Taxis are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge.
A hackney, or hackney carriage, (also called a cab, black cab, hack, or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of London. The hackney carriages carry roof signs reading TAXI that are illuminated to indicate their availability for passengers.
History Horse-drawn era In the 1580s, the widespread use of private coaches by the English aristocracy began to be seen. Within fifty years, hackney coaches were regularly seen on the streets of London. In the 1620s there was a proliferation of coaches for hire in London, endangering pedestrians in the narrow streets. In 1635, an Order in Council was issued limiting the number allowed. In 1637, a system for licensing hackney coachmen was established, overseen by the Master of the Horse.
In 1636, the number of carriages was set at 50, an early example of taxicab regulation. In the same year, the owner of four hackney carriages established the first taxicab stand in The Strand. After 1662 hackneys were regulated by the Commissioners of Scotland Yard.
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. In 1903, the modern taxicab service took off with the appearance of petrol-powered taxis. In 1907, meters were introduced to calculate the fare and were set at 8d (8 pence) for the first mile.
Today, taxicab service in London is regulated by Transport for London's strict Conditions of Fitness, mandating size, turning radius, age, and emissions, resulting in unique vehicles built primarily for the London market such as the LEVC and the Mercedes Vito seen today.
"An Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the places adjacent" was approved by Parliament in 1654, to remedy what it described as the "many Inconveniences [that] do daily arise by reason of the late increase and great irregularity of Hackney Coaches and Hackney Coachmen in London, Westminster and the places thereabouts".An Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the places adjacent, June 1654, british-history.ac.uk; accessed 26 May 2017. The first hackney-carriage licences date from a 1662 act of Parliament, the London and Westminster Streets Act 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 2) establishing the Commissioners of Scotland Yard to regulate them. Licences applied literally to horse-drawn carriages, later modernised as hansom cabs (1834), that operated as vehicles for hire. The 1662 act limited the licences to 400; when it expired in 1679, extra licences were created until the (5 & 6 Will. & Mar. c. 22) imposed a limit of 700. The limit was increased to 800 in 1715, 1,000 in 1770 and 1,100 in 1802, before being abolished in 1832. The 1694 act established the Hackney Coach Commissioners to oversee the regulation of fares, licences and other matters; in 1831 their work was taken over by the Stamp Office and in 1869 responsibility for licensing was passed on to the Metropolitan Police. In the 18th and 19th centuries, private carriages were commonly sold off for use as hackney carriages, often displaying painted-over traces of the previous owner's coat of arms on the doors.
There was a distinction between a general hackney carriage and a hackney coach, which was specifically a hireable vehicle with four wheels, two horses and six seats: four on the inside for the passengers and two on the outside (one for a servant and the other for the driver, who was popularly termed the Jarvey (also spelled jarvie)). For many years only coaches, to this specification, could be licensed for hire; but in 1814 the licensing of up to 200 hackney chariots was permitted, which carried a maximum of three passengers inside and one servant outside (such was the popularity of these new faster carriages that the number of licences was doubled the following year).
Shortly afterwards even lighter carriages began to be licensed: the two-wheel, single-horse cabriolets, or cabs, which were licensed to carry no more than two passengers. In 1834, the hansom cab was patented by Joseph Hansom: a jaunty single-horse, two-wheel carriage with a distinctive appearance, designed to carry passengers safely in an urban environment. The hansom cab quickly established itself as the standard two-wheel hackney carriage and remained in use into the 20th century.
In 1836 the Clarence was introduced to London's streets: a type of small four-wheel enclosed carriage drawn by one or two horses.Knox, Thomas Wallace (1888) The pocket guide for Europe: hand-book for travellers on the Continent and the British Isles, and through Egypt, Palestine, and northern Africa G. Putnam, New York, page 34, Busch, Noel F. (1947) "Life's Reports: Restful Days in Dublin" Life 15 September 1947 page 9, includes a photograph of a growler. These became known as 'growlers' because of the sound they made on the cobbled streets. Much slower than a hansom cab, they had room for up to four passengers, plus one servant, and space on the roof for luggage. They remained in use as the standard form of four-wheeled hackney carriage until replaced by motorised taxi cabs in the early 20th century.
A small, usually two-wheeled, one-horse hackney vehicle called a noddy once plied the roads in Ireland and Scotland. The French had a small hackney coach called a fiacre.
