Hackney Carriage (Black cab)

In the United Kingdom, a hackney carriage is a taxicab

licensed by the Public Carriage Office in the London
Metropolitan Area or by the local authority in other parts
of the country.
They were originally Hansom cabs, horse-drawn carriages
that operated as vehicles for hire. Today a hackney
carriage is a taxicab that is allowed to ply the streets looking for passengers to pick up, as
opposed to private hire vehicles sometimes called minicabs, which may only pick up
passengers who have previously booked or who visit the taxi operator's office.