‘Field of Broken Dreams’: London’s Growing Taxi Graveyards (NY Times)

Similar to their yellow taxi brethren in NYC, London cabbies are facing an unprecedented crisis due to the pandemic

By Mark Landler

Dec. 3, 2020

EPPING, England — Drive through a leaf-strewn forest and past a charming street market in this town about 20 miles northeast of London, and a jarring sight appears: black London taxis, parked bumper-to-bumper by the hundreds in a muddy field, surrounded by beehives and a barn for raising squab pigeons.

It’s a camera-ready monument to the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic. The cabs were returned by their drivers to a rental company because of the collapse in business after Britain went into lockdown last March. As the number of idled taxis piled up, the company ran out of room in its garage and cut a deal with a local farmer to store about 200 of them alongside his bees and pigeons.

“I call it the field of broken dreams,” said Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, which represents about half of the British capital’s more than 21,500 licensed cabbies. “It’s awful, and it’s getting worse.”

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The TLCMKT Newsletter is written by Dawood Mian, Founder & CEO of TLCMKT. I cover the NYC ridesharing industry and related news. Search TLCMKT for TLC cars, parts, service, accessories, professional services, reviews & more. Find great deals at TLCMKT.COM.