London Black Cab Driver Passes Knowledge Exam on 41st Attempt

Anshu Moorjani passed the Knowledge exam on his 41st attempt in May 2026 and will receive his London black cab license. He had studied for five years, memorizing 25,000 streets, thousands of landmarks and the shortest routes between them. The exam, first introduced in 1865, requires candidates to demonstrate detailed route knowledge during oral appearances before examiners.

Moorjani's success came as the number of licensed black cab drivers fell from 25,000 to 16,000 over the past decade. Steven Fairbrass, who has pursued the license for eight years, failed his 20th attempt during the same period. A University College London study found that successful drivers experience growth in the posterior hippocampus, the brain region tied to spatial memory.

Waymo, owned by Alphabet, and Wayve, backed by Nvidia and Microsoft, both aim to launch paid robotaxi service in London later in 2026. Waymo has already mapped London streets with test vehicles and reported that its fleet logs more than 2 million miles per week across 11 U.S. cities.

Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo co-CEO, said company data shows its vehicles are five times safer than human drivers. Wayve's system, trained since 2019 in Westminster without pre-mapping entire cities, requires a human safety driver until government approval.

Waymo vehicles have driven through active police scenes in Los Angeles and prompted a software recall after incidents involving emergency responders and stopped school buses.

Tom Scullion, who has driven a black cab for 34 years, said the human brain remains the strongest tool for handling unpredictable street conditions. Moorjani noted that every profession faces pressure from AI development.