London Black Cab Drivers Face Competition From Robotaxis

London black cab drivers are required to memorize 25,000 streets, thousands of landmarks, and the shortest routes between them to obtain a license. The test, known as the Knowledge, dates to 1865 and has been shown in a University College London study to enlarge the posterior hippocampus in drivers who complete it.

Several companies are testing autonomous vehicles on London streets. Wayve, backed by Nvidia and Microsoft, and Waymo, owned by Alphabet, both plan to begin operations later this year.

The Knowledge Exam Candidates undergo oral examinations at the Transport for London office. Examiners ask drivers to name the shortest route between two points and measure the accuracy of each answer. Steven Fairbrass has spent eight years preparing for the test.

Anshu Moorjani has spent five years. Both described the study materials, which list 6,000 points of interest including restaurants, public houses, and hotels.

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana stated that the company's vehicles have recorded data showing they are five times safer than human drivers. The company operates in 11 U.S. cities and has accumulated billions of miles in simulation training. Waymo vehicles use 29 cameras, six radars, five microphones, and five lidar sensors.

Product manager Chris Ludwick said the sensor array allows the system to detect objects up to three football fields away and respond to unexpected movements faster than human drivers. Black cab driver Tom Scullion, who has driven for 34 years, said passengers rely on drivers for directions and that the Knowledge provides more reliable routing than mapping applications.