Star rating idea for cab industry


LICENSING chiefs are to consider introducing a star rating system to encourage hackney taxi drivers to improve their passenger service.

Barrow Borough Council’s licensing committee met to discuss an independent report on taxi provision.

The committee voted in line with the report’s recommendation to retain the cap on the number of hackney taxis working the borough at 146.

The meeting in Barrow Town Hall on Thursday heard the formal limit is actually 120, but the figure has fluctuated between 146 and 152 since at least 1994. The committee also agreed with the report’s recommendation to consider a star rating system in a bid to make hackney drivers develop their passenger service skills.

Ian Millership, of CTS Traffic and Transportation, which carried out the review under standard government policy, said the star system has been introduced to good effect in Oldham.

The committee also agreed to encourage the hackney trade to form a representative body to improve communication with the council.

Mr Millership said drivers no longer had a formal spokesperson – only a Facebook page – and only 15 people attended a consultation day for Barrow hackney drivers.

Councillor Tony Callister, committee chairman, found that figure “concerning” and proposed a working group to improve communication with drivers.

Mr Millership said: “They’ve not been able to set up a hackney drivers’ association. They are losing out by not having one.

“It’s the first time I’ve come across a Facebook page (for taxi drivers) and there’s all sorts of banter that goes on there among drivers, but not a great amount of any significance.

“The hackney carriage side of the trade seems quite depressed and not motivated to do very much, and that’s unfortunate.”

Around 40 per cent of the borough’s licensed vehicle fleet consists of hackneys – 146 hackneys to 219 private hire vehicles.

All but 16 of the hackney drivers also work in private hire to supplement their earnings.

Mr Millership said: “I would say the 16 who work independently would be enough to service Cornwallis Street day-in-day-out, but you still need the 120, if not 146, late at night at weekends for those couple of hours.”

There are informal ranks in Cavendish Street and Mr Millership said the committee should encourage Cumbria County Council to formalise these as official evening ranks because of the high hackney custom there late at weekends.

http://www.in-cumbria.com/star-rating-i ... ws-archive

I suspect the latter the drivers with the most stars will be the ones with the most friends and family

We had a competition down here some years ago where the Council started something called Ashfield's best Taxi Driver, one man won it after his missus phoned up 50 odd times to nominate him.

Did you or your wife pay the phone bill?

yeah, i follow nidge on fb.......he's as miserable as me