More BME candidates want to be London black cab drivers

Nearly one in three applications to take the famous “Knowledge” test and become a London cabbie is now made by someone from a black and minority ethnic (BME) background.

Although almost a third of London’s population is from a BME community, this is the case for only one in 20 licensed taxi drivers — out of a total of 25,000 black cab drivers just 1,300 are BME people.

To redress this imbalance the city’s strategic transport body Transport for London (TfL) launched a scheme in 2005 to boost the numbers of BME applicants. Figures released by TfL’s Public Carriage Office (PCO) show that the scheme, called Put Yourself in the Driving Seat, has seen the proportion of BME candidates increase by more than 50%.

As well as road shows which publicised the scheme, posters and leaflets were distributed to libraries, doctors’ surgeries, Jobcentres and hospitals.

TfL’s director of taxi and private hire, Ed Thompson, said: “We have done, and are still doing, a huge amount of work to encourage taxi driver applications from London’s many and diverse communities, and we are really pleased that people from all kinds of backgrounds are now coming through the world-famous Knowledge test.”