Taxi Driver Online

Thats more than Manchester, Liverpool, Sefton, Birmingham and Brighton put together.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

You create your own doom

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Taxi vote threat to jobs

I AM one of the taxi drivers who protested about the limitations of the taxi licences. Because the council refused to have a survey we, as an Association, paid for an independent survey. Its findings made no call for extra taxi licences. This survey report had nine months left to run but the Lib-Dems chose to ignore it. So, without them having a survey they took the limitation off.

Taxi licence numbers went from 315 to 515 in one year (in 2008 there are now 810 licenses - Hackney).

Gail Smith may have been a member of the licensing board for five years, but she was chairperson for one year. The decision the board made in that year affected the whole taxi trade, including private hire companies. This decision (she says) is based on what was best for the people of Sheffield and was made against all the advice and fears the taxi licensees had, eg no extra ranks (standing spaces); increasing the volume of traffic in town centre and less income means vehicles may not be maintained up to the standard the council demand.

We have fought for seven years to get new ranks. Now we have 178 standing spaces, most of these being night ranks. This is not sufficient for 810 Hackney cabs.

Limitation makes us a tighter group. Private hire and Hackney drivers now work together. We no longer have the taxi wars I experienced in the 70s and 80s. I am proud to serve the people of Sheffield, like Gail Smith. Without them I wouldn't have a job.

Sheffield may have changed but, the habits of human beings stay much the same. Taxi drivers know where their market is. They know they may have to wait one hour for a job. If the custom was there, like Gail Smith presumes, we would be on the move all the time. I would love to be in the right place at the right time when, in reality, I'm travelling round the suburbs looking for work. You can go to any street corner and hail a cab. You will find two or three following each other looking for work.

This issue has been ongoing since 2000. Why, in 2008, should it be a vote catcher? Our taxi drivers were asked to be ambassadors of the city, which we include in our service. We are not politicians, we are working people whose careers are being jeopardised by this vote.

MW Berry, ex-Secretary, Sheffield Taxi Trade Association.

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IDFIMH

Sorry fella, but a SUD survey, paid for directly by the trade, has a shelf-life of 0 days, 0 months, and 0 years.

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IDFIMH

These surveys usually give the results that are expected by those who pay for them. Ask Skull or Jasbar.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

On January 9th full council meeting it was decided to limit the number of cabs to 830, with a review in a year. Ther survey was independant in that it wsn't paid for by the trade but the licensing department who recommended not to limit.

So whats your plate worth and will you accept a fiver?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Try a car boot sale near you and maybe you could buy a whole dinner set for a fiver mate not just a plate.

A couple of letters printed in the Sheffield Star last week.

Over the years in any city it's traditional to queue for cabs.

It's also traditional to have turkey for christmas dinner but you don't see people queuing to get one.

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Grandad,

Go to M&S on Xmas Eve Grandad, and you will see a HUGE queue of people buying turkeys.

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Former taxi driver

What idiots wait till Christmas eve to buy their turkey, they deserve to queue.

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Grandad,

This sounds as comical as your boast that you have never broken the speed limit Jimbo. I went to Marx and Sparks on Xmas eve and the place closed at 4 pm. The only queue formed was the queue that led to the exit. Maybe Lincoln folk have different shopping habits to go with their driving habits

This year I dressed up as Santa for my kids, did you dress up as a Marks and Spencer’s Dummy? Or was it a stuffed Turkey?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Well this year on Xmas eve, go to M&S at 0800 and you will see a massive queue of people collecting their pre-ordered turkeys.

And if you visit the Lincoln store, you could take the time to observe me, still not speeding.

Post a photo of your good self dressed as Santa. I'll put it on my mantlepiece to keep my grandson away from the fire.

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Former taxi driver

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!