Want to take a taxi to Leicester Square but don’t have any cash? Don’t worry – by 2016 London black cabs could be forced to take card payments, the London Evening Standard has reported.
Currently, around half of the city’s iconic fleet of black cabs don’t have the facility to take credit or debit card payments. But Transport for London (who haven’t exactly been endearing themselves to the cabby community of late) are determined to make sure that all cabs have this facility within the next two years. Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, commented on the proposals by saying: “We are always keen to utilise technology to improve the experience of our passengers. Currently around half of the 23,000 taxis in the capital can already accept card payments. We are exploring a proposal to make this a mandatory requirement across the entire taxi fleet from 2016.”
This time the proposal has met with a level of approval from the cabbies, with 88% of drivers saying they supported the move. One of the main reasons for supporting cashless transport is the safety aspect – cabbies are much less likely to face the dangers of robbery if the would-be criminal knows that there is no cash on board. This added level of personal safety could make quite a difference to not only the safety of drivers, but their pockets as well, as taxi insurance premiums may take into account the safer working environment and reduce accordingly.
Fair deals and contactless technology
It could also mean that passengers get a fairer deal, as how the cost of a journey is calculated could be standardised. Leon Daniels explains: “The proposal would also see card transaction fees considered when we calculate overall taxis fares – meaning that passengers would pay the same fare regardless of how they chose to pay. The proposal will be discussed at the TfL Board in September and would be subject to a public consultation.”
With contactless technology now becoming more widespread, the time seems ripe to bring this new proposal into action, providing Londoners and visitors to the capital with a seamless taxi service, and giving London’s hardworking cabbies an improved level of protection overall.