Travel portal hotels.com has completed a survey to find the world’s best taxi drivers. The best in the world are apparently to be found in London. London cabs, still officially known as hackney carriages, are rated the highest because their drivers are friendly and know how to get to their destination, according to the survey. Tokyo taxi drivers ranked 5th.

The survey found that London taxis, despite being the most expensive, beat rivals across the globe to head the list for the third consecutive years, scoring 59% in votes on several categories by travelers. Drivers in London must pass an examination called The Knowledge to get a taxi license.

New York’s taxis came second in the list, scoring 27%, but their drivers tied with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest, the report said, adding that New York was the easiest place to hail a cab.

Rome’s taxi drivers were voted the worst in the world when it came to the quality of driving.

‘‘Traveling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travelers have upon arrival in a new city. In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of traveling from the airport to their hotel,’’ hotels.com said in a statement.

The global poll scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability.

Tokyo taxis scored 26%, and Bangkok famed for its tuk-tuks got 14%. Madrid’s taxis were ranked sixth in the poll, followed by Copenhagen and Dublin with 11% and Frankfurt and Paris with 10%, according to Reuters.

Taxis in Sydney scored badly in the areas of value for money, availability and knowledge of the area. What do you think? Are Tokyo taxi’s deserving of fifth place or should they be a little higher?