Here is the detailed breakdown of the procedure to obtain a chauffeurs license in the city of Chicago with all the possibilities covered.
1. Must be 21 years of age or older
2. Illinois Drivers License
3. Must take the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM at Harold Washington College in downtown Chicago. However, if you have any proof of the completion of ENGLISH 101 (college level English course) or better course from an accredited American college/university then no need to take the exam and prospective drivers can register for a 2 week chauffeur course ($275 fee) at HWC straight up.
4. If you didn't do well in the ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM, then you have to take the 2 day English language enhancement course at HWC (Harold Washington College) $100 fee. The class is composed of general English language skills and anyone who speaks “entry-level” English should be in good shape. The so-called final exam is given on the 2nd day and you need to score a minimum 70% in order to pass. If somehow you failed the exam, then you have to register for the same course only after 30 days. If you failed the course on 2nd attempt then you have to register for an ESL course which would last for 16 weeks! Bummer!
5. Register for a 2 week chauffeur course after you have taken and passed the language enhancement course/exam.
6. The chauffeur class will start on a Saturday morning with a bus tour of downtown Chicago and will end around 1:30 pm. The chauffeur class has 2 sections every day and you can register for either if the seats are available. 9:00 am – 4:30 pm or 2:30 pm – 10:00 pm. $275 fee.
7. On the first day of the class you will be given 4 textbooks which cover 4 subjects related to the taxi course. Nevertheless, the two week class is divided into 4 subjects:
FIRST WEEK
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: PDI (Professional Development) covers treating customers with respect and all the other boring stuff. You are better off sleeping during the never ending stories and other nonsense/common sense taught by the teachers/guest speakers.
Thursday and Friday: Rules and Regulations related to Taxis in Chicago, things such as rules at the airport etc.
Saturday: Second bus tour which covers the southside of Chicago. Honestly, none of the bus tours make any sense; it’s a tremendous waste of time and fuel.
SECOND WEEK
Monday to Wednesday: Hardest part of all four subjects: GEOGRAPHY OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO which includes stuff such as the street grid system etc.
Thursday and Friday: TAP (Taxi Access Program) it covers things like dealing with people with disabilities and their fare program etc.
Then at 3:00 pm (if you take the morning class) or at 8:30 pm (if you take the evening class) you will be taken into a computer lab to take the final exam which is hour and thirty minutes long, 80 questions (10 PDI, 10 Rules & Regulation, 10 TAP and 50 Geography) you need to get at least 70% in order to pass the class and get your certificate of completion. That is 56 should be correct out of 80 questions. If you fail the exam you need to re-register for the course (after 30 days) for an additional three times maximum. However if you fail the fourth time then you cannot register for the taxi course for 3 years.
ALL QUESTIONS ARE MULTIPLE CHOICES AND ARE NOT EASY!
8. Once you pass the 2 week course then take the certificate of completion to the Department of consumer services and take the ACTUAL CHAUFFEUR EXAM. Here you have 3 chances to pass the exam and get at least 85% in order to get your City of Chicago chauffeur license. 80 questions are given which covers all 4 subjects, but mostly geography. So you need to get at least 68 correct out of 80 questions. Nevertheless, if you flunked the exam on the third try then you have to re-take the 2 week chauffeur course at HWC, come back to Dept of consumer services and take 3 attempts to pass the exam. IF you failed on the third attempt then you cannot register for the taxi course for 3 years.
Prospective students asking for previous taxi exam questions from others are totally out of their minds. First, from what I’ve heard, HWC randomly selects 80 questions from a pool of about 600 different questions, whereas, the Dept of consumer service has numerous different sets of 80 questions from a pool of 900 questions!!! On the other hand, there are websites offering their version of Chicago taxi courses/exams for a certain amount of fee. Honestly, if these websites were truly helpful then everyone would have passed the HWC and Dept of Consumer services exam without any hiccups and I wouldn’t have to type this huge paragraph. Sadly, this is not the case. I mean these websites belong to individuals like you and I and all they do is make money from advertising on their website by posting obsolete questions which are 5-6 years old.
SO DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY. To support my point, old Chicago taxi exams questions are widely available online for FREE and what big of a fool would one be if they paid for it. Secondly, there is no guarantee at that there is any chance that you will pass if you study from the old city exams from your friend or relative or any other source because the questions has been exceptionally changed overtime. For instance, United Center is at Madison & Damen, whereas in the Dept of consumer services exam the option is Wolcott & Warren.
The best preparation is to take a week off and study the geography of Chicago before the 2 week chauffeur class begins. If I have enough readers then I will scan and post a pdf copy of all 4 chauffeur course textbooks and other good stuff.
If you have any questions / comments / suggestions then please post a comment and we can all discuss it and help each other out.
