Taxi Driver Online

So what's he doing in the trade if it's so bad?

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IDFIMH

to be honest reading that makes me relise im working for the right firm. if i did a 70 hour week every week i'd have to be VAT registered!

Iris must think 'normal' people earn £50 grand a year or so!

Maybe he's committed to a £30k credit agreement for a new TX11 or a £50k loan for his plate. This is not employment where everything is provided for you, as this bloke has only been driving for a year he is very probably caught in a financial trap. He's had a HC plate for a year but I wonder if he drove PH before that and was convinced by argument from others that the world of HC was better than the world of PH.

I know what I prefer, I know what works best for me, I know where the best place is for me to make money and thats good old PH.

MORE in the papers:

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133188&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133171&contentPK=11230672&moduleName=InternalSearch

FARE DEAL ON WAY?


12:00 - 02 November 2004
A final report on whether to allow more taxis on Plymouth's roads is due to be produced by the end of the year.

It follows a consultation into the city cab trade, examining issues including whether there are enough taxis to meet demand.

The city council is one of a number of local authorities which sets a limit on the number of black cab licences issued. Nearly half of councils in the UK do this.

In Plymouth, there is a limit of 359 Hackney Carriages.

Councils have been able to restrict the number of licences if they are satisfied there is no significant unmet demand, but the Office of Fair Trading has urged all local authorities to look at this policy.

It believes such restrictions 'reduce the availability of taxis, increase waiting times for customers, reduce choice and safety for consumers and restrict those wanting to set up a taxi business'.

The consultation will help the council decide whether more licenses should be made available.

Taxifast managing director John Preece, who runs Plymouth's largest private hire company, has already argued the need for the sector to expand to meet growing demand.

But Hackney Carriage bosses argue there are already enough black cabs and allowing more would lead to higher fares, drivers working longer hours, and congestion around city centre taxi ranks.

Earlier this year, Plymouth MP Linda Gilroy warned in the Commons against a taxi 'free-for-all' if the way black cabs are licensed changes.

Mrs Gilroy said that problems with private hire vehicles could be repeated with Hackney Carriages if the market was deregulated without proper controls.

The availability of taxis is also one of the areas being looked at as part of the drive to help tackle late-night alcohol-fuelled 'yob' behaviour in the city centre. Removing people from outside pubs and clubs at closing time as quickly as possible and cutting queues for cabs is seen as helping combat potential trouble. It led to a night bus being tested during the summer.

A council spokeswoman said responses to the consultation would now be collated and a report sent to a scrutiny committee.

She said: "We are hoping to have a finalised report in time for full cabinet to consider in early December. Local authorities have a statutory deadline to meet of January 7, 2005, for the publication of the final policy document.

"We sent out around 1,000 policy papers and have received around 40 back. Some responses confirm in principle that they are happy with the proposals and others are more detailed, such as the response from the police."

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I can not belive that out of the 1,000 or so letters that got sent to drivers, they've only got 40 back. (unless its something different to what the drivers were sent?)

Steveo, it's because drivers are being told by the likes of the T&G that nothing is going to change i.e. T&G KO'd OFT. Thus they feel they have nothing to worry about.

It's only when the de-limit genie is out of the bottle, that the existing cab trade wakes up. And then thankfully it's too late.

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IDFIMH

We can look forward to mr Preece challenging Plymouth council this week can't we? It should be a ground breaking experiance, if he plays his cards right.

Best wishes

JD

more:

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133188&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133171&contentPK=11288801&moduleName=InternalSearch&keyword=taxi&formname=sidebarsearch

SURVEY WILL AID DECISION ON BLACK CAB NUMBERS


12:00 - 11 November 2004
During the next two months, Plymouth City Council will carry out a survey into whether there is a demand for more taxis.

The results will be crucial in helping the authority to decide whether to lift a restriction on the amount of Hackney Carriage licences they issue.

The city council is one of a number of local authorities which sets a limit on the number of black cab licences issued and there are currently 359 operating.

Councillor Sue Dann announced the start of this latest stage of consultation at the council's Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

So far, the authority has already spoken to those in the trade who have backed the survey.

Cllr Dann said: "We have spoken to trade representatives and they are in favour of a survey.

"We will be doing it in the next six to eight weeks. We have to make a decision on the issue by March 2005."

Private hire taxi boss John Preece, managing director of Taxifast, has argued the need for the sector to expand to meet growing demand.

But Hackney Carriage bosses argue there are already enough black cabs.

surely this is the worst possible time of year to be doing a survey?

6 weeks time you'll be in the busiest part of the year where no one can get a cab for love or money and eight weeks you'll be at the other extreme when it dies a death for the few weeks after new year.

Well I never.

Alex

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ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

Simply the best taxi forum in the whole wide world. www.taxi-driver.co.uk

The latest on this is that Plymouth city council have been told by the crown court that they MUST conduct a proper survey by 31st march 2005, and then it's back in court sometime in early May 2005.

Well I thought that might happen. The attempt by Plymouth council to do it on the cheap with web surveys and so forth would not be acceptable to the court. There is an accepted precedent for measuring unmet demand I would be surprised if a Judge departed from that precedent. However, as we have seen in some recent council minutes some other Authorities are also trying to do an unmet demand survey on the cheap, without having to pay for a proper survey, if indeed you can call any unmet demand survey proper.


Best wishes

JD

and here it is in black and white:

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133188&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133171&contentPK=11363219&moduleName=InternalSearch&keyword=taxi&formname=sidebarsearch

TAXI BOSS'S APPEAL AGAINST LICENCE REFUSAL IS DELAYED


12:00 - 23 November 2004
A taxi boss's fight to win a vehicle licence back has been delayed by five months.

Taxifast managing director John Preece is challenging a Plymouth City Council decision to refuse him a Hackney carriage licence in Plymouth Crown Court. But the hearing into Mr Preece's case is now listed for May.

Mr Preece had his application for a Hackney carriage vehicle licence turned down because it took the number of council licences over an agreed limit.

The city council is to conduct a new survey of the number of cabs operating within Plymouth and how many people use them.

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dunno why the report says "fight to win a vehicle licence back". mr. preece is trying to get some HC plates. the way this is worded would suggest that one has been taken away, which is not the case.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?M25F4252A

TAXI FIRM SEEKS A RULING ON LICENCE


12:00 - 03 January 2005
A plymouth taxi firm is seeking a High Court judicial review in a bid to speed up an application for a hackney carriage licence. Taxifast managing director John Preece is already challenging a Plymouth City Council decision to refuse him a licence in Plymouth Crown Court, but in November the court set a May date for the next hearing. That would give the council time to complete a survey on whether the current number of cabs meets demand.

Now Taxifast has applied for a judicial review of the Crown Court's decision, which it hopes will be heard by mid-January. The company hopes the hearing will be brought forward to February or even late January, before the survey is ready.

Taxifast's legal administrator Ron Glazsher claimed the council had already had time to complete its survey and the firm would be losing thousands of passenger journeys if it had to wait until May for a positive decision.

Mr Glazsher said the aim of the review was to secure a licence, but added: "The most likely outcome is that they will hasten the process and a full hearing will be heard as soon as possible."

Taxifast's application for a hackney licence was turned down by the council in November 2003 because it took the number of licences over the city's limit of 359, but Mr Preece said the sector needed to expand.

The firm is challenging the decision on a hearing date because it says a Crown Court judge should not have heard a civil case.

you are a sad lot . sad , sad , you have NO idea how counciles work do you. MR T