Taxi Driver Online

New taxi rule is not 'fare' say drivers

Dozens of Worksop taxi drivers could be forced out of business by 'unfair' new Bassetlaw Council rules. Frustrated Hackney cab drivers in Worksop and Retford have been told they will eventually have to fork out around £30,000 for a London-style black taxi – which they say will wipe out their profits.

New Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) laws which come into effect in 2020 mean more specific rules on what Hackney cab drivers can and cannot drive. But the council say they are so keen to put the rules into practice that in Bassetlaw they will be enforced 10 years early in 2010.

This means that current Hackney licence holders will be able to continue using their cars until they need replacing or until 2009 – but anyone wanting to register a new car or change a vehicle after January 2006 will have to buy a black cab.

John Woodcock, chairman of Bassetlaw Taxi Operators Association, said many drivers could be forced out of the job if they have to buy one of the expensive black cabs.

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IDFIMH

Bassetlaw is derestricted for the want of a better term but it has the most stringent quality control policy in the country. Every cab has to be brand spanking new and the last time I was in contact with them they had only licensed one vehicle since derestriction.

What the situation is now I don't know but for those who wanted to know what qaulity control does for increasing numbers, Bassetlaw is a prime example of what it does in the smaller authorities.

Regards

JD

sorry but i have to buy a wav.
so why dont everyone else?

The situation regarding the DDA 1995 is that before any legislation can be brought into force it is necessary for the Secretary of State to draw up "taxi accessibility regulations" after which he is required to bring those regulations into force by means of a Statutory Instrument(SI) - until that happens local authorites have no powers to introduce any such requirements.

Below is the hyperlink to the DDA Act 1995, which sets out those procedures
See para 32 for details as to "taxi accessibility requirements"
See para 67 (1) for the proceedures the Sec of Sate has to follow to make any such regulation or order exercisable.

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/Uk ... 0_en_1.htm

I think we made the point at the time of the DDA statement a couple of years ago that what they were saying seemed to confuse things and looked like the sort of thing they should have waited for a proper consultation for - given the time that's elapsed since then I'm even more convinced now that they rushed that statement out for the OFT's investigation.

As for Bassetlaw, of course they can do what they like in the meantime, but I assume that it's only the new plates that have to be brand spanking new, and not all of them - ie the usual one rule for some, another rule for others.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Actually, I think my question is answered in the article

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Elswhere, (under General, Some DFT Stats...) The DfT say the WAV implimentation date is 1/1/2012, and not 2020 as reported above.
They also expect TAXI numbers to drop, and PH numbers increase.

Now that is less than six and a half years away.

Do all those PH saloon car drivers still want a Hackney Plate?

Well if the gov got rid of restrictions, then we would find out.

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IDFIMH

And if you check out the dft site on the future taxi "parc" you will find out.
when they turned Lincoln from saloons to "London style accessible" the numbers fell by 50% overnight. literaly.

Cleary the DDA won't make much difference to the likes of Manchester and Liverpool, and by the same token doesn't alter the desirability of a PH driver becoming a taxi proprietor.

Obviously, in a currently restricted saloon area, DDA implementation will make the taxi option less attractive, but I suspect that if plates are currently £50k then numbers would increase with derestriction even if current saloons had to go WAV.

The bottom line is that it's difficult to generalise, and until we know exactly how the DDA will be implemented then it's impossible to say what will happen in marginal areas.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Up until such time as the Secretary of State determines what is applicable to Taxis in respect of the 1995 DDA as amended by the 2005 DDA, Councils themselves have the right to determine their own DDA policy.

http://www.disability.gov.uk/news/#dda

Those councils who are de-restricting numbers such as Bassetlaw, in the main are refusing to license anything other than Wheelchair accesible vehicles. These conditions will eventually apply to everyone until such time the Secretary of state has determined otherwise. Even then a council will still have the right under current legislation to determine the type of vehicle as long as the conditions comply with the 1995 DDA.

Regards

JD

Well I found this on another site, authored by one of our old mates:

So everyone has got to have a WAV on the say so of one passenger? Like I said this stinks of TDO "AGAIN". In Mansfield we won't have to transfer over to the TX2's if you are classed as a deprived area you are exempt form the TX2 ruling. This came from our LO last year when we had a meeting about the above issue.

So despite not being a million miles apart, Worksop and Mansfield are presumably going down different routes, but I can't understand why Mansfield can be exempt from the DDA - has it declared itself an independent republic?

And in the past we were told triumphantly that Mansfield would only license brand new TXs - presumably some people are more deprived than others, or maybe it's the usual, 'do as I say, not as I do'.

Don't know why TDO is being blamed either - I wasn't even in the trade when the DDA was passed, and I've never been a big fan of it anyway. Of course, the fact of the DDA may be unpalatable to some, but don't shoot the messenger.

By the way, I just posted this to give the lads on the other forum something to bitch about, since the poor dears seem to have precious little else to discuss. If the Edinburgh forum is a sewing bee, the other one's the bridge club.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

If the plank had bothered to read what the councillor said, then he would have seen that she dosen't want all cabs to be WAVs, just more than they have at present.

And I suspect that there are some drivers (non plate-holders) in Oldham that would be willing to spend £30,000 on a taxi WAV, but not £50,000 on just a plate.

That aside, let's all hope the plank is right and Oldham do the right thing and de-limit, and if it's all down to TDO, then I doubt much he will mind.

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IDFIMH

I've just had another look at the DDA, and I can't for the life of me see the 'Mansfield's a doss hole' exemption.

Surely not another lie from the plank.

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IDFIMH