New York City is full of yellow cabs. So full of them, in fact, that you might begin to wonder what it takes to drive one. With that many drivers, how strict can the licensing criteria really be? As it turns out, it’s strict enough that I didn’t pass, and I’m willing to bet you don’t either.
New York’s taxis — and Lyfts, Ubers, and limousines — are regulated by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and you can find sample TLC test questions online. The sample test is 80 questions long, and covers topics ranging from basic traffic laws to the intricacies of navigating New York — the topic that cost me my online practice test.
Some of the questions are get-your-learner’s-permit easy. “What is the difference between a large truck’s blind spots and a car’s blind spots?” “When an emergency vehicle is behind you, what should you do?” These are basic driving questions, the kind that anyone with that anyone capable of driving a car should know. The questions, though, get harder from there.
“MCU Park (formerly known as Keyspan Park), is located in which borough?” “In Manhattan N. Moore Street meets which of the following?” Getting licensed as a TLC driver requires a level of New York street knowledge that most drivers simply don’t have. I managed to answer correctly on geography questions that focused on the parts of Brooklyn where I’ve lived, but TLC drivers need to know everything.
That means living in or around New York City for a lot longer than I have. It meant familiarizing yourself with the weird side streets of Queens, not just the numbered avenues of Manhattan. It even requires at least a passing familiarity with Staten Island.
It might sound like overkill to require this level of street knowledge in an era of GPS, but TLC drivers often do know the city better than Google ever could. They know the routes around traffic, how to dodge construction, which routes are smoother or have better views. Just knowing how to drive and being able to follow your phone’s directions aren’t enough to get you through New York with the efficiency expected from yellow cabs or black cars. TLC drivers need to really understand the city’s streets, probably better than you or I do.
OK, maybe it’s just me.