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Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37251		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  StuartW [ Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
A few more bits and pieces based on the DfT stats and how they're reported in the local press. Don't know how many of these there are in total, but I'm guessing that some are just reporting this if local numbers are bucking the downward national trend.
Author:  StuartW [ Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
Spot the difference between the headline and straplines in the Bognor Regis Observer and the Worksop Guardian.

For those not paying attention, I've highlighted the relevant word :-o


Taxi and private hire industry in Bassetlaw unscathed by pandemic

https://www.worksopguardian.co.uk/busin ... ic-3341481

Bassetlaw residents have more taxi and private hire vehicles to choose from than they did before the pandemic, figures suggest, despite a huge fall across the rest of the country.



Taxi and private hire industry in Arun unscathed by pandemic

https://www.bognor.co.uk/news/people/ta ... ic-3341319

Arun residents have dozens more taxi and private hire vehicles to choose from than they did before the pandemic, figures suggest, despite a huge fall across the rest of the country.


So combined numbers in Arun have increased from 119 to 168 :-o

PHV numbers have stayed the same at 13, but HC numbers have increased from 106 to 155 :shock:

Never really trusted the DfT stats, but maybe it's due to local factors. Like Uber plating HCs in Arun to work in Brighton :wink:
Author:  StuartW [ Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
Another interesting comparison here - Swindon numbers up, but Bolton well down


Increase in number of taxi drivers in Swindon bucks national trend

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/new ... nal-trend/

Taxi drivers in Swindon have bucked the national trend.


Number of Bolton taxi drivers slashed after coronavirus pandemic

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/19 ... -pandemic/

BOLTON residents have hundreds fewer taxi and private hire vehicles to choose from than they did before the pandemic, figures show.


So Swindon PHVs up 11% :?

But PHVs down 29% in Bolton :-k
Author:  StuartW [ Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
Have ignored quite a few of the other articles, but thought the one from the Isle of Wight might be a bit different.

Not really, but a quick read reveals the dangers of churnalism. The headline and first few paragraphs read:


Isle of Wight County Press wrote:
Even fewer taxis and private hire vehicles on the Isle of Wight

https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/1950 ... sle-wight/

The number of taxis and private hire vehicles on the Isle of Wight fell, between March 2020 and March 2021.

Department for Transport figures show 239 vehicles were licensed to operate here in March, down from 243 the previous year.

The National Private Hire and Taxi Association is blaming what it says was a "sheer absence" of any financial support for the industry over the Covid lockdowns.


The figures in the highlighted paragraph demonstrate that as regards the Isle of Wight the thrust of the article is totally incorrect - the decrease in numbers is, er, statistically insignificant and tells us nothing about the market.

Maybe a better headline would have been something like: "Little change in taxi and private hire vehicle numbers despite downward national trend." [-(

And you don't need to know the trade to realise this, as several of the comments on the website make clear:

Quote:
4 fewer taxis. Hell of a story and scoop there.


Quote:
Number of island taxis down by 1.6 percent during a pandemic where fewer people need taxis - what a catastrophe!!! Who will save us??!!


Quote:
So 4 taxi drivers giving up in a year is a news story is it? I assume there's no covid doom and gloom to post this week?
Author:  StuartW [ Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
But at least the Isle of Wight article reveals the source of the various articles:

Isle of Wight County Press wrote:
"A spokeswoman for the Government told PA..."

So it's sourced from the national Press Association news agency, and presumably the local press just plug in their own numbers and change headlines etc as appropriate. Or inappropriate, as the case may be :badgrin:
Author:  Sussex [ Thu Aug 12, 2021 6:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Press plays numbers game with DfT stats
There will be some who bemoan the reduction in the taxi/PH trade.

But there are many, like me, who are currently celebrating it.

It appears Uber drivers in London are filling their boots.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... users.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ne ... 01481.html

It seems that the rumours Dick Whittington and his cat heard were correct. :-$
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