative to private car use. One study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment in January 2006, showed that the level of pollution that Londoners are"
"for suburban London, with 30 to 50 runs, depending on the sector. During training, would-be cabbies, known as ""Knowledge boys"" or ""Knowledge girls"", usually follow these routes around London on a motor scooter, and can be identified by the clipboard fixed to the handlebars and showing details of the streets to be learned that day. Taxi-driver applicants must be 'of good character', meeting strict requirements regarding any criminal record, then first pass a written test which qualifies them to make an ""appearance"". At appearances, Knowledge boys and girls must, without looking at a map, identify the two points of interest"
"164,000 were private hire licenses, 62,000 were taxi licenses and 72,000 were dual licenses. All taxicabs are regulated with various degrees of sophistication. However, London's black cabs, known historically and legally as hackney carriages, are particularly notable for their iconic vehicles and the extensive training course (""The Knowledge"") required for fully licensed drivers. ""Hackney carriages"" ('Black cabs'; but they may be any colour) can be hailed in the street or hired from a taxicab rank. The term ""Hackney carriage"" can also be applied to standard passenger vehicles authorised by other Local Authorities to stop for passengers on a hail in"
"72,000 were dual licences. Only licensed hackney carriages can pick up passengers on the street and without pre-booking. London's traditional black cabs (so-called, despite being of various colours and advertising designs) are specially constructed vehicles designed to conform to the standards set out in the Conditions of Fitness. London taxi drivers are licensed and must have passed an extensive training course (the Knowledge). Unlike many other cities, the number of taxicab drivers in London is not limited. For many years purpose-designed vehicles were used, but from about 2008 specially-adapted ""people carrier"" vehicles have also been used. There have been many"
"in metropolitan London that their examiner chooses and then choose the shortest and most sensible route from one to the other. For each route, the applicants must recite the names of the roads used, when they cross junctions, use roundabouts, make turns, and what is 'alongside' them at each point. Knowledge boys/girls and their online learning communities have been the subject of academic research, including a PhD dissertation by Drew Ross at Oxford University. There is evidence that training for the Knowledge can measurably alter the hippocampus of trainee cab drivers. The hippocampus is the area of the brain used"
"those who do participate enjoy it. Filming of the Black Cab Sessions began in May, 2007 and is ongoing. The following artists have performed in the Black Cab Sessions: Black Cab Sessions The Black Cab Sessions is a series of one-song performances by musicians and poets recorded in the back of a black cab and filmed for an internet audience. A black cab is a type of hackney carriage (taxicab, An Austin FX4 or a Metrocab) common to Britain. The sessions are recorded while the black cab that serves as the studio travels through city streets, usually in London, England."
"the required skills to become a cabbie. This seven part series was originally produced for ITV London and was repeated on Sky3. The second series first aired on ITV London on 22 July 2007. This time the celebrities featured were Nick Ferrari, Lady Isabella Hervey and Chantelle Preston. The series was later screened (January 2008) on Life One. Call Me a Cabbie Call Me a Cabbie is a reality show where three celebrities have to learn all the skills needed to be a black cab driver in two months. The first series originally aired from July to September 2006. The"
"for spatial memory and navigation, and is generally larger in taxi drivers than in the general population. A humorous 1979 television film about this learning experience, called ""The Knowledge"", was written by Jack Rosenthal for Euston Films, and was in 2000 voted number 83 in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute. In the ""Up Series"" documentary films, Tony Walker is seen on his motor scooter learning ""The Knowledge"" before becoming a cab driver. Later, his wife Debbie joins him after qualifying herself. In the """" miniseries, which was a spin-off from"
"London EV Company London EV Company Limited (LEVC, formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited trading as The London Taxi Company) is an automotive engineering company with its headquarters near Coventry, United Kingdom, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. The company is famous for its London black taxicabs. Geely's involvement in British taxicab production dated to 2006 when it partnered with LEVC's predecessor The London Taxi Company, and its parent Manganese Bronze Holdings, in the creation of a China-based taxicab manufacturing joint venture. In 2009 Geely bought shares in Manganese Bronze Holdings. In 2012 Manganese Bronze Holdings entered"
"the best TV play Britain has ever produced"". In 2000 it was voted #83 in the BFI TV 100. A theatrical adaptation of the film, directed by Maureen Lipman, was staged at the Charing Cross Theatre in London, running from September 4 through November 11, 2017. The cast included Steven Pacey as Mr. Burgess. The Knowledge (film) The Knowledge is a 1979 British comedy-drama television film about a group of men doing ""The Knowledge"", the training required to become a London taxi driver. It was directed by Bob Brooks with an ensemble cast including Nigel Hawthorne, Mick Ford, Jonathan Lynn"
