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　　ALONG with red letterboxes and telephone booths, London's black taxis are touted assymbolic of the city. Fully 25,600 drivers trundle around the capital's streets. They areprivileged: unlike minicabs, they can pick up passengers hailing in the street and run on a priceymeter system rather than a fixed fee. Nationally the average fare is ￡5.77 ($9.56) for twomiles; in London it is ￡7.20. All cabbies are required to pass the “knowledge”, a test of all theroads within a six-mile radius of central London. If they take a daft route to their destinationit is usually deliberate.

　　和红信箱、电话亭一样，伦敦的黑出租也被当成城市的标志。25600位司机在首都大街上开车四处游荡。他们拥有优先权：不像那些迷你的士，他们可以接到街边打的的乘客，提供较为实惠的以公里数计程的收费方式，而非支付固定数量的钱。全国打的平均费用是每两公里5.77英镑(9.56美元);伦敦市是7.20英镑。所有的出租车司机都要通过一场设立在以伦敦市中心为中心、半径为六公里的所有街道的考试，以防他们选了一条绕远的路到达目的地，虽然他们往往是故意这么做。

　　But becoming a taxi driver is ever harder. In the 1970s the knowledge took around 23 monthsto complete. Last year it took 50 months. “You can get a PhD in the same time,” complainsMalcolm Paice of CityFleet, a radio-taxi firm. Between 2009 and 2012 the number of taxi driversincreased by only 4% in London. Faced with such a high barrier to entry, more people aretaking a shorter course that only allows them to drive black cabs in suburban areas, says TomMoody of Transport for London (TfL).

　　但是要成为一名出租车司机越来越难。20世纪70年代，人们需要花费23个月完成等级考试。去年则需要50个月。计程车广播公司CityFleet的Malcolm Paice抱怨：“用同样长的一段时间，你都可以拿到博士学位了”。伦敦交通(TfL)的Tom Moody说，从2009年到2012年，伦敦出租车司机的人数增加了4%。面对考证的巨大障碍，越来越多的人都参加了只允许他们在市郊开黑的士的短期课程。

　　But in the same period the number of minicab drivers in London jumped by 19%, to 67,000.The scorn they receive from black-taxi drivers is little deserved. Liam Griffin, the boss ofAddison Lee, a large minicab firm, says minicabs have become more comparable to black cabssince 2004, when regulations and criminal-record checks were introduced. All of the company'sdrivers take a six-week course and rely on satellite navigation systems—as do some black-taxidrivers. Their fares are around a third cheaper, Mr Griffin says.

　　同期相比，伦敦迷你出租车司机人数上升了19%，达到了67000人。他们并不该受到黑的士司机的蔑视。迷你出租车公司Addison Lee的老板说，自2004年规章制度、犯罪记录审查制度引入之后，迷你出租车已经和黑的士有可比性了。各公司所有的出租车司机都要完成卫星导 航系统上一次为期六周的课程—一些黑的士司机也要如此。Griffin先生说，这样费用要便宜约三分之一。

　　Technology is further bulldozing the distinction between black taxis and minicabs. Fully 14,000London taxis have signed up with Hailo, an app for ordering cabs that was introduced toLondon in 2011. Ron Zeghibe, Hailo's chairman, says that some drivers shun taxi ranks or“street work” in favour of punters who order through his service. Minicab companies have theirown, similar, apps. One, from Greentomatocars, helped the firm nearly double in revenue in ayear.

　　科技迫使黑的士和迷你出租车之间的区别更加明显。至少有14000辆伦敦出租车和Hailo签约合作，这个app于2011年被引入了伦敦，用以提供电招服务。Hailo的董事长Ron Zeghibe说，一些司机避免出租车等级化或者“街道工作”，用来支持那些通过该项服务预约的士的顾客。迷你出租车公司也有他们自己类似的app。一个名叫Greentomatocars的app使公司在一年之内的盈利翻了一番。

　　Yet the separation between the two kinds of taxis looks likely to stay. In April the LawCommission, an independent body, will release a report on the taxi trade. Many of itsrecommendations will boost minicabs outside London. Larger firms such as Addison Lee will findit easier to expand as licensing rules are simplified. But London's black cabs look likely to beprotected. They will still be regulated by TfL; barriers to entry will remain high. Instead ofnurturing a dwindling trade, this could have the opposite effect. Black cabs might soon becomeas quaintly archaic as telephone booths.

　　两种出租车之间的差距还有可能持续下去。4月，一个独立机构——立法委员会将会发布一项关于出租车贸易的报告。其中很多的建议都会有助于伦敦以外迷你出租车的发展。大一些的如Addison Lee公司将会发现，随着驾照规则的简易化，公司扩张也会相应变得容易。但是伦敦的黑的士也可能会受到保护。他们仍将归TfL管理;取得驾照的难度仍然很高。比起培养一个萎缩的贸易，这更可能会产生反作用。黑的士可能很快就会变的和电话亭一样古怪过时。