"The Knowledge"

How ominous is that?  It sounds like the name for some long forgotten mystical secret, something written in an ancient tome that Indian Jones would be racing to find before the Nazis got their hands on it.  Perhaps the name given to a basic understanding of magic, or functional alchemy.  It could be anything, but it sounds really, REALLY important.

So what is it?  It's the name of the test one needs to pass to become a driver of a London Black Cab.  You know what I mean, even if you don't.  They're the cabs you think of when you think of a London cab.

Right-o guv'na.

Don't for an instant think that "the Knowledge" (full name, the Knowledge of London Examination System) is your standard driving test.  The requirements for taking the Knowledge are the following:

• Over 21
• "Good character" - a perfectly clean criminal record isn't necessary, but they do a criminal record check and certain crimes will automatically disqualify you
• "Fitness" - you cannot be epileptic, insulin dependent, have poor vision, monocular vision, a history of drug or alcohol abuse, any physical disability that would impair your driving ability or your ability to assist a disabled passenger, heart problems (heart attack or have had heart surgery), a neurological / neurosurgical disorder (blackouts, a stroke, severe head trauma).  In addition certain progressive illnesses or being on certain prescriptions will also disqualify you
• A valid driver's license
• You must be a British citizen or an EEC national, or have "Indefinite Stay" passport privileges

If you qualify for those, only then are you allowed to take the Knowledge.

So what is the Knowledge exactly?  It's a test of your knowledge of London.  You have to be able to navigate an area with a radius of 6miles from Charing Cross.  That's roughly 180km² of tiny, twisting roadways.  And you have to be able to do it by memory.  Without maps or GPS or the help of a dispatcher.  You have to know not only the streets, but what's on them.  A London Black Cab driver should be able to pick you up at the Chelsea Library and drop you off at the Lord Nelson restaurant without ever taking their eyes off the road.  Using the shortest possible route.  And they're tested on it.

Actual places they could be asked to find during their test: Toto's Restaurant, the Harbour Club, the Sri Lankan High Commission, Kings Fund (I don't even know what that is).  That's all the information they'd be given during the test.  And then they'd have to get there via the shortest route possible, without a map.  Can't find it?  You fail.  Take a route that the tester doesn't like?  You fail.  Most people trying to become a proper London cabbie take the Knowledge twelve times before they pass, and on average it takes three years of study before they pass.  Yeah, it all sounds tough on paper, but here's the area they have to have memorized, down to the restaurants, before they can pass:

Click to embiggen, click-poppy.
Click here for a zoom-able version

Seriously, you think your studies are hard?  Try to memorize the location of every restaurant on that map.  And keep your mental map accurate when they close and something opens where they used to be.  I think it might actually be easier to become a doctor than to pass that test.

Your average London cabbie: Way smarter than you'd ever guess.

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Sources:
Black cab image taken from Copyright-free-photos.org.uk
London Taxi News blog
TaxiKnowledge.co.uk
A-ZMaps.co.uk's section for the Knowledge preparation maps
Wikipedia article on Taxicabs of the United Kingdom