Taxi Driver Online

Fury as taxi drivers are stopped from picking up Gatwick passengers

TAXI drivers say their livelihoods are at risk as they are now being forced to pick up Gatwick Airport passengers from short-stay car parks. Cabbies have previously been able to collect customers from the drop-off points at the North and South Terminals.

But they have been told that from today (Wednesday) they will be fined if they do so – and instead must pay £3 to wait in a car park. Frustrated drivers say passengers will suffer as taxi firms will have to pass on the cost of parking to the customer.

They say it is an attempt to remove the competition for Airport Cars Gatwick, the company which has a contract for operating taxis at the airport. The taxis from that firm will continue to wait in the ranks, but its fares from the airport are more expensive than rival firms', meaning passengers are set to pay more one way or another.

Ryan Grice, an independent taxi driver from Ifield, said: "It's ridiculous. I am disgusted – it's a levy we will have to pass on to the customer. "In a time of recession no one wants to pay more for anything. "I will now have to try to explain to customers where to go in the airport. It is madness."

Rauf Khan, manager of Alpha Cars, based in Crawley, called the change "pathetic". He said: "Can you imagine taxi drivers having to go into a car park, find a space, then direct families with children and buggies and bags to the car? "It is a hassle enough to find your own car in a car park."

Crawley taxi drivers fear the new enforcement will seriously restrict their trade. On some days Mr Grice, from Ifield Drive, can make six pick-ups from the airport.

The 41-year-old said: "People who work for the big companies at Manor Royal, nine times out of ten they go to the airport, even if it's to catch the train. "For repeat business I always say 'here's my card', but this will make it that much harder to pick people up."

Mr Khan, who lives in Tennyson Close, Pound Hill, attended a meeting last Thursday at Gatwick Police Station between Gatwick Airport Ltd and taxi operators. He said: "We have said that we are willing to pay something to the airport to provide us with a fixed place to pick up from. There is a lot of space.

"They have still said we have to go into the car parks to pick people up, because the forecourts are congested, but congestion isn't a problem. "What they are doing to us will finish off our airport jobs."

A Gatwick Airport spokeswoman explained that an existing policy is simply being enforced more strictly now, with traffic marshals having only recently started moving taxi drivers on if they are waiting where they shouldn't.
She said: "It has always been official policy that Gatwick's short-stay car parks should be used when picking up passengers by private car or taxi.

"Due to increasing congestion at Gatwick's forecourt areas, we will now be enforcing this policy at both terminals.
"This will ensure that space at our forecourts is protected for passengers being dropped off – a facility we continue to offer for free."

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IDFIMH

How about this for a radical solution to the customers finding the car. The driver parks the car and goes into the arrival hall with a board with either the passenger name of the taxi company name on it, then the driver can show them the way to the car. It works for me.

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Grandad,

It's how I do it here for both my local Airports, the punters can have the Meet and Greet treatment for the price of the short stay parking ticket, Luckily both my local airports have plenty short stay parking spaces. If they don't want that then I can still pick them up at the £1.00 drop off but i'll still charge for the waiting for their call to say when they are there.

Punters usually realise that collecting them from the airport incurs additional costs, that said it'll still be considerably cheaper to use their usual privateer than go get an airport Hack or PH off the rank.

Thats fine for picking up but they are also issuing fines for dropping off as per my earlier thread are drivers now going to have to pay to park up and show passengers how to get from the car park to the terminal ? a bit of a maze at gatwick south !!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I think the point he is making is his drivers will be dropping and picking up there all day long, so the parking up and paying numerous times a day isn't on.

Would I be happy if I had to park up, pay to park and go inside the supermarkets to find the punters at the till? Oh no.

If you are coming from miles away then the pay and go inside isn't that much of an issue, but for the Crawley lads, and to a lesser degree the B&H lads, it's a right pi** take.

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IDFIMH

I always use the set down bays if I'm fortunate enough to get a job there.

Sometimes punters try to force themselves into my taxi to get a ride back to town when the trains are down.

I'd better be quicker next time

All of which reminds me why I don't do airport runs!

A colleague had a long chat with one of the wardens today and he confirmed dropping is ok.

Very f***ing nice of him to say so.

In respect of pick up the warden said the new rules didn't allow this, and tickets would be issued.

The warden also mentioned that currently the rules/bye-laws don't allow this, as there isn't any rule/bye-law which says you can't load at the pick up point, but they are in the process of changing that.

What they are going to do is to paint the yellow no loading marks at the pick up points.

Which begs the question do these marks also preclude dropping?

But what was agreed was that this is purely a money making scam to get drivers to use the crazy priced cap parks.

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IDFIMH