Taxi Driver Online

Suspect there's a bit more to this than meets they eye, hence my own thread title, which is attempting to read between the lines of the press article

New station taxi ruling advises drivers with mytaxi app

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16966 ... ytaxi-app/

THE secretary of a taxi drivers’ association in Oxford said new arrangements have been made following the introduction of a taxi-hailing app in the city.

Last month the rapidly expanding mytaxi service picked Oxford as its latest launch destination.

Mytaxi works with existing black cab drivers to provide pick-ups within five minutes of hailing.

It is designed so drivers can balance online work while also still being available to be hailed from the roadside.

But there were initial concerns among some drivers that the use of the app would cause confusion in the rank at Oxford station, if drivers hailed by mytaxi pulled out of the rank to pick up a passenger before they reached the front of the queue.

A poster put up at the station by City of Oxford Licensed Taxicab Association said: “Those who wish to pick up a mytaxi job or a radio job if booked from the ranks must make arrangements with the passenger to pick them up out of sight of the rank.”

But now, Sajad Khan, secretary of the association, said a revised arrangement has been made with drivers.

Acknowledging that more drivers would be using the mytaxi app in due course, he said: “We have requested drivers to pull off the rank if they receive a mytaxi or a radio job (as many drivers are also on the traditional radio circuit) to make other drivers on the rank aware that the driver has received a job through mytaxi or the radio.

“The driver may then pick up the job from a suitable and safe location without causing any obstructions to anyone and more importantly, without burdening any passengers.”

Oxford is the sixth UK city this year where mytaxi has launched.

COLTA has now posted an updated notice at the station which says: “To avoid confusion and being accused of malpractice when accepting either radio or mytaxi app jobs, drivers are advised (if on the rank) to pull off the rank and pick up the passengers from a safe and convenient place. Drivers must not pick up from bus stops, especially the ones by the steps at the rail station, and cause obstruction to bus operations.”

Mytaxi spokesman David Savage said earlier interest from residents and support from Oxford City Council convinced bosses the time was right.

He believes the app has the potential to transform the way people in Oxford take black cabs. It follows the launch of Oxford Bus Company’s PickMeUp app.

Clue is in the words 'radio job', ie what's new about what's going on here? So suspect the new app is just causing a bit more strife.

And suspect drivers not happy at having to pick up pre-booked jobs "out of sight of the rank", which was maybe proving difficult?



So just the same as has been happening for pre-booked jobs for decades, presumably?

Suspect some drivers just getting annoyed at other drivers increasingly using the app and thus less passengers using the ranked HCs.

So the ranked HCs tried to make it as awkward as possible for those using the app, but have had to pull back a bit.

I mean, what gives the association jurisdiction to issue instructions like this? Is it a private rank, or is it under the council's jurisdiction? Shouldn't it be the council making sure that HC drivers who AREN'T plying for hire (ie are pre-booked) are OFF the rank?

What a fuss about f*** all?

No one is going to book a mytaxi job if there is a rank full of cabs.

I think it's a case of the taxi radio firms getting a bit jittery.

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