Taxi Driver Online

London taxi fixed fare scheme delayed by lack of staff

24 December 2010

The remainder of a trial scheme which charges passengers a fixed fare for a taxi ride home from central London has been delayed owing to a lack of staff.

The first weekend of the trial showed "more manpower" was needed, London Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) said.

The LTDA said it did not anticipate the "huge success" as more than 500 taxi trips were made on 17 and 18 December.

The trial, operated from a rank on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square, charged passengers from £20 to £50.

Targeting touts

The service, available on Fridays and Saturdays between 2200 and 0400 GMT, was to resume from 8 January after a break for Christmas.

But now the trial, which is funded and staffed by the LTDA, will resume from the weekend of 28 January.

LTDA General Secretary Bob Oddy said the first weekend had "surpassed all expectations".

GOLDEN FARES ZONES
£20 - up to three miles
£30 - up to seven miles
£40 - up to 10 miles
£50 - up to 12 miles
Source: Westminster Council

"It is clear from the huge demand on both nights there is an appetite for the Golden Fares service, but just managing this is going to require substantially more manpower and costs than we envisaged.

"Given this we plan to delay resuming the final three weekends of the trial until the end of January, when hopefully we will have resolved those issues.

"We feel there will be demand for the service from the end of that month heading into Valentine's Day."

Westminster Council's city commissioner of transportation, Martin Low, said: "What we also want to do is combine the Golden Fares with an operation to clamp down on the touts, and also we tackle any touts trying to take advantage of the Coventry Street rank when Golden Fares is not in operation.

"A decision on whether to extend it further will be made at the end of the fourth weekend in mid February," he added.

Source; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12077014

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

How is this legal?

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Grandad,

he should stick to bird watching

How was your Xmas Mr GBC?

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IDFIMH

He must be minted you can go 10 miles here for that.
3 miles here would be £6.00
And thats without ANY discount before the voice from the NW interrupts

He can't hear you, he's in the Bahamas.

I thought it was South Africa with CC sheep in tow

I bet that new cab is already paid for.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

Hellish.

But this is still cheaper than what the unlawful Minicab rank and 'licensed' kiosk were charging two years ago, all with the blessing of the PCO. The new fixed fare rank is a cracking idea, and will be popular with both punters and drivers alike.

Quite correct Skippy.

But you forget that you can buy a three bedroomed house in Galasheils for under £150K. That wouldn't buy you a one bed flat in London, so all things in perspective.

I ask again, how is this legal? The fare for upto 3 miles is £20. What if the journey is only say 1 mile. If that is still going to cost £20 surely that would be more than the fare would have metered and thus illegal.

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Grandad,

You make a good point which would be nice to see an answer to.

If an answer doesn't come up this week then I will e-mail TfL and ask them.

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IDFIMH