Taxi Driver Online

I have just read a letter issued to all drivers of the company that is setting up its MTO (mobile taxi office), it says that the MTO will operate from a bus lay-by between the hours of 11PM - 3AM and will be controlled by two marshals who will prevent any drunks from using the service.
It will work by a ticket being issued to the costomer from a taxibox which will cost the customer £1 and this will be deducted from their fare when they get into the PH car.
The company has informed their drivers than they must not rank up outside the MTO but in a seperate holding place which they have yet to establish. In Cardiff about 8 years ago (i may be wrong about this time) the coucil issued a notice that stated all bus stops and bus lay-bys in the city centre after 11pm become taxi ranks so i was wondering if the law regarding parking on regular taxi ranks applies here, which would render the MTO as parking illegally. Also if the MTO is Licensed as a PH parking in view of the public with the purpose of soliciting work would also render the MTO as illegal.
In their letter they have stated that they have the full backing of the Police and the Council, they may have but i dont think anyone has brought up Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 19761 to them, i believe this is now in hand.
I would be interested in your views on this latest development

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky

I would have thought that a bus in a bus lay-by (whatever that is) should be ok.

If the bylaw stated that all bus stops and lay-bys become taxi ranks after 11.00pm, then where do the late and night buses pick up?

Because if they picked up on the taxi ranks then they would be committing an offence.

In short I would be amazed if the PH firm haven't gone through what they propose to do with the council, and if they are happy then I doubt much can be done before it all starts.

But as night follows day, the PH will eventually start ranking, and that's when you can make the council look again.

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IDFIMH

your right there Sussex.
The late night buses only run from Westgate street round the corner and only drop off in certain parts of the City.
One recommendation put forward is for the HC to rank up around the MTO and take all the work.
This will only work if the HC drivers stick together, i doubt if they will though.
Only time will tell.

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky

Why do you feel its wrong for the private hire company to operate this mobile booking office, at the end of the day can not see it taking all your business away as the wont have the spare cars to do that on top of the work they already have. ( Unless up untill now their cars just sit doing nothing all night). At the end of the day it may encourage more people to come drinking in your town at night as they now know they have more chance of getting a taxi home.

The MTO is just another nail in the independant HC driver's coffin, the PH companies bring the customers into the City and the HC take them home, its worked well for years.
The trouble is the PH now flimp on the streets openly and eat at the work, the Council run cheap late night buses also eating at the work, the out of town PH also flimp of the streets eating at the work, the police and Council inspectors do nothing to stop this.
So a MTO will also be cutting down an already depleting customer base, and if the other PH companies see it working they will also start up MTO's, so with all these eating at the work soon there will be no work and the independant drivers will be a thing of the past, we could end up being forced to work for the companies, which if i wanted to do i would have done years ago, (i have been with companies and found it better to be independant). I dont think the PH would want an editional 2- 3 hundred HC drivers coming to work with in their already over crowded companies.
I have no axe to grind about PH or HC, we all have a job to do, my bone of contention is that if we all stick to our own work there's just about enough work for us all to earn a living, but if one sector whats to dominate all the customer base then dont you think we should try and prevent this happening.

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky

What you have to remember is that times change and maybe HC in some areas will be come a thing of the past. In a world of modern communication with mobile phones , email ext maybe PH are just moving with the times better. At the end of the day waiting on a rank for a hour or waiting in the street to flag a HC is not what people want these days.

I am not saying I think its a good things as I would much prefer HC to carry on picking up the street customers.

I've never come across that wording for it.

You would have thought that we would all use the same words for illegally plying and picking up, but flimp is a new one to me.

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IDFIMH

I think you will find it is a welsh thing Sussex,
Barnsley i agree in part with what you say, but i do think that there is a place for both PH and HC, but as i have said if worked properly both can earn a living.
But in the real world some will always want what others have (and more).
So perhaps you are right that in the end we will all have to move forward and accept the fact that we will all have be with a company.
Even in a company structure their is a place for both PH and HC, as some customers prefer a saloon car and find it too difficult to get in and out of a HC.
Only time will tell

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky

What a well reasoned discussion. I applaude you sir!

what i cant understand is if there is a demand for taking people home from this mobile office.
then why wasnt/isnt their a rank there thats meeting it.
no good people getting the needle over ph taking their work.
if some in the taxi trade had a little bit of foresight. then it would be cabs picking up cab demand.
not ph picking up cab demand.

If you had read the original statment before you made your comments, you would have read that the bus lay-bys become taxi ranks after 11pm, also there are taxi ranks in the area, the actions of this company are one of desperation to try and keep their PH workers happy, because the PH fleet in cardiff is getting bigger and the customer base is getting smaller, they are trying to grab all and any work regardless of the consequences to the HC industry or to any other company in the City.

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky