Tag: taxi

Following a successful trial in Perth the next city to see London Taxis working its streets will be Melbourne.

Perth was chosen as a test city due to its high temperatures. For the most part the cabs have worked well, but some minor revisions will be made to the Perth fleet and incorporated into the cabs destined for Melbourne.

“Customer feedback indicated that the air conditioning could be a bit cooler,” said Evan Simeon, London Taxi Copmany CEO. “We’ve made the changes necessary and have upgraded the vehicles in Perth, which will be the same as the ones we will now bring to Melbourne.

“We also improved the cooling system for the engine, and increased the insulation.”

It’s hoped the iconic London Taxis will be in Melbourne before the end of the year. As with Perth, the initial fleet will be relatively small and will be seen in the traditional black colour as well as white and silver.

“We’d like to see the 100 out there by the end of the year but that all depends on bureaucratic processes,” Simeon added.

[Source: The Guardian | Pic: The London Taxi Corporation Limited]

London is well known for many things, its black cabs just one of the iconic images from the English capital. More broadly, England is also known for its sun-deprived citizens emigrating to Australia in the search for sun, surf and a better lifestyle. Well, now even the London Taxi is getting on the act and heading down under.

A fleet of 98 Black cabs (TX4s) is heading to Perth—where else—as part of a four-year trial. A further 200 London Taxis are planned to be sent to Australia, too, and so we don’t get them confused the Aussie-bound London Taxis will be wearing white zinc cream to protect them from the sun.

“They’re white, which is probably better in a hot climate, but they are also specifically hot-climate vehicles. They have different ventilation to make sure they don’t overheat,” a spokeswoman for The London Taxi Company told the ABC.

The Western Australian Government is subsidising the rollout of the London Taxis and Victoria could be next, as Evan Simeon, Chief Executive of The London Taxi Company (Aust) Limited explains: “Perth drivers will receive a government-funded package, which in return for vehicle and usage data, will see them reimbursed for the normal weekly licence fee of AUS$200 for the first four years of ownership. This basically means that they will recoup most of the total cost of the vehicle.

“Victoria has already announced that they will provide a subsidy of AUS$20,000 per vehicle for the first fifty permit holders, so we hope that we’ll be able to bring a bit of London to South-East Australia too.”

More detail can be found after the break.

[Source: London Taxi Company | Pic (above): AFP/Getty Images]