Could Blockchain and methods similar to US taxi licensing help change the UK private hire sector?
Updated: Aug 29, 2022
A popular London taxi vlogger has released his latest video explaining how Web 3.0 and methods similar to the American taxi licensing system could HELP the capital and change private hire licensing in the future.
Tom Hutley, a London taxi driver and successful YouTuber with more than 40,000 subscribers, posted his latest video which explains how blockchain ideas based around private hire driver owned licenses could help ease London’s congested streets and also provide transport regulators with increased investment.
The ideas mentioned are similar to the taxi medallion permit which is highly prevalent in the United States and allows a taxi driver to operate.
Several major cities in the US use the transferable taxi medallion licensing system, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
The medallion system was created by the Government and restricts the number of taxis operating in the area. Historically cities had increased the number of medallions at a slower rate than the growth in demand for taxis, which meant medallions have generally been considered a valuable investment or a pension when they decided to sell it.
However since the rideshare boom lead by the emergence of Uber the increased number of private hire vehicles has eroded the value of medallions.
In the near ten minute long video, Hutley describes in detail how an adapted version could work for London.
Hutley’s YouTube channel has been a massive hit with viewers ever since it first launched in March 2020. The London black cab driver and qualified taxi guide completed the ‘Knowledge of London’ in 2017 after 3 years of studying. Four years into the job he now has a fast-growing channel on YouTube and has recently launched his own blog.