Motorisation In 1897, electric hackney carriages appeared. There was a London Electrical Cab Company: the cabs were informally called Berseys after the manager who designed them, Walter Bersey. Another nickname was Hummingbirds from the sound that they made.
In August 1897, 25 were introduced. By 1898, there were 50 more. During the early 20th century, cars generally replaced horse-drawn models. In 1910, the number of motor cabs on London streets outnumbered horse-drawn growlers and hansoms for the first time. At the time of the outbreak of World War I, the ratio was seven to one in favour of motorized cabs. The last horse-drawn hackney carriage ceased service in London in 1947.
UK regulations define a hackney carriage as a taxicab allowed to ply the streets looking for passengers to pick up, as opposed to private hire vehicles (sometimes called minicabs), which may pick up only passengers who have previously booked or who visit the taxi operator's office. In 1999, the first of a series of fuel cell powered taxis were tried out in London. The "Millennium Cab" built by ZeTek gained television coverage and great interest when driven in the Sheraton Hotel ballroom in New York by Judd Hirsch, the star of the television series Taxi. ZeTek built three cabs but ceased activities in 2001.
Plug-in electric vehicles
In 2014, the Mayor of London announced that taxis would be required to be able to work in zero-emission mode by 2018. In December 2017, the London EV Company launched the first taxi capable of emitting zero emissions, the LEVC TX, weeks before the requirement came into effect. According to LEVC, the introduction of the model helped to cut emissions of the London taxi fleet by 60%.
In December 2023, TfL announced that 7,972 of the 14,690 licensed taxis were capable of emitting zero emissions.
Self-driving vehicles In August 2026, Transport for London announced that Wayve had been given license to operate self-driving private hire vehicles. Under the terms of these licenses, a driver must remain control of the vehicle at all times - additional approval from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency would be required for there to be no driver present. Wayve will be using Ford Mach-E vehicles in partnership with Uber.
Black cabs
Though there has never been law requiring London's taxis to be black, since the end of the Second World War they were sold in a standard colour of black. In the 1970s, this gave rise to the nickname 'black cab' and it has become common currency. Before the Second World War, London's cabs were seen in a variety of colours. They are produced in a variety of colours, sometimes in advertising brand liveries (see below). Fifty golden cabs were produced for the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002.Golden times for black cabs, bbc.co.uk, 13 March 2002
Vehicle design In Edwardian times, Renault and Unic, and smaller players like Charron and Darracq were found. Fiat was also a presence, with their importer d'Arcy Baker running a fleet of 400 cars of the brand. In the 1920s, Beardmore cabs were introduced and were the most popular for a while. They were nicknamed 'the Rolls-Royce of cabs' for their comfort and robustness. Maxwell Monson introduced Citroën cabs, which were cheaper, but crude in comparison to the Beardmore.
In 1930, dealers Mann and Overton struck a deal with the Austin to bring a modified version of the Austin 12/4 car to the London taxi market. This established Austin as dominant until the end of the 1970s and Mann and Overton until 2012. The Austin FX4, launched in 1958, which stayed in production until 1997 under successive manufacturers is perhaps the most iconic and recognised of all hackney carriages and set the basic styling parameters of its successors.
Morrises cabs were seen in small numbers, but after the Second World War, produced the Oxford, made by Wolseleys.
Outside of London, the regulations governing the hackney cab trade are different. Four-door saloon cars have been highly popular as hackney carriages, but with disability regulations growing in strength and some councils offering free licensing for disabled-friendly vehicles, many operators are now opting for wheelchair-adapted taxis such as the LEVC TX of London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC). London taxis have broad rear doors that open very wide (or slide), and an electrically controlled ramp that is extended for access.
Other models of specialist taxis include the Peugeot E7 and rivals from Fiat, Ford, Volkswagen, 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.
London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than . 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 to navigate it. That requirement became the legally required turning circles for all London cabs, while the custom of a passenger's sitting on the right, behind the driver, provided a reason for the right-hand traffic in Savoy Court, allowing hotel patrons to board and alight from the driver's side.
The design standards for London taxis are set out in the Conditions of Fitness, which are now published by Transport for London. The first edition was published in May 1906, by the Public Carriage Office, which was then part of the Metropolitan Police. These regulations set out the conditions under which a taxi may operate and have been updated over the years to keep pace with motor car development and legislation. Changes include regulating the taximeter (made compulsory in 1907), advertisements and the turning circle of . Until the beginning of the 1980s, London Taxis were not allowed to carry any advertisements.