If London wants to survive hotter summers, we must save the black cab

They aren’t. They’re our new reality, and frankly, our transport infrastructure hasn’t caught up. We’re still treating extreme heat as a freak weather event rather than a permanent fixture of British life.

Life in London doesn’t just pause because the thermometer hits 30 degrees. We still have to get to work, catch flights, and show up for our lives. In fact, our own trip data at Freenow by Lyft proves it. Londoners are out there regardless of the sun, with journeys to neighbourhoods like Greenwich, Peckham, and Clapton all climbing year-on-year. The city is moving, but the infrastructure it’s moving through is struggling to keep pace.

The 'one size fits all' approach to public transport just isn't cutting it anymore. If you’re a healthy 25-year-old, maybe you can brave the tube. But for older people, disabled passengers, or parents juggling luggage and kids, extreme heat is a genuine barrier to participation.

Holidays are the worst example of this. You’re stressed, you’ve got bags, you’re tired, and suddenly you're navigating a public network that feels like a furnace. That shouldn't be the start of a summer break. When you can pre-book a cab, you’re booking a climate-controlled, door-to-door solution. It removes the uncertainty, the queues, and the sweat. It turns a potential ordeal into a seamless start to a trip.

But it’s about more than just convenience for holidaymakers. Accessible transport is a health issue. For disabled adults, multiple connections and long waits outdoors in the heat are dangerous. National Travel Survey data makes this crystal clear: disabled adults rely on taxis significantly more than the rest of us, averaging 15 journeys a year compared to just nine. When we make the city less accessible, we’re essentially telling those people that London is off limits to them the moment the sun comes out. That’s not a modern city; it’s a sign that our transport infrastructure planning needs to evolve.

London’s black cabs are the best in the world for a reason. They’re wheelchair accessible, they’re spacious, and they’re reliable. Yet, we’re letting this vital trade wither. In the last decade alone, the number of TfL-licensed taxis has plummeted by over a third, dropping from over 22,000 back in 2013-14 to around 14,000 this year. Every time a driver hangs up their keys, we lose a piece of the city’s resilience.

True resilience isn't about pushing everyone onto the same train line. It’s about having a diverse, robust network that actually works for people when things get tough. We need the underground, buses and bikes. But we also need the black cab trade, because when the temperature rises, those cabs are the only thing keeping the city moving for the people who need it most.

It's time we start treating transport diversity as an essential service, not an optional extra. If we want a London that thrives in a hotter future, we’d better start protecting this world-recognised transport option before it’s too late.

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Danny O’Gorman is the UK General Manager of Freenow by Lyft.

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