Half Way Through Book 1
This weekend I did eleven runs and this means I am now halfway through the first book of the London Taxi Knowledge. It was a wet morning on Saturday and I was at Brent Cross at first light just after six. Then I was into town and while people were stumbling out of a club near Smithfield I was able to get my runs nailed and most of my points found.
Then it was over to City Road and a run that started right opposite where I used to work so finding points was easy as I used to walk to a lot of appointments and had covered the local area on foot. From here the run took me to Tower Bridge and the to the first of seventeen runs that start and finish in South London.
When I had read ahead in my book I was not familiar with a lot of the names of the roads and thought this would be really difficult to master. The first run into Brixton was pretty much the same route I used to drive to my office in my last job so that was ok. It is different driving these routes now having to remember all the road names rather than just which way to go.
Then I was over in Dulwich Village for the first time ever which was a freshing change from an inner city housing estate in Brixton. I then did runs in Clapham, Streatham, Mitcham, Sydenham Hill, Forest Hill, Camberwell, Honor Oak Park and Kennington.
I was pleased to get back to Kennington as this will be the starting point for the remaining nine runs in South London before heading back into the City. That will be for next week.
I also found a great tool to add shapes to Google Maps and have decided to do a map of the six mile radius from Charing Cross and then add circles for all the ends of the runs and watch it fill up. Check out the lastest version of London Taxi Knowledge Runs.
hi ya,
iam starting the knowledge very soon hopefully and i was just wondering how many times a week you do the runs and what day and times.
Also i was wondering if you was learning in a car or a scooter!
One more thing how much on a average does it cost you a month for petrol,maps etc.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Thanks,
Tommy Knight
Hey Tommy,
I am going out once a week and do it early Saturday or Sunday at first light. I am using my car at the moment. This works ok as most of the runs are outside of the congestion zone and take you all over London. I plan on reviewing my progress after 80 runs and getting a scooter especially for central London. I use Knowledge Point books and got an A-Z for the first 80 runs which cost me around £80 in total. Petrol is about £15 a week.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck.
Hiya,
I am starting the knowledge pretty soon and was just wondering if you could shed some light into a question…..spoke to a few drivers and they are very reluctant to reveal how much could be earned ( understandably)..however surveys by the observer and guardian suggests around 23,000 for 40-50 hours….I would have thought it’ll be more than that….did you manage to gain any insight into the potential earnings?
ta mte
Vaz
Hello Vaz,
I have a couple of mates that are cabbies and they are always complaining about being poor! One is an owner/driver and one rents so their costs are different. One works early morning and the other does evenings. I think it depends on how much you put in and if you can “be lucky” then you can earn well.
I think it is not unreasonable to earn the numbers quoted in the papers if you do the hours.
I am looking to crack on and work pretty hard when I get my badge as I am not really earning right now and will run up some debts by the time I start making any money.
Good Luck with the knowledge, if you are like me you will love it!
sorry to keep bothering you but just wanted to know how many points you do in that day!
cheers mate
Hi,
Thanks for setting up this site, it’s nice to finally see a site which provides useful information without trying to get even more money out of you.
Like you i’m also using Knowledge Point, I decided to use KP after reading about your first session there, and i’m soooo glad I did, not only am I happy with the school and the way they teach you, but all the other knowledge boys/girls are friendly and helpful.
One thing i don’t get though is how your managing to do 11 runs in one weekend, me and a couple of others are doing it together as full time as possible, 4/5 days a week out on the bikes, yet we only just manage 1 or 2 runs a day. We were told by an instructor at KP to spend around 4 hours pointing up and 1 – 2hrs on the runs – so i’m just interested to see how much time you spend pointing up and what kind of details you take down.
Also like you i’m ex IT support of 12 years, so if i can help in anyway or you want to get in touch you have my email.
To you and everyone doing the knowledge – good luck and stay safe.
Hello Stu,
Thanks for the comments about the site.
I think I overdid the driving around 11 runs that day. I was trying to get through a set of runs from 33 to 47 that start and finish in South London (I live in North London). I wanted to get back towards Kennington so I would have a run home across London Bridge.
I am not sure how everyone else prepares for runs but I pretty much have all the points identified on my maps before I go. When I put the maps together for my website I also eyeball points on Google Maps if I can. I also note how to get to or from the other end of the run to those points. I also drive the run on Google maps too. Once I get out I am not looking for too many points and I can get around to them pretty quickly.
This particular day I did this just before first light and did 7 straight hours with only a quick break to grab a coffee. In hindsight I bit off a bit much that day. I did 8 runs in 8 hours last weekend and that worked a bit better.
One of the issues I struggle with is how fast to go through the runs in the Knowledge Point books. I hope to get the first 80 runs done in 3 months and then revise before doing my self-assessment. The revision is because I will be away. Once I do the assessment I will know if I am doing ok or not!
I am planning on doing more classes at KP soon too.
Good Luck and watch out for the potholes!
Hi, I am really interesting to start getting my Patches as soon as possible, but don’t have knowledge about what am I required to do. I know I have to register with London carriage office and buy one blue book to start learning the runs. But I don’t know where to get what. I have been in London for only 1 year and recently got my UK driver’s license. I would appreciate if some you give me some basic tips about where to get the blue book and similar. Thnx
Hello There, The first thing you need to do is request the application from the Public Carriage Office. You can get it from this link London Taxi Application Pack. You will need to complete the application forms and get a medical form from your doctor. If you are approved then you will have an introductory meeting at the PCO in Penton Street where you get your Blue Book of runs. You will then need a book showing the runs in detail from Knowledge Point on Caledonian Road or another knowledge school. If you want you can get the books and get cracking before your interview at the PCO.
Good Luck.
Hello London Taxi, like the website been having a good look around, found it very helpful. I am just about to start the Knowledge and have been looking at some of the runs on google. Can you tell me where/how to find the radius feature on google been looking can’t find it……driving me mad. Keep up the good work, cheers.
11 runs during the weekend?? how did u manage remembering 11 routes + 11 x … (how many points of interest u learn on each route) = …
that means u could lean all 320 routes in…3 months and 1 week??
sorry mate but i think thats not really possible, unless u’re doing something wrong..
Hello Matt,
If you read further you will see that I over extended myself that weekend. It was part of my learning curve as to how much to do and then to remember. There are no exact guidelines on how to do the K and what works for one person may not work for another. There are so many variables involved – how much preparation you have done for calling over the runs and funding the points beforehand etc. This is why some people can do theknowledge in under three years and some take a lot longer. I have read online that one guy did 10 runs a day using the Wizann way.
My current schedule for Blue Book 4 involves 10 runs a week spread over approx 25 hours on four days.
What stage are you at and what is your schedule?
Which one?
Hey, what a site.
So nice to see that im not the only one wondering how many runs to do a week. I’ve spoke to a few people and they were saying that they do around 20-25 a week. That suprised me alot considering i am only doing 6 a week with the points. I know it will take a good year to do the blue books but i just want to learn them throughly. I go out every sunday and what ever dry day there is in the week. Should i be pushing to do more runs though? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am thinking to become a black cab driver, I hear it’s a good pay and also work on your own clock.
I want to know if you could please inform me what the earning will be.
I need to acquire information about what I can earn before starting to read the book.
hope you will feed me about it.
thank you.