"Brooks, an American who had lived in London for many years, wanting to make a film about something ""exclusive to London"". After some discussion they decided on ""The Knowledge"", the training and testing required to become a driver of a Hackney carriage. They initially pitched the idea to Euston Films as a feature-length drama before settling on the concept of a comedy-drama. Executive producer Verity Lambert agreed to commission a 90-minute television film, despite reservations that Rosenthal and Brooks would struggle working together. Rosenthal researched the story by accompanying taxi drivers around London to collect their stories about doing The"
"and have a reasonably clean driving licence, while others use their own local versions of London's The Knowledge test. Oil millionaire Nubar Gulbenkian drove about in a custom-built gold and black car, designed to look like a vintage London taxi and powered by a Rolls-Royce engine, because he had been told ""it can turn on a sixpence."" Other celebrities are known to have used hackney carriages both for their anonymity and their ruggedness/manoeuvrability in London traffic. Users included Prince Philip, whose cab was converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas, author and actor Stephen Fry, and the Sheriffs of the"
"a great example of this dynamic. They undergo extensive training for 2–4 years, learning and memorizing street names, layout of streets within the city and the quickest cross-city routes. After studying London taxicab drivers over a period of time, it was found that the grey matter volume increased over time in the posterior hippocampus, an area in the brain involved heavily in memory. The longer taxi drivers navigated the streets of London, the greater the posterior hippocampal gray matter volume. This suggests a correlation between a healthy person's mental training or exercise and their brains capacity to manage greater volume"
"Hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. In the United Kingdom, the name ""hackney carriage"" today refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities) or the Department of the Environment depending on region of the country. In the United States, the police department of the city of Boston has a Hackney Carriage Unit, analogous to taxicab regulators in other cities, that"
"due to how he was perceived in ""Club for a Fiver"", leaving him very disillusioned with football. He spent eighteen months applying for coaching jobs without success despite being an otherwise well regarded coach within football due to his earlier coaching work at Lilleshall and with the Leyton Orient youth team. In 1997, Sitton began learning The Knowledge in order to become a London taxi driver, completing it in 2003 and becoming a licensed black cab driver, which Sitton does to this day. He also had a brief spell as a scout for Manchester City, where he was sent to"
"London Taxi Corporation, a subsidiary of Geely of China. In April 2009, Stephen Fry (who habitually drives a black cab) announced that he had acquired a TX4 for personal use. TX4 The TX4 is a purpose-built taxicab (hackney carriage) manufactured since 2013 by The London Taxi Company, a subsidiary of Geely Automobile of China. From 2007 until their liquidation in 2013 it was manufactured by LTI. It is the latest in a long line of purpose-built taxis produced by The London Taxi Company and various predecessor entities. The design has evolved via several mutations from the Austin FX3 of the"
"London-based Hackney carriage (black cab) drivers, members of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, disrupted traffic as a protest against Transport for London's refusal to stop Uber's calculation of fares based on distance and time taken, as they claimed it infringes upon their right to be the sole users of taximeters in London. The following week, London mayor Boris Johnson stated it would be ""difficult"" for him to ban Uber ""without the risk of a judicial review""; however, he expressed sympathy for the view of the black-cab drivers. On October 16, 2015, after Transport for London brought a case to the"
"In the early 19th century ""cabriolets"" (""cabs"" for short) replaced the heavier and more cumbersome hackney carriages. Battery-operated taxis appeared briefly at the end of the 19th century, but the modern taxicab service took off with the appearance of petrol-powered taxis in 1903. In 1907 meters were first introduced to calculate the fare and were set at 8d (8 pence) for the first mile. Today, taxicab service in London is provided by the famous black cabs (typically the distinctive TX4 depicted in the photo to the right, The Metrocab and the Mercedes Vito). The London taxicab driver is required to"
"black, but this is not a requirement and cabs are painted in other colours, sometimes bearing advertising; however they are traditionally called black cabs to distinguish them from minicabs. Since 1600 public carriages for hire have been a feature of London life. The discarded coaches of aristocratic families, complete with their coat of arms, were among the first hackney carriages to ply for hire. They were the forerunners of the French hackney carriage or cab (cabriolet) which first appeared in London around 1820. The first horseless cab, the Bersey electric powered vehicle, appeared in 1897, followed by the first internal"
"Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the City of London. Its members are professional hackney carriage drivers, including London black taxicab drivers who have learnt the knowledge of London. The Fellowship of Hackney Carriage Drivers was recognised by the City of London Corporation in 1990 and was granted livery in February 2004, becoming the Worshipful Company. The process started with an instruction from Oliver Cromwell to the City's Court of Aldermen in 1654 on regulating drivers. Legislation created the Fellowship of Master Hackney Coachmen, the"
"for the latest Black Taxi (LTI TX4). Climatecars Climatecars is a London, England private hire car service which uses solely hybrid and electric cars in its fleet. The company promotes itself as a green alternative to black taxi and minicab companies based in London. Climatecars was founded in 2007 by Nicko Williamson, a University of Bristol graduate. Williamson studied the market and worked for an existing car service before starting his company. Like other private car services, Climatecars cannot be hailed; they must be booked online or over the telephone, usually charge fixed prices, and can't use bus lanes. Drivers"
"opting for wheelchair-adapted taxis such as The London Taxi Company (LTI). Other models of specialist taxis include the Peugeot E7 and rivals from Fiat, Volkswagen, Metrocab and Mercedes-Benz. These vehicles normally allow six or seven passengers, although some models can accommodate eight. Some of these minibus taxis include a front passenger seat next to the driver, while others reserve this space solely for luggage. Many black cabs have a turning circle of only . One reason for this is the configuration of the famed Savoy Hotel: The hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed the small turning circle in"
"at Lloyd's of London. Black taxi drivers charged ten cents per ride, a fare equal to the cost to ride the bus, in support of the boycott. When word of this reached city officials on December 8, the order went out to fine any cab driver who charged a rider less than 45 cents. In addition to using private motor vehicles, some people used non-motorized means to get around, such as cycling, walking, or even riding mules or driving horse-drawn buggies. Some people also hitchhiked. During rush hours, sidewalks were often crowded. As the buses received few, if any, passengers,"
"London Cabbie The London Cabbie Game or Cabbie is a board game in which players drive taxicabs through the streets of London to collect fares. It was designed by David Drakes and first published by Intellect Games in 1971. The board shows a map of the major streets of central London. There are no dice. Up to six players take turns moving first one, then up to two, of the player's own taxis. Cab colours are green, yellow, blue, black, brown, red. Each player may move a taxi 20 spaces per turn. A draw of a passenger card determines where"
"the elaborate system of routes and landmarks which every London cabbie must memorize. Until now, The Knowledge has been just a tool for Chas. But now, he's about to discover a more sinister significance of The Knowledge. An ominous entity from London's grim history has reemerged, and only someone with The Knowledge can stop it. The demon, named Tuma'el, stands poised to take control of London's very soul. Chas has managed to array a small group of friends and allies, which does not include John, to fight back against the demonic force. Chas appears in the comic book series ""The"
"to the pick up and destination. All vehicles available for pre-booking by London minicab drivers must hold a PH licence showing that the vehicles are fit for purpose; this is updated with MOT tests twice a year after an inspection at a licensed garage. In London new applicants must send their Topographical Test Certificate along with their application to the PH Driver Licensing Section of the LTPH. The Uber online transportation network company started operating in London in June 2012, just before the London Olympics started. In 2015, the number of Uber drivers in London exceeded the number of black"
"of a company registered to accept bookings rather than directly with a driver. Since 2001 minicabs have been subject to some regulation in London and most other local authorities. London minicabs are now licensed by TFL (London Taxis and Private Hire), or LTPH, formerly known as the Public Carriage Office. This is the same body that now regulates London's licensed taxicabs, but minicab drivers do not have to complete The Knowledge, and although they must undergo a small ""topographical test"" in order to obtain a Private Hire Drivers Licence, they generally rely on satnavs or local knowledge to take them"
"at least twelve ""appearances"" (periodical one-on-one oral examinations undertaken throughout the qualification process), with the whole process usually averaging 34 months, to pass. 320 standard routes through central London, or ""runs"", are defined in the ""Guide to Learning the Knowledge of London"", which is produced by the Public Carriage Office. In all, some 25,000 streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross are covered, along with the major arterial routes through the rest of London. A taxicab-driver must learn these routes, as well as the ""points of interest"" along and within 1/2 mile of each end of those routes including"
"administration due to lack of funding. In 2013 Geely rescued part of the business and created its own taxicab production company as ""The London Taxi Corporation Limited"". In 2015 Geely announced plans to build a new £250 million plant for the London Taxi Company in Ansty Park near Coventry, with production planned to start at the new site in 2017. The company launched the new LEVC TX electric taxi in 2017 and announced its intentions to begin production of electric commercial vehicles in addition to taxicabs. Geely had been in talks over the possibility of converting London's black cabs into"