Hotels.com Survey Rates London Taxis as World’s Best

The Hotels.com annual taxi report has revealed that London taxis have been voted the best in the world for the third year running. The majority of travelers (59 percent) who were polled from across the world for the annual Hotels.com taxi report said that London’s black cabs were far and away the pick of the world’s taxis, fending off competition from New York (favorite among 27 percent of travelers) and Tokyo (26 percent). Berlin and Bangkok completed the top five.

Traveling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travelers have upon arrival in a new city, so it is significant for the U.K. capital’s tourist industry that London taxis are making such a good impression on visitors. The majority (55 percent) of U.K. travelers said that they regularly take a cab to their hotel when arriving in a foreign city or resort, as opposed to 16 percent who tend to use a private car, or 14 percent who prefer to venture onto a train.

The global poll scored city-based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability. The poll finds that London taxi drivers are the friendliest in the world with 8 percent of the global vote, beating their Irish (6 percent) rivals to the title. Twelve percent voted Parisian and New York taxi drivers the rudest in the world. Nine percent of travelers think the Italian capital boasts the world’s worst taxi drivers when it comes to the quality of driving.

Thirty-six percent voted London taxi drivers as having the best knowledge of their city. One in five travelers voted New York as having the most available taxis. Despite also being named the most expensive (39 percent), London’s taxi drivers fared the best across a number of categories including friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving, safety and knowledge of the area.