Taxi Driver Online

Everythings gone to plan so far Skull, can't say to much about anything at the moment though but you are doing okay on your own though.

Please keep it coming bud, especially the bits with "we" which is of course the plural of "I"?

Don't rise to the bait with these people, they are weirdos who obviously have many of the same mental deficiencies as some of our colleagues, infact some of them probably are our colleagues.

If these people are really so thick that they cannot understand the economics of the taxi trade then why bother engaging with them at all.

I think everybody wants to undermine the taxi trade in Edinburgh now, it's probably the same all over the country.

The price of the initial hire on tarrif one is about four fifths of the average price of a single sausage in an east of Scotland Chip shop, one stop on a bus is £1.10.

Imagine that, four fifths of a single sausage to get in a vehicle with it's own driver, so let us look at what else £1.50 gets you in todays Britain.

about 5 and a quarter cigarettes

one third to half a pint of beer

one third of one H4 headlight bulb

About one 46th of a Taxi tyre

About one 136th of a taxi test

About one 450 hundred millionth of the tram cost

About one 16th of a temporary insurance/name addition cover note

About one 803rd of the cost of a Taxi licence

The list is endless but the idea that people are unable to afford to use a taxi in Edinburgh is really farcical, if they cannot afford the taxis then they cannot afford anything else really and that isn't the fault of the taxi drivers anymore than it is the fault of the shops putting up prices.

Oh did I mention about 25 minutes of my time last night was equal to £1.50, of course thats net profit not gross.

The only people who are losing out here are the poor suckers behind the wheel of the taxis in Edinburgh, we are being and have been undermined by everyone and everything so don't ask for your umbrellas back because it's started raining.

Can't say or do anything much at the moment, but it won't be long now.

No Skull, the fact is the taxi fares are not to expensive in Edinburgh, the Tariff one initial hire at £1.50 is woefully inadequate as a means of running a cab and making a reasonable living from it, you would need four of them to pay for one gallon of diesel.

Just think about it for once eh.

I find it sort of amusing that people say the fares are so expensive when the tariff one flagfall is just below the average price of a single sausage.

Government spending is going to hit £600 billion this year apparently, about £10K for every man woman and child in the country, this year I will be contributing well in excess of my £10k.

If the whole world is fecked or if the whole world is soon to be fecked what differance would a few coppers on each fare paid to a taxi driver make.

The perception that all taxi drivers are greedy feckers and are rolling in money is down in the most part to the claims of some that we are all earning a grand a week ................... some of these say this to justify the asking price of £50k for a HC plate.

The fact that we should all drown in debt to allow people to use our service is a daft argument .............. I'm sorry to sound heartless but those with limited funds will not use a taxi anyway when recession hits, the only users will be those with disposable income which allows them to, so your argument seems to me to be that you want people with more than average disposable income to pay less for a service to a person on the bones of their ar$e.

Seems like a typical Skull argument to me.

B. Lucky

Yeah Skull but you can't stop prices spiraling, goodbye to the nice decade and hello stagflation and back to the 1970's.

The oil prices are being predicted to hit $150 by July the 4th, they will not go down, they will stay high so why should Taxi operators and drivers in Edinburgh be any different from our municipal Bus company.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edi ... 317118.stm

The further undermining of the taxi trade in Edinburgh is totally unacceptable to me.

We have or should have an legitimate expectation that the administration of our trade ensures it remains viable, it's their system, their administration and thats where the buck stops,not with us.

Two opposing and equally valid points of view. Edinburgh's dilema is echoed up and down the country. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Maybe now isn't the right time to heap more misery on the public but will it be any better in 6 months or a year? Diesel could easily be £1.50 in a few months or £2 by this time next year. How long can we afford to soak up these increases without passing them on?

Times are getting hard and it's going to get a lot worse. Passenger numbers will fall as the public tightens it's belt. Some of us will go to the wall, nothing surer. Those with the biggest overheads first. Others will survive by working longer hours and accepting a lower standard of living.
Many will jack it in and find other ways of making a crust.

Welcome to the recession.

At one time, we had an agreed annual formula with the council to keep up with the rate of inflation. What happened to that agreement, no one seems to know.


While I agree, a tariff rise is a necessity. The introduction of a rise is all about timing, and this isn't the time. A rise at this time would be counter-productive. It will simply amount to fewer customers using our services. You will end up with less money, not more. We have missed our chance. This is about battening down the hatches and weathering the storm. There is no port in sight. Abandoning your customer base to the ocean, is not the smartest thing to do. Had we got a rise last year. It may have caused some consternation but it wouldn't be the problem that it is now.

What is being asked for for is, too little too late and at the wrong time. Nothing more than an act of desperation. The public won't see it any differently but they will hate you for it.