Taxi Driver Online

So how does this square with you bragging about how much your plate is worth, as per your quotes I posted earlier?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

i have never bragged about the value of my plate, as usual you interpret my comments in a way that suits you and your agenda.

So what's this supposed to mean then:

p.s. someone wanted to buy my plate - but I told them no thanks, you would cum in your pants if i told you how much plates cost my way......

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

it means that I would get the response that I am getting right now from you.

Wot, you mean it would demonstrate that you're just making it up as you go along?

At last we agree on something.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I've no objection to anyone joining or forming an association, but the problem seems to be that the council thinks they represent everyone, while actually they often just represent themselves or a handful of people.

The association here represents just a fraction of the trade, and between the ad hoc meetings they have every couple of months they don't communicate with their own members, never mind the majority.

A good example of this concerned our main rank in the evening, which was not official but built up over the years because it was better for taxi customers than the main official rank.

Over the last couple of years it got to the situation that there were 20 cars on the rank and thier were still cars circling round trying to get on.

The rank was also causing traffic problems, so the council 'consulted' with the local trade (i.e. the association) and agreed that the unofficial rank should be double yellowed and a new rank set up just round the corner.

Trouble is, it only has 10 spaces, so a lot of the time you can't get near it.

Just after the new rank started I stopped to pick up a flag where the old rank was, until to be collared by a passing police car who said we weren't allowed to do this now and that we'd been told. Well they must have just told the association, who can't even inform their own members, so what chance the rest of us? And how can they overturn the law of the land anyway?

Now there are so many taxis circling the town and/or sitting round the corner from the new rank (at the old rank beside the students union) that fewer and fewer people are making it to the ranks.

Soon we'll all be cruising all night and the ranks will be empty.

But the reason that the association let the council walk all over us with the new rank is that none of the committee even drive at night (the old and new ranks were irrelevant during the day) or even don't drive at all.

And the rest of us don't even exist

If the rank is really that important to you perhaps you should type out a petition and get as many names as you can to sign it. Type two seperate petitions one for drivers and one for the public. When you think you have adequate support from both sectors type out a reasonable letter in support of your petition. The letter should outline your case for the rank to be situated in that part of the road, which has become well known by the public. Make sure you stipulate the number of Taxi spaces you think appropriate and also make out a case for the public who signed your public petition. Put across that the proposed new rank has support from both public and the drivers and that that the present rank is highly unpopular by all concerned.

Make three Photocopies of all the documentation and send the original copy to the licensing department, one to the chair of the licensing committee, one to the chief executive of the council and one to your local newspaper explaining the situation.

Make sure you have one spokesperson who the council can deal with and make sure you are all singing from the same hymnbook.

That is your first step and it should start you on the way to dialogue with the appropriate persons.

Perhaps you should also put forward the suggestion that the council should acknowledge one member of the Taxi trade as a rank liaison officer so that in future, new night and day ranks can be highlighted in order to bring a better service to the public.

Regards

JD

The reason your council walk all over you could be because only a minority are local association members. If you were all to join and contribute, your council may be less likely to divide and rule, as they appear to do at the moment. Koin and have yous say.

Or even JOIN, and have your say.fingerslip.

You will probably find that most appeasement comes from Associations in restricted authorities. This is because they have the sword of Damocles hanging over their head in the form of deregulation. Do this or we deregulate is normally the cry from the council. I've seen it time and time again.

JD

The details may be different, but I think the scenario in Fife is essentially the same as happens in almost every LA in the country.

Let's face it, most in the trade haven't a clue what's going on, and just as many aren't really bothered anyway.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

And everything is sweetness and light in deregulated areas?

There isn't a great deal a council can threaten the deregulated Trade with, that is one of the reasons they like to keep control of numbers.

If the council came to you today and said we want you to pay 200 pounds extra per year on your license in order to pay for Taxi marshals, or we will deregulate, what would you say? lol

A prime example was Bradford last year, the council said they were going to license ten WAV vehicles. The trade say oh no, we'll get ten existing owners to upgrade to wave vehicles. lol

In most restricted areas the buzz word is "don't rock the boat" but if the council says jump, you jump, simple as that.

JD

I think there is really, and that's the head man at the association, but as I said the problem is that he hardly communicates with his own members, never mind the majority who aren't in the association.

The best hope for the rank is to extend it to the end of the street. Going back to where it was before is a nonstarter. It was single yellows before, that's why it was used as an evening rank, but the council put double yellows down so nobody could parke there, except for one or two numpties who sometimes rank up across the other side of the road opposite the students union, just round the corner from the new rank. And to be honest the old rank was getting chaotic, and the council did a good job of blaming the trade for this when in truth parking should never have been allowed there by anyone.

A petition is a good idea, but to be honest I can't really be bothered. Towards the end of last year I had several letters in the local press, and article in a magazine, I set up a website and forum like this and interest was more or less nil, apart from a letter to the local press from my friends in the association that got a bit personal, so I don't think I'll try that again.

I concluded that all you got out of trying to do things was people hating you, and no interest at all from the authorities, so it all seemed a bit pointless.

The anamosity in the local trade is such that only a small number will ever be singing from the same hymsheet. There's little in the way of etiquette or anything like that. As an example, the old "rank" had the students union at about the half way point, so some drivers used to just come to a halt there until they got a fare, and because the rank was unofficial there was little that you could do about it. And this included some of the association's committee, so no chance of much help there. Even when the cars did move up, most of the students coming out of the union would just jump into the back car anyway, and once or twice I've been pole with about half a dozen cars behind and the last to get a fare, or been in pole and watched another taxi get one fare from the back, go away and come back and grab another with me still in pole! So it's hardly surprsiing that the trade can't agree on much.

And I disagree with the assocations stance on most of the major issues anyway, and that's mainly why I've never joined up.