Cab passengers are enjoying quicker journeys and less time waiting according to new data released by the Public Carriage Office today.

The latest customer satisfaction survey compares scores on various aspects of taxi and minicab services during September 2003 with the same period last year.

Highlights from the survey include:

  • Overall satisfaction has increased slightly from 82 to 84 for taxis and from 80 to 81 for private hire vehicles;
  • A ten point increase in satisfaction with time spent waiting to hail a taxi (from 81 to 91);
  • A five point increase in the ease of finding a telephone booking number for private hire vehicles (from 85 to 90); and
  • Satisfaction with taxi journey times up slightly from 83 to 87 points.

Commenting on the survey TfL Taxi and Private Hire Director Ed Thompson said:

"These results show a very encouraging upward trend on the quality of service provided by both black cabs and private hire vehicles. I am particularly pleased that waiting and journey times appear to be reducing which may reflect some of the improved traffic conditions that congestion charging has brought.

"Quicker taxi journeys should also mean lower fares than before. If people haven't used daytime taxis around central London since congestion charging started, they may be pleasantly surprised.

"The survey in general will help the Public Carriage Office decide which areas of taxi and private hire provision need attention in the future."

  1. The customer satisfaction survey is based on 1034 interviews. The survey is carried out on behalf of the Public Carriage Office by Accent Marketing Research. Interviewees response is operated on a scale of 1 to100.
  2. The full findings of the survey are attached. Please note that underlined scores are based on small numbers of interviews so should be interpreted with caution.
  3. The Public Carriage Office is responsible for licensing London's taxi and private hire services, as part of Transport for London's Surface Transport and Street Management Directorate.

For media enquiries contact the TfL press office on 020 7941 4141/4881.