All hail the taxi drivers
Published on Tue Sep 21 09:23:40 BST 2010
They take us around unfamiliar cities, to airports and stations early in the morning or late at night, to births and funerals, and are available for hire all round the world.
But despite our happiness to hop in a taxi to get from A to B at a moment’s notice, who ever considers for a minute what it must be like to drive a cab, to get behind the wheel to take people to their destination at all hours, in the pouring rain, in snarled-up traffic, with screaming children in the back?
Cabbies have lots of stories to tell, people always say, but underneath the stories what is it really like to spend one’s days as a taxi driver?
Taxi driver Joe Matthews started working behind the wheel in 1984, spending his first decade in the industry as a private hire driver before switching to black cabs. He now works days, operating out of the station or other ranks and picking up fares who hail the cab in the street.
The distinction between taxis and private hire vehicles is, for both drivers and customers, an important one. The former are typically (though not exclusively) black London-style taxis which have to operate from ranks or on the street. The latter are private vehicles and can be any make or model. They cannot be hailed in the street but can be hired privately and operate out of offices, where they can be contacted by members of the public who need a ride. By law, private hire drivers are not allowed to ply for trade, badge themselves up so they appear to be taxis or park in ranks.
“Being a taxi driver you’re your own boss,” said Joe, who represents Taxiwatch. “To be honest, these days it’s hard work.
“If you go and work out of the station there might be 50 cabs down there. You can’t even get in and you’re restricted where you can park.”
When Joe started out in the business there were 100 private hire cars and 63 Hackney cabs in Northampton. Now, these figures stand at nearly 600 private hire cars and 150 Hackney carriages.
Issues with private hire cars plying for trade have been well documented on these pages and a number of drivers have appeared in court charged with doing so. For taxi drivers, the number of private hire cars has had an impact on their trade.
“Private hire cars, they park wherever they feel like. We have got proper rank facilities for 10 cabs at All Saints and five at the bus station but we can never get on.
“We should really have some limit on the number of cars. There’s nowhere to put them. People go on about health and safety – go round town at night. I have got nothing against private hire drivers, a lot of them do a great job, but the trouble is there are too many that come in for one thing only.”
The days of cabbies earning a fortune are long gone, says Joe. He repeatedly describes it as ‘hard work’ and explains the cost a driver must face, such as a vehicle and all the necessary paperwork, before he or she is even out on the road. Despite that, he thinks fares are set at the right level.
“I think in real terms I was earning more money 10 years ago than now, because of the numbers and fuel prices. Our rates are set by the council but I wouldn’t advocate an increase at the moment.
“You always get one or two customers who complain about the fare or tell you you’re going the wrong way. You get the odd runner too, but quite honestly if anybody causes trouble in the cab I’d rather they got out.
“We’ve got the protection of the screen. When I worked nights sometimes I would drive past rather than pick people up because I could see what they looked like.
“Those of us who have been in the trade for a while like to think we can spot the troublemakers but sometimes we get it wrong.
“If I see a bunch of blokes with beers and burgers then I will just go past.”
Keeping drivers safe:
“If anyone misbehaves it’s usually the young male customers in a group,” says Kevin Willsher, of Northampton firm A1 Taxis.
“Until recently it was very uncommon to hear of women with knives.”
Over the last few weeks, private hire drivers in and around town have hit the headlines after being subjected to violent attacks by customers. These in turn have lead to debates over whether their cars - many of which are private vehicles of a range of makes and models - should be partitioned to keep the driver separate from their charge.
“I’ve been in the taxi trade for 30 years in Northampton and generally speaking you always have runners but we have never really had any attacks on drivers, probably only one or two in a year, and now you’re getting one or two a week. A lot of drivers tend to keep it to themselves and soldier on.
“It’s a very serious issue because drivers getting attacked makes people think other things are going on in the town and it becomes a town centre issue.
“Hackney carriage drivers have barriers that separate them from their customers but private hire drivers sit alongside their customers and customers like to talk to drivers. It’s a shame we’ve got to the stage where we have to be partitioning drivers and customers.”
While screens could be put into private hire vehicles, these would be a big expense to companies or individual drivers. Kevin suggested they could also make an individual more determined to be violent.
“In fairness to the police they do step up, but we need protective measures so they don’t get to that stage.”
Anyone who orders a car from A1 receives a text from the company to tell them what kind of car is on the way and its registration number; this provides both reassurance for the customer of which taxi is theirs, and also gives the company an idea of who is ordering their cars, enabling them to recognise regular customers and, if a customer is violent, providing their number.
“We don’t agree with any illegal plying for hire. It’s always best for customers to pre-book taxis. We always send them a text - it’s a very secure method.”
Kevin said it was very hard to obtain a private hire licence in Northampton and the process took between three and six months, costing about £600. For taxi drivers it is a balancing act, juggling drivers and customers so neither is left waiting.
“There are peak times of trade when we’re busy, like getting to work and pubs and clubs closing. The secret is to work when it’s busy.
“We’re the unsung heroes of Northampton really, because we’re doing this thankless task.”
Source; http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/ ... _1_1172430
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