|
The Reiver
Common Sense prevails in Trafford?
I must state this here and now, I am not a fan of Calendar Control meters, even though I have one fitted in my cab. You see, for a council to sit down and calmly, in sound mind decide that such things are needed, it is basically saying all of its licensed drivers are thieves, not only that, its also saying that it doesn’t actually think its going to be able to catch the culprits that do overcharge.
I understand calendar control was first mooted by the Boilermakers union who understandably have a complete ignorance of the rules that control cab drivers.
Apparently the boilermakers suggested to the council that their members have seen cabs in Trafford on ranks with their meters on the incorrect tariff, also they say, anecdotally I must add, that they’re members are often told by passengers that they have been overcharged.
Let’s dissect this bit by bit. I tend to know a little bit about the cab trade, twenty odd years of dealing with cab drivers tell you what the trade is like, invariably each area is full of people who are quite willing to talk about others, passing on malicious gossip behind peoples backs. The last thing they would actually do is get out of their cabs confronting the driver concerned.
To me, if the driver is so concerned he could do two things, firstly, get out of the cab and tell the driver in front he has the meter on the wrong tariff. Secondly, report the driver to the licensing department, advising of the date, time and nature of the complaint, with a willingness to attend a council hearing which could see the perpetrator suspended.
The above aside, you would think if a council were to introduce such a thing like calendar control it would need something like complaints from the public about being overcharged as evidence that their licensees are crooks.
Do you know how many complaints there’s been in Trafford since April 09 regarding being overcharged? Well there’s been 1 complaint.
Let’s play the mathematics game here. There are about 143 cabs in Trafford, each averaging 15 jobs per day (which is a low number I know), this equates to about 65,000 jobs per month, or half a million from April to December, and out of a half million jobs there’s only one complaint? Are Trafford drivers all saints or something?
Indeed, the complaint didn’t actually turn out to be a complaint. Apparently some press guy asked a driver at Old Trafford football stadium how much to the Piccadilly rail station in Manchester and was quoted £15, but rather than ignore the complaint because it was a fare terminating out of the area and the byelaws didn’t apply, the council noted it.
Further to the above the reported then jumped into a PH car from another area which was illegally ranked only to be hauled out of the PH car by another Trafford HC driver who charged the metered fare of approximately £12.
The proposed changes to licenses included the following gems;
The proprietor shall cause the taximeter to be of a type that will be calendar controlled and is programmed to the agreed fare table. The taximeter shall be maintained in a sound mechanical condition at all times and shall be located within the vehicle in accordance with the reasonable instructions of an authorised officer’.
And
The proprietor shall cause the taximeter to be switched on for all journeys. The taximeter shall display the fare as agreed by the current fare table’.
The NTA forwarded the local association a copy of the Curzon case in Liverpool (Liverpool CC [R] v Curzon Ltd [HC QBD] 1993) which was presented to the licensing department and led swiftly to the following changes.
’The proprietor shall cause the taximeter to be of a type that will be calendar controlled and is programmed to the agreed fare table [i]or at a rate less than the agreed fare table. The taximeter shall be maintained in a sound mechanical condition at all times and shall be located within the vehicle in accordance with the reasonable instructions of an authorised officer’.[/i]
’The proprietor shall cause the taximeter to be switched on for all journeys within the borough. The taximeter shall display the fare as agreed by the current fare table, or a lesser rate if this is used for all journeys within the borough’.
‘A fare, being more than that shown on the table of fares, may be charged for any journey which ends outside the licensed area, provided the fare is agreed with the hirer prior to the commencement of the hiring.’
I wonder about the common sense here, apparently the guy from the boilermakers didn’t turn up to the meeting as he was possibly out of his depth, and it was left to a much more knowledgeable chap from the same union wondering how the hell all of this came about.
An argument that MUST be won
Sorry to start the New Year off with delimitation of numbers, but I don't think we’ve been getting the point across. You see, I firmly believe the argument we all try to put across is flawed. We get far too technical and would rather argue with licensing officers than go to councillors surgeries.
The word ‘anecdotal’ is quite a good one, but when used in respect of taxi delimitation towards persuading councillors of arguments isn’t exactly needed, there is positive proof around the country that delimitation is a total and abject failure.
Additional Ranks?
Most of you don't come from a place like London, where arguably cabs are hailed on streets in equal measure to those on ranks. In the provinces most taxis are hired from ranks. Therefore the first question that needs to be asked is where exactly the increased number of taxis are going to ply their trade. We are all aware taxis are an afterthought in town planning, we are all aware taxis are hardly a consideration when planning consent is granted to new developments. Indeed, the lack of ranking space has been highlighted in this magazine in recent months with councils ironically clamping down on taxis over-ranking.
