Taxi Driver Online

As far as I know Aberdeen has the same knowledge test for HC and PH, and the offices are mixed fleet HC and PH.

And surprising that three big offices are against the plan, but there's maybe more to it than meets the eye here


New plans to increase taxi driver numbers in Aberdeen could ‘seriously damage’ standards

Taxi bosses warn new plans to increase driver numbers in Aberdeen threaten to “seriously damage” standards built up over decades.

Councillors are pondering an overhaul of the street knowledge requirements for private car hire drivers, despite claims change could have a “catastrophic impact”.

Currently drivers must pass a test before getting their licences to ensure they have a detailed knowledge of the city’s streets.

Candidates have to pass four sections – streets, places, routes and signs – so they can still carry out jobs should they come across any issues such as roadworks or sat nav failures.

But there are fears the strict requirements are deterring would-be drivers from getting into the trade, which is suffering shortages.

As private hire car trips are pre-booked, officials are considering doing away with the need for those drivers to sit the test – as they are given a level of forewarning of the destination.

Now, four options are being put out for public consultation to ensure the test is “still fit for purpose”.

What are the four options?

The first would see an amended general test given to private hire drivers.

It has been argued that these drivers could prepare routes due to advance bookings so would not need to take the extensive test.

But a general test would ensure they had enough knowledge to carry out jobs should a booking be made at short notice.

The second option is axing the street knowledge test for private hire drivers altogether.

Under current rules if a candidate fails one section of the test, they must take the entire test again.

And so option three would change that, allowing retakes of failed sections only.

Finally, the public will be asked about the introduction of a new requirement for drivers to gain an SQA qualification on taxi and private hire alongside the street knowledge test.

Taxi firms suggested their own changes

A trio of Aberdeen’s largest taxi firms have brought forward alternative proposal however: continue as things are.

ComCab Aberdeen, Rainbow City Taxis and Aberdeen Taxis suggested that private hire drivers continue to sit the street knowledge test, as all drivers are “doing the same job”.

Bosses warned allowing private hire drivers to skip the test would “seriously damage the standards that we have all striven to achieve”.

But they also pushed for change, calling for the pass score to be reduced and for applicants to get two chances to resit failed modules.

Rainbow City Taxis managing director Russell McLeod said: “We realise there is an issue and we want to be proactive in increasing the Aberdeen fleet.

“But we will not, nor should we, forget that we have standards that have been built over the past 40 plus years.

“Standards that we should not just disregard because we have a shortage of taxis at some peak times.”

He added that a decision to stop drivers from taking the test could have a “catastrophic impact on our trade and destroy 40 plus years of hard work”.

Aberdeen taxi driver test options ‘not plucked out of thin air’

But council licensing solicitor Sandy Munro said the options had “not been plucked out of thin air”, and were informed by discussion with other councils.

He added: “We absolutely want the trade’s views but I think it’s important to get the general public’s perspective on this as well.

“There may be people who are being put off joining the trade because of the standards or because of the current layout of the test.”

Councillors agreed to move forward with a public consultation on the test.

The results will be heard in September.

Wonder what Sandy Munro would have to say if Council employed someone as a solicitor without the qualifications for the job.

Nothing particularly new or earth shattering here


Queues wait more than an hour for taxis in Aberdeen as pandemic reduces fleet by a quarter

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... a-quarter/

Taxi passengers in Aberdeen have been forced to wait more than an hour in the middle of the night for a vehicle, as a driver dearth caused by the Covid pandemic begins to bite.

The several lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, when venues such as pubs and clubs were closed and people were discouraged from travelling away from home, caused a crisis for Scotland’s taxi drivers.

In the Granite City, many of them left their jobs and found work elsewhere, while others went into retirement.

As a result, the fleet has reduced by around 25% since the beginning of 2020, with a particularly noticeable impact on people returning home after weekend nights out when public transport has stopped running.

Families and other travellers at Aberdeen Airport have also recently had to queue for more than an hour following the departure of the final 727 bus at midnight, with around two taxis arriving every twenty minutes.

Russell McLeod, the managing director of Rainbow City Taxis, said: “The impact is probably more significant to the night-time ranks and especially at weekends.

“It means customers wait in the ranks a bit longer than they did pre-Covid.

“We want to be proactive in recruiting drivers, but we’ve got standards and we need to keep those standards up.”

Rainbow City, along with the city’s two other main firms Aberdeen Taxis and ComCab, has asked for help from Aberdeen Council to make it easier for them to get more people in their driving seats.

On Tuesday, councillors on the licensing committee were asked to consider reducing the pass rate for the four sections of the taxi driver knowledge from 75% to 60%, and changing the rules to allow a candidate who only failed one or two sections to resit without having to take on the parts they had already passed.

The companies also asked that the test for private hire drivers remain the same as for taxi drivers, as “they are doing the same job”.

Russell said: “There’s probably enough people taking it, the problem is passing it.

“All three offices operate the taxi school, which is effectively teaching the streets of Aberdeen and helping them pass the knowledge test.

“All of us who have taxi schools are all operational, they’re all very well attended at the moment, we just need a bit of help to get more people through.”

What is in the Aberdeen taxi driver test?

At the heart of efforts to recruit more taxi drivers in Aberdeen is the four-part knowledge test all candidates must take.

Part one covers the city’s streets, with 20 questions in which the wannabe drivers are given a road and must say which others it connects to.

Part two centres around points of interest in Aberdeen, asking where landmarks such as St Machar’s Church, Soul Bar, Duthie Park and the Chester Hotel might be found.

In part three, candidates are given two locations and must name all the streets they would take to get from A to B in the most convenient way possible.

And part four is simply a test of their knowledge of the Highway Code.

What are the next steps for the council?

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Licensing Committee, councillors agreed to press forward with a public consultation on several options for changing the approach to the knowledge test.

Those options are:

Changing the test for private hire drivers so it examines their knowledge of the city at “a more general level”
Abolishing the test altogether for private hire drivers
Allowing candidates to resit only a single section of the test for a reduced fee if they passed the other parts, rather than making them resit the entire test
Require drivers to get an SQA qualification on taxi or private hire driving as well as passing the knowledge test

Council licensing solicitor Sandy Munro said: “We absolutely want the trade’s views but I think it’s important to get the general public’s perspective on this as well.

“There may be people who are being put off joining the trade because of the standards or because of the current layout of the test.”

Same in every licensing area, and in those same licensing areas existing drivers are not complaining.

_________________
IDFIMH

For what it's worth, the public consultation on the knowledge test etc is available here:

https://consultation.aberdeencity.gov.u ... edge-test/

You can get as far as page 2 without actually filling anything in, if anyone wants to read the questions, which are relatively brief. Not sure what's on pages 3 and 4, but I'm guessing the questions on page 2 are the substantive consultation.

Really surprised they make drivers do the whole test again if they fail just one part.

Most of the world now tests via separate modules, surprised Aberdeen doesn't.

_________________
IDFIMH

Council will allow drivers to resit one section if that's all they fail.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... edge-test/

But I wonder if this all misses the point, in that people aren't coming into the trade because they have far better opportunities elsewhere.

Not because the test is too severe.

_________________
IDFIMH