Inside the Mind of a Cabbie report to download

As part of the Shell Smarter Cab Drivers challenge – aimed at helping British drivers become more fuel efficient and save money by making simple changes to the way they drive – the Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) has been working with our cab drivers to better understand the factors that influence their everyday lives and which prevent them from making meaningful, sustained changes to their driving behaviour.

Following a series of workshops with the drivers, RSA has produced an interim study report ‘Inside the Mind of the Cabbie’ which explores the day-to-day issues they face in great detail and provides a series of initial recommendations and suggests as to how they can be influenced to drive more fuel-efficiently.

You can take a look at the RSA’s report by visiting the RSA’s website, or you can download the report directly from here.

Download the RSA's 'Inside the Mind of a Cabbie' report, commissioned by Shell

RSA insight: The Week in Tweets

Jamie Young, Senior Research at The RSA:
The tweets from the drivers in the Smarter Cab Drivers Challenge reveal some of the stories behind the shifting leaderboard.

Before the challenge launched we had preparation, as Bernie checked his tyres, wound his windows up and took his golf clubs out of the boot. It was a strategy that seemed to pay off later on with unprecented fuel economy and a place at the top of the table. Bernie wasn’t the only happy one, with Arshad catching a lucrative job from Birmingham to Thorpe Park and one of Amar’s colleagues getting a fare from Nottingham to Blackpool – and Amar himself had a minor celebrity incident when he gave a lift to the Sri Lanka cricket coach.

One of the more unexpected events was the taxi driver protest in Nottingham. The drivers were protesting that they were no longer being allowed to wait on yellow lines when the rank around the station was full, asked instead to drive around continually or face an on-the-spot fine. The city’s cabbies took the change at face value, descending on the station and resulting in widespread congestion – a turn of events that cost Amar and Amer dear, resulting in some unhappiness until Amar managed to pull himself off the bottom of the table with an early rise and clear drive.

However, while the bottom of the leaderboard moved around, nothing was able to rearrange the top of the table, and the second week starts with Bernie still riding high.

View from Manchester

Four days into the Smarter Cab Drivers challenge, and we’ve sought out the views of our Manchester drivers to see how they feel the challenge is going for them.

Paul McCormick:
“I’m off to a good start I think and am making every effort, where possible, to apply the Shell driving tips. It’s great on longer journeys to be able to put them into practice, however I must admit it’s difficult in certain situations, for example on motorways when being overtaken.

“It’s been a relatively normal week’s work in Manchester, though I did pick-up Paul Burrell earlier in the week, which was interesting. I’m checking the site each day to see how I’ve performed, and I’m keen to improve my current position (6th) – there’s a long way to go yet!”

John Lydon:
“I’ve been interested to check out how Paul and I are faring in the competition. It’s been good fun so far – particularly the last Shell/RSA event in London which I was very impressed by. I’m applying the tips where I can – in quieter times, I’m concentrating on implementing the gear and acceleration tips in particular.

“Overall, I’m really enjoying the experience, and although we’re on the same team, I’d quite like to finish ahead of Paul, who has managed to sneak in front at this early stage!”