Taxi Driver Online

This looks like two separate zones in the same council area.

Chances of relaxing WAV rule? Zero, I suspect.


Taxi drivers to be consulted on levels of wheelchair access

https://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/new ... ir-access/

COUNCILLORS have agreed to consult West Dunbartonshire taxi drivers over proposed changes to access for wheelchair users.

In 1996, rules were passed for drivers in Clydebank, which ensured all cars are required to be wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) - but this isn’t a condition for cabbies in Dumbarton and the Vale.

At a meeting of the licensing committee last week, a local driver called on the council to re-consider the move, which he said was pricing out drivers in the area, who already faced competition from neighbouring authorities.

John Gallagher, a driver from Clydebank, was allowed to speak in front of the committee - which was considering a report on the demand for taxis in general across West Dunbartonshire.

Mr Gallagher said: “In Clydebank, all of our vehicles need to be wheelchair accessible.

“The situation for us is, it’s now impossible to keep up.

“It’s more expensive to buy and maintain these bigger and more accessible vehicles, some of the guys are having to do school runs to make up the difference - this is costing us money.

“We need to get together with the licensing office and come to some sort of a balance because the competition that we’re facing from other areas, is making it hard for us to afford.”

Mr Gallagher implored the council to meet with drivers, in a bid to strike a balance.

He said: “We just want some consultation between drivers and yourselves on this issue.”

Mr Gallagher also pointed to the pricing for the purchase of taxi licenses, which is roughly double the amount it is for the nearest competition in Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire.

He said: “I’m not looking for you to make it cheaper, but that’s just an example of more that we’re having to pay.”

Other drivers were also on hand to lend their thoughts on the matter.

Dumbarton-based Steve McEwan, of Wright Taxis, told the committee that there are not enough WAV vehicles in the Dumbarton and Vale of Leven taxi zone.

He said there may be scope to reduce the Clydebank quota, while increasing the Dumbarton zone numbers at the same time.

Mr McEwan said: “The report said there was an 18 minute wait for people needing a WAV, while it was around 10 minutes for people who needed a regular car.

“We’re looking for something that’s going to work in both areas.”

Recommendations from officers in the report presented to the committee stated there was no need for a change to the number of available licences in either zone, nor was there any demand for an increase in the number of WAVs.

Council leader and vice-chairman of the committee Jonathan McColl tabled a motion to accept the recommendation of the officers, but also added that a taxi forum be called in a bid to see what drivers feel should be done in relation to provision of WAVs in the area.

Raymond Lynch, the section head for licensing, appeared to agree with the move, saying: “The forums we’ve had in the past have always been well attended and very helpful.”

Following the forum, a report will be brought back to the committee for consideration.

Didn't think doing school runs was necessarily a sign of desperation, but maybe it is for some



Not sure if he's talking about licensing fees or the cost of buying a plate here, but if it's the latter I don't think there's much the council can/will do in that regard



Wonder who he has in mind for issuing any extra plates to?

Suspect it's a bit like the driver complaining about cost of WAVs - sound like he'd prefer others to run one, but not him

I've honestly got no sympathy for them. You don't get to play the public transport card if you're not prepared to be WAV compliant. A Euro 6 Torneo Custom is about 35k as an HC, if you can't make that back in 5-10 years then maybe you're in the wrong trade. It's a tax write off, yes that thing you pretend doesn't apply...

Heaven forbid !!!!!!!

Whatever next? Maybe they will have to do airport runs.

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IDFIMH

NO IT ISN'T Electric vehicles can be written off 100 % against tax. Ordinary vehicles if they are over the low CO2 limit are only 8% per annum write down so they lose value faster than you can write them down

and tax write off is effectively just 20 per cent unless you are one of the London boys anyway



Maybe you get good prices round your way but certainly in my area school contracts go for stupid cheap prices sometimes as low as 50p a mile. One of the reasons I stopped bidding for them

There is a false belief amongst some drivers that school contracts are worth doing at any price as they are guaranteed money and many firms bid at ridiculous cheap prices because once they have them there is a queue of drivers waiting to come on board if you can offer them a school contract which will cover the car rent (or board rent)

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

18% per annum on ordinary motor cars, isn't it?

Fair point otherwise, though, but worth pointing out that you can write off all the loss on a car eventually, it's just in what year the write off is allowed that can differ.

So if a car has been written down to £5,000 for tax purposes, but is sold for £2,000, then you'll get a one off write off allowance of £3,000 to cover the difference.



Not something I've ever gotten involved in, but the talk on the ranks over the years has been that prices have been progressively squeezed with more competition, and looks pretty much the same everywhere.

18% write off per year (max £3000). So you'll write off a Euro 6 Torneo over 10 or 11 years.

10 or 11 years in the latest transit ??? It’ll be on its third or 4th engine by then!