Environmental Impact?
If adequate ranking space isn’t provided by a local authority and a LA then decides over-ranking is to become a capital offence, then the cab driver has little alternative but to drive around a town centre ‘plying for hire’. I know Casey has been on about this recently, sufficed to say taxis driving round and round town centres looking for street hails not only increase congestion, by perhaps sitting at traffic lights longer than required, but increase vehicle emissions in these areas, which of course, are usually shopping areas and places with congested traffic anyway.
Lower Fares?
Ironically many councillors are persuaded by an argument that more taxis increase competition and therefore drivers charge lower fares. This is of course a fairy story; the actual effect is less competitive fares. The Hackney carriage trades main rival in transporting passengers is the private hire trade, the effect of delimitation is a gradual shift of PH to Hackney carriage, the PH companies therefore begin to charge the standard HC fares as set down by the local authority, the customer is therefore quite often left with no choice in terms of pricing.
Health & Safety?
I suppose you have all noticed we are going through the worst depression the Hackney carriage trade has ever witnessed, the additional taxis and people leaving other jobs and becoming cab owners is increasing at the very time the work is diminishing.
With the greatest respect of the Radio Circuits out there, when someone comes along and offers to pay them a fee for a radio each week, what are they going to do......say no?
The only thing a driver can do is work increased hours, some of these hours actually verge on the dangerous and I don't think i need highlight the dangers of driving whilst tired. Furthermore, in order to make up weekly takings many drivers take on school or local authority contract work. Strangely enough, have you people noticed like me, the drivers carrying kids at 8am are often still at work at 1 or 2am in the morning? Its a recipe for disaster.
Vehicle Safety?
It’ a point this magazine has labelled consistently since time immortal, given a choice between a loaf of bread to feed a family and servicing a taxi, given a limited amount of income, what on earth do they think a cab driver is going to do?
Vehicle service periods are often extended, when maintained its on a shoestring budget, just in time management as opposed to preventative maintenance.
Somehow local authorities have been duped into thinking the delimitation will solve all their problems, experience tells us it won’t.
“Happy talkin', talkin Happy talk
Talk about things you'd like to do
You've got to have a dream
If you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true”
The following quotes have came from the press in the past couple of years;
“Both featured drivers who had sailed through the spoken test - but appeared before the councillors with an interpreter because they were unable to speak English.”
"I had someone who had a licence come in looking for work, but his English was so bad he brought an interpreter with him.”
“He spoke through an interpreter because his English was described in court as 'limited'.”
“Patel, who had an interpreter in court, had since stopped driving taxis and was working as an operator at the firm. He will have to enlist on a sex offenders' register for five years.”
“Younis had his sentence explained to him through an interpreter. Younis has had his licence to drive a Hackney Carriage revoked.”
“On the night in question Mr M G refused to be interviewed by officers of this Council because he wanted an interpreter. However records showed that Mr M G was interviewed at the roadside by officers of this council in 1990 and no interpreter was needed a copy of this interview was attached to the report.
Also Mr M G was also interviewed at the roadside by a Police sergeant on the 25th July 1992 and no interpreter was needed then. A copy of the Police Sergeants statement and a record of the interview were attached to the report.”
“When the case was heard the defendant proceeded to tell the court that he could not afford to pay and costs and that he could not understand English, despite his earlier admission that he worked on the telephones for a private hire firm and he had been employed as a taxi driver.”
It is my duty to very often come up with solutions to problems which happen in the taxi industry and the following maybe considered quite radical.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that in the UK every taxi driver should be able to converse in the English language. Indeed, given the fact that the majority of passengers communicate in English, some would suggest it is more or less essential.
In addition to the above it is equally important that not only should a driver understand the passenger, he (or she) should know where the passenger wishes to go to. Customers tend to be a little bit ‘picky’ on this point, taking a passenger somewhere they don't wish to go is very often frowned upon.
In order to ensure both of the above take place it is a good idea to have a knowledge test, this test should be of both the written and verbal variety. It isn’t exactly rocket science, a licensing officer can ask an application to take him from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ whilst being interviewed, naming every street on route. This will satisfy the licensing officer of two things, firstly the applicant can speak English and secondly he knows routes.
Obviously, being able to drive is quite important, how about something radical? The DSA have had a taxi driving test for many years, why don't all applicants pass one of those?
Happy New Year.
_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
|
Login
Register
FAQ
