gusmac wrote:
Once the badge has been issued, there is no way to control this.
HC owners soon realise they can make decent money renting to other drivers without actually putting in the hours themselves.
PDQ most of the HCs end up working 24/7 with 2 or 3 drivers. Competition has still increased and you still cant make a decent living.
Drivers would obtain a PHV licence, then convert to Hackney when a licence, or driving position became available.
Of course...on the subject of 24/7 running...some might argue (not me of course
) that there is an advantage in double-shifting, in that you get a better standard of 24 hour coverage of the ranks, that is lost under delimitation. The massive increase in vehicles in Ireland for example, has not exactly had the desired effect of drawing people out to work during the hours that were seen to be "neglected".
It could even be argued that renting a vehicle is advantageous to some who chose to rent, who would never have been able to afford/obtain a loan to purchase a £30,000 WAV. There's always an alternate way to view things.
The bottom line is still that public demand and available rank space should be the main criteria in issuing licences.
Demanding that vehicles are single shifted, making licences non-transferrable, or only one per person etc were all things that
with hindsight, should have been written into law from the first days of taxi law itself...but it wasn't...and as you've indicated already, the "horse may have already bolted", so to speak.
Those who constantly bleat on about "taxi barons" (who I agree are c**ts...and I'm not suggesting that you did so gusmac) neglect to take into account the fact that many, maybe the majority of the people who suffer disastrous financial loss under delimitation, are "innocent" victims. Single licence holders, who remortgaged and borrowed money to obtain a taxi licence for example. Were they foolish to pay money for something with no guarantee? The answer is probably yes, but I have no desire to see them suffer unnecessarily, just to get at the greedy barons who have abused a system that was obviously imperfect.
All those who say limits should be done by quality, rather than quantity, are hypocrites. A limit is a limit....no matter how it is "manipulated" into place. Until someone comes up with an effective solution to the problems we all face, I personally see no benefit in using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. The "solutions" offered so far, have not "fixed" anything. So...until the messiah arrives...I'm off to put the kettle on.
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