With the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing the famous black taxis in London has become almost impossible, after many of them ended up parked in fields on the outskirts of the city.
Many taxi drivers in London rent the famous black cars from companies including GB Taxi.
However, many drivers are no longer able to continue paying their car rental allowance, as their work stopped after the London streets became empty due to the closure measures imposed to combat the Corona virus, and thus returned large numbers of cars to their owners.
Tony Giorgio, one of the owners of GB Taxi, said that "between 150 and 200 cars are likely to be found" in Epping, in the northeast of the capital, where his company stopped its vehicles. "We had to take them off the road."
These black cabs were popular around the world and were originally designed this way to accommodate a passenger wearing a tall hat.
In order to obtain a taxi driver's license, drivers have to pass a difficult exam called the Knowledge Test. They test their recall of streets, roads and landmarks by relying solely on their memory.
General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, Steve McNamara, said the taxi-filled fields are now a collective phenomenon, describing the situation as "unprecedented," noting that "a large portion of drivers cannot survive" under these circumstances.
Giorgio: About 50 of the parked cars were partially stolen (French)
British symbol
Giorgio explained that about 50 of the parked cars were partially stolen, and the replacement of the parts taken by the thieves would cost about 120,000 pounds (about 160,000 dollars).
He said that he could not confirm "at the present time" whether his company, which has been operating for more than 16 years, would withstand this reality and be able to overcome it, but stressed that the matter requires "a struggle."
McNamara pointed out that only about 20% of taxis are currently operating, basing his assessment on the number of Union cars and official figures from Heathrow Airport.
McNamara hopes that taxi drivers will receive more financial support from the government, given that they have recently invested in electric taxis and expensive electronic payment machines.
The first horse-drawn taxi cab appeared in London in the 17th century. Black taxis were among the famous British symbols around the world, which also included red telephone boxes and conical police helmets.
But McNamara said the "only symbol left is black taxis".
He believed that the epidemic "is without a doubt the main factor" behind the decline in the number of taxis, and considered that "Uber" and its counterparts "are not at all" of the factors that led to this decline, especially since their prices rose.
Still active black taxi drivers could earn 20% of their regular income, which can range from 15,000 pounds ($ 20,000) to 80,000 ($ 106,000) a year.
"We have lost between 5,000 and 6,000 cars since June," he said.
He noted that some drivers have switched to delivering goods to grocery stores, but "the vast majority" are unemployed.
According to official figures issued by the Transport Authority in London, of which the French Press Agency received a copy, the number of licensed black taxis decreased from more than 19 thousand cars on March 1 of this year to less than 15 thousand on November 8. November.