Safer Travel at Night

It is important that people going out in London can get home safely at night, by public transport (including night bus services), black cab or licensed minicab.

The Safer Travel at Night campaign is an ongoing awareness campaign involving the Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). It began in October 2002 with the launch of the poster campaign 'Know what you're getting into', which highlighted the dangers of using unlicensed cabs.

The latest activity as part of the Safer Travel at Night campaign is the launch of CABWISE. CABWISE is the new brand identity for the Safer Travel at Night text service, which is currently being promoted and advertised across London in pubs, clubs, and press advertisements on public transport networks.

The text service was launched in September 2005 and it was the first of its type in the UK. The service allows the user simply to text the word HOME to 60835 and have the numbers of one taxi and two local licensed minicab numbers that serve the area they are texting from sent directly to their mobile.

Marshalled taxi rank

On 15 October 2004 the Mayor of London and TfL launched a trial safety initiative which provided a marshalled taxi rank on Cranbourn Street near Leicester Square tube station in London's West End.

The Public Carriage Office (PCO) worked with the Metropolitan Police Service, Westminster City Council and the London Cab Ranks Committee to offer the marshalled taxi rank for six months. Marshals, provided by the London Cab Ranks Committee, offered a reassuring presence to passengers and coordinate taxi travellers with taxi drivers heading to similar destinations. Police officers were also present at the rank.

Following the success of this service there are now several marshalled taxi ranks and private hire pick up points operating around the capital.

Previous news

The Safer Travel at Night campaign was established in 2002 and since then it has achieved a lot:

The latest figures reveal that the number of cab-related sexual offences have fallen year on year from 157 cab-related sexual offences at the end of November 2002 to 84 at the same time in 2007, a 46 percent reduction
There has been a rise in awareness among women of the risks of using illegal cabs, contributing to a significant reduction in the number of women willing to use illegal cabs in the West End - down from 18 per cent in 2003 to four per cent today
The Transport Operational Command Unit (TOCU) has been set up. This is a Ł60m a year initiative to target crime and congestion relating to key bus services and illegal cab activities
Taxi touting has now been made a recordable offence. This means that from December 2003 the police can take DNA samples from anyone arrested for taxi touting. This was as a result of intense lobbying from the Mayor of London
The licensing of minicabs is now well underway with 2,300 operators, over 43,000 drivers and 45,000 vehicles licensed. Driver licensing commenced in April 2003 and vehicle licensing in March 2004. Unlicensed minicabs are now illegal and licensed minicabs must always be booked through an operator
There are now more night buses than ever before, with 102 night/24 hour bus routes operating in London. In addition, all buses are now fitted with CCTV
Goldsmith's College has installed a hotlink phone directly to a local minicab operator, and information on other private hire operators has also been provided by TfL in the form of posters. This will be extended to other venues across London
Travel information cards have been produced. These credit card sized information cards fit easily into your wallet and provide details of TfL's Travel line (020 7222 1234), the TfL website and numbers of several black cab firms
A Clubs Best Practice Guide has been produced by TfL and distributed around venues in the West End
Clubs Best Practice Guide PDF
Clubs Best Practice Guide RTF

London taxi ranks have been made easier to identify thanks to new taxi poles. Introduced in July 2004 the new taxi poles offer an easy to recognise place where people can catch a taxi. The poles include information on taxi tariffs and taxi fares to key destinations.