Taxi Driver Online

Another one bites the dust

And looks like the test has applied to both HC and PH badges, and that it'll be removed for both. As for the rest of the stuff, not clear if it's about HC or PH, or both, or dual badges.

But I suppose that unless it directly affects you then it's more about what this says about the national trend.


Council scraps local 'knowledge test' for new taxi drivers as it's 'obsolete'

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire- ... t-31785648

Cabbies are increasingly relying on sat navs

Bosses at Pendle Council have scrapped the local knowledge test element of a taxi driver's assessment.

At a taxi licensing meeting last month, Pendle Council agreed to scrap the local knowledge section of the test, which applicants must complete before submitting an application for a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence. The test costs £29.90.

A spokeswoman for Pendle Council said: "Government guidance says that due to sat nav technology and with journeys being pre-booked the need for a local spatial test is now obsolete. We are therefore complying with national guidance."

Other councils in Lancashire have retained the local knowledge test part of the application for new taxi drivers. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's test, which costs £87, includes a section where applicants are given the name of 10 landmarks within the borough, such as pubs, clubs, schools, medical centres and supermarkets, and will need to identify the road or street they are located on.

Mo, a private hire taxi driver who works in Blackburn, said that local knowledge isn't just about knowing where a particular street is.

"Sat navs are great, obviously, but someone who has a lot of knowledge about their local area will know where roadworks are or which roads are quieter at certain times," he told LancsLive.

"Also, what if someone changes their mind about their destination halfway through? Drivers without local knowledge, who rely on sat navs, will have to stop and re-route their journey whereas those who know the town they work in will have no problem."

Rossendale Council has published an example test on its website. This test, which costs £70, includes questions such as "If a customer gives you eight 50p coins then you gave them 20p change, what was the price of the journey?", "Which of these pubs are not in the valley? The Woolpack, the Jolly Sailor, The Park View or Bees Knees?" and "What road is Haslingden Mosque on?".

Lancaster City Council offers free training courses through Lancaster and Morecambe College and taxi driver applicants must then complete an assessment provided by one of two companies, which costs £87. This course doesn't appear to include a local knowledge test.

Taxi driver applicants must pay for both the test (if a fee is payable) as well as the application.

Application costs vary between councils with a three-year licence costing £354 in Lancaster, £238 in Blackburn with Darwen and £259 in Rossendale.

...on the other hand, the actual council statement in the second paragraph above makes it sound like it's the more usual scenario of removing it for PH only, so maybe it's been misreported - who'd have expected that?

But life's too short to look into it. And, again, it's more about what it says about the trend.

The race to the bottom of the barrel continues.

Anything to keep that license fee money coming in.

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IDFIMH