A look at the cabs of New York and London

The cabs of New York City, with their distinctive yellow paint, are a widely recognized icon of the city. There are more than 13,000 taxis operating in the city, with a number of taxicabs operated by private companies and licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), a New York City government agency. In comparison, there are currently around 21,000 black cabs in London, licensed by the Public Carriage Office. The average cost of hailing a black cab in London will increase to £10.39 this year during the day and £14.15 at night, according to Transport for London (TFL). The fare rise, the lowest annual increase since 2004, aims to take into account the rise in average national earnings and will also help drivers cover rising operating costs, which include increases to insurance and fuel costs, it said.

In London, however, price increases are unlikely to deter people from taking the capitals black cabs. Last year the vehicles were voted the best cabs in the world in a survey for the website Hotels.com, despite also being voted the most expensive. London cabbies, who can spend up to four years studying the Knowledge, the infamous in-depth study of a number of pre-set London street routes, were voted the world's friendliest and knowledgeable taxi drivers. The Knowledge equips London cabbies with an in depth knowledge of London streets before they can drive a licensed cab.

Whilst LTI, which manufactures the traditional London cab is currently marketing the latest incarnation of it's famous taxi, the TX4 (below), New York has plans of it's own. Ford, Nissan and GM are all vying to be hailed as the builder of the "Taxi of Tomorrow." The auto giants were among the companies that submitted proposals to the City's Taxi and Limousine Commission to become the exclusive manufacturer of New York's 13,000 yellow cabs starting in 2014. When City officials met with the manufacturers in January, officials said they wanted the new cab to be not only low emission, if not entirely electric, but to possess an iconic New York design, according to Crains New York business. The new cab should appear "small on the outside but large on the inside," one official said at the meeting. The current fleet is a mish mash of 16 different vehicle models, most notably the soon to be discontinued Ford Crown Victoria which makes up two thirds of New York cabs.

"Small on the outside but large on the inside", I could swear I have seen taxis like that somewhere else which makes me think that New York officials are following London's long established tradition with plans to introduce purpose built uniformly manufactured taxis that will be as iconic for New York as the black cabs are for London.