Taxi Driver Online

A rather dry but accurate assessment of Taxi BTEC's, from the times educational supplement.
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The Times Educational Supplement

April 4, 2008

It's only fare your cabby should get hire qualifications

BYLINE: Stephen Jones

What do lecturers and taxi drivers have in common? There are the obvious puns based on The Knowledge and "delivering" people to their "destinations". But now it seems we share a lot more, particularly when it comes to things that other people think we should be doing.

Just as lecturers aren't allowed simply to teach people what they want to know any more, so cabbies have learnt there's a lot more to transporting the public than simply driving them around.

You might have noticed stories in the press recently about Bournemouth cabbies losing their licences because they haven't passed Btecs. The full title of the qualification is Transporting Passengers by Taxi and Private Hire. Bournemouth Council has made passing it a condition for granting a licence.

Although only Bournemouth has made it compulsory so far, drivers nationwide have been taking the qualification since its introduction in 2005. So next time you get in a cab, watch closely for signs that your driver has been on the course.

First, be prepared for the journey to take a little longer than usual. Part of the training involves meeting and greeting people in the appropriate manner. If their cheery "Hi" is met by indifference, they might try, "Hello, Mr Jones, and how are you today?" If you are a regular, they will probably call upon their lessons in "establishing a friendly rapport", asking in detail about the health of your family.

Once that's over, dealing with your luggage is likely to take a while, now your driver has been trained to complete a full risk assessment for each piece. If their paperwork for this is anything like what we have in colleges, you'd be wise to have a set of marking with you to while away the time.

At last you're on the road. But you can't help noticing you're driving more slowly than usual. That's because your driver is trying out his or her new skills in reading body language through the rear view mirror. In particular, the driver will be looking out for annoyance, vagueness and humour. Presumably they'll also notice that you're going bonkers back there because of all the delays.

You arrive at the station to find your train left 10 minutes ago. Not to worry. Having been fully trained in conflict management (based on the "five animal role models"), your driver won't let you do anything you might regret.
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Another swipe at Bournemouth and their compulsory BTEC course.
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Birmingham Evening Mail

April 3, 2008, Thursday

Enough to drive your cabbie round the bend;

BYLINE: John James

I THOUGHT the person who designed the road system around Moor Street Station was probably the most stupid man in the world.

But that lunatic piece of traffic planning has been capped recently by the decision of the chairman of Bournemouth's Licensing Committee to introduce compulsory courses for cabbies in that geriatric town.

In order to have their licences renewed the cabbies now have to sit through eight weeks of lectures on subjects such as Reading Body Language and Conflict Management Techniques.

They are even taught to say hello and shown how to lift a heavy case.

Not surprisingly, more than 100 taxi drivers have refused to attend these courses, claiming that it is ridiculous to expect them to take an exam to prove they are competent to do a job they are already doing.

The daftness of Bournemouth Council's decision is reinforced by the instructions on customer service.

Drivers are told to practise reading body language through their rear view mirror and to learn to recognise annoyance anger vagueness (whatever that is), humour and worry.

They are even told to pay particular attention to personal qualities and appearance, including teeth brushing and beard trimming.

You really couldn't make it up!

Luckily Birmingham cabbies are not subject to this farce. They are often the first people visitors to this city meet and are great ambassadors for us.

They do not need a course to teach them how to greet a customer or lift a suitcase, and I can only conclude that either the cabbies in Bournemouth have low IQs or that their council leaders are idiots. I think I know which is the more likely.

On the other hand if I was a taxi driver trying to negotiate the traffic chaos which occurs around Moor Street Station every day, maybe a course in anger management would come in handy.
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