Taxi Driver Online

Glasgow-based Gary Bowers has travelled more than 280,000 miles since purchasing his LEVC TX in 2018, almost 20 per cent further than the distance to the moon. Gary’s epic journey demonstrates the exceptional durability and reliability of the TX and its revolutionary eCity range extender powertrain. By taking full advantage of the full-electric capability, Gary has made £85,000 in fuel savings over the course of his ownership versus a traditional diesel taxi.

https://www.levc.com/news/taxi-driver-o ... 000-miles/

This LEVC puff-piece came up on my timeline. Most of the comments were 'how many ERADs?'

Did you see that article on TaxiPoint yesterday about the Glasgow black cab trade?

Didn't actually read it properly, but looks like some kind of PR pitch on behalf of the trade. Funny thing, though - as per usual, the author is stated as TaxiPoint editor Perry Richardson, while it looks a very odd article from a London driver in a London-oriented publication. In particular, I'd guess the article could be rearranged slightly to apply to the trade in the likes of Edinburgh, Manchester or Liverpool etc, or even London itself

I'd guess it's actually sourced from Glasgow, although Google suggests it's not available anywhere else on the web


GLASGOW WITHOUT TAXIS: Who would be impacted and how would the city’s image change?

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/glasg ... age-change

Yes - I also thought it was quite generic. Although it picks up on similar points in another recent news item -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ngw4e1xv8o

Glasgow city centre needs "fresh life" a business body has warned, as a new report showed a decline of more than 400,000 visitors compared with last year.

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said revitalising the city should be a "top economic priority."

There were 410,000 fewer visitors in May compared with the same month last year, while in April there was a sales decrease of 12.3%, the equivalent of £60m. A spokesman for the city council said Glasgow faced "significant challenges" but the council was working to create a "more attractive environment" for businesses and shoppers.

City centres across the country have been affected by a number of factors, including the cost of living crisis and the continued popularity of online shopping. However, feedback from businesses in the new report cited additional problems with "cleansing, maintenance and hygiene" throughout Glasgow.

Fewer taxis = less footfall and less footfall = fewer taxis.

Yes, and I wasn't doubting that the piece was Glasgow-sourced, but that that was why it was quite odd to be authored by a London HC driver writing in a London-oriented publication

And I'd guess there will be other generic reports on city centre footfalls in a year or so, given that Glasgow was one year ahead of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee in implementing LEZ.

(I doubt the latter three's trades will feel the same impact as Glasgow's HC sector because historically I don't think Edinburgh's HCs have been as old as Glasgow's, and obviously the HC spec in Aberdeen and Dundee will be easier to comply with. However, the impact on the general public in terms of visiting car drivers and other businesses etc will be similar over all four cities, presumably, so any impact as regards footfall should be broadly similar over the all four, with just the timing differing.)

And talking of taxi rank chaos and footfall etc, I see Unite's Calum Anderson has come in for a bit of stick for posting this, which he claims was on Saturday night

https://x.com/i/status/1806934639681868189

Anderson has come in for a huge amount of stick, including from comedian Scott Agnew, who claims he's actually in the video, and that it was a different Saturday night than claimed, and indeed it was the night after the Scotland v Germany match, and stuff about 'hateful' taxi drivers, blah, blah.

But Agnew's a hardcore nationalist, and the 'hate' claims are a classic case of psychological projection, in my opinion

https://x.com/scottagnew/status/1807929257227624844

Yes the keyboard warriors were triggered. I noticed some 1984-ish contradictions in the responses - footfall is down because of the cost-of-living crisis (not the SNP/LEZ) but it's actually really busy at the same time?

I suppose if the aim was to get attention on the issue, job done anyway.

getting back to the original story it might be interesting to see how much life there is left in the batteries. Also I wonder what the depreciation in value has been ?

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

There was another article on residual values on TaxiPoint -

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/the-c ... -a-premium

It quotes £30k for an early TXE, but the main topic was why diesels seem to be holding value (particularly given TfL age limits). It didn't give any real answers.

I paid £26k for a 2016 TX4 with low miles in 2022. They still seem to list for around the same now, even outside London.

Only reason I can think of is that many established repairs and servicing garages are still kitted out for diesels. So owners are maybe sticking with diesel cabs while they can.

TaxiPoint is, and always has been, a UK taxi industry news source. I’ve wrote on Glasgow issues on numerous occasions whether it’s to do with LEZ, vehicle costs, retrofits, Covid grants, rank access, etc. I have a good working relationship with drivers in the area, trade reps, council and Government media/press staff.

In fact Intelligent Relations (a third party site that analyses recognised journalists) has Glasgow listed as a strong geo focus area (https://intelligentrelations.com/journa ... ichardson/)

I’m not a random cabbie writing a blog! Surely a journalist that knows the workings of the industry is a good thing?!

Thanks for the clarification, Perry (and apologies for delay in replying).

You've changed my perception of TaxiPoint entirely - I just didn't think you/TaxiPoint's focus was Glasgow




I'd always thought of you/TaxiPoint as being London-oriented, but my perception was obviously misconceived

Anyway, I still think your piece was a tad generic rather than Glasgow-specific. Also, it smacked of what I think journalists call a puff-piece, as opposed to wholly objective journalism. But, hey ho, we all have our angles, biases and agendas

In fact, rather than London-oriented, I thought maybe Gatwick was TaxiPoint's specialism, at least in view of the number of pieces you've run on the 'taxi' situation there

I'm obviously being a tad facetious, and indeed it's a high-profile issue in the industry, and worthy of extensive coverage for a specialist publication like your own

However, in the several TaxiPoint articles I've read, there seems to be no attempt to drill down to what *precisely* constitutes the illegality being complained of. (And to that extent echoes the numerous pieces in the local/regional non-specialist press.)

So perhaps you could provide some clarification in that regard? Most of what I'm reading looks like ill-defined bluster about illegality and licensing breaches etc, presumably sourced mainly from Unite, or more specifically from the local trade in Gatwick...