A new report has predicted the demise of the iconic London taxi but it is the cab trade itself – not Uber – that is to blame, writes James Ford

London’s black cab industry is dying. That is the stark warning from a recent report by the Centre for London, which predicts that the traditional London taxi trade could be dead within two decades. The think tank report cites a fall in the number of taxis licensed by Transport for London (TfL) from 22,810 to just 14,525 in the decade between 2013-14 and 2023-24.

It may be almost sacrilegious of me to ask, but should London care?

Being ‘iconic’ is not enough

London’s black taxis (or, more properly, Hackney carriages) are iconic. We know this, in part, because the Centre for London’s report tells us so three times in its introductory page. I doubt anyone would challenge the London taxi’s status as a design icon. However, being iconic is not the same as being competitively priced. Or customer-focused. And it’s a long way from being modern, efficient, technology-enabled or data-driven.

Indeed, the London taxi trade has long struggled with the modern world. In 1831 Section 51 of the Hackney Carriage Act enshrined in law a requirement that London’s cabs had to carry a bale of hay in order to feed the horses that drew them. An eminently sensible regulation, I am sure we would all agree, in the age of horse-powered transport. However, this legal regulation was not changed until 1976, which means that for some 50 years after the internal combustion engine became commonplace, London’s black cabs still had to carry a bale of hay in their........

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