Taxi Driver Online

Would anyone in their right mind suggest hiring a taxi is a complex business? I suppose if you want to fill a report with nonsense then expect the unexpected. Does it go on to explain in detail the complexity of hiring a cab?



Such as what? The only thing that affects consumers is when they can't get a cab and we all know the reason why they can't get a cab.



I would like to know what different factors operate in the pre booking segment that is subject to much lighter legislation and what has competition between operators got to do with the availability of cabs?

Regards

JD

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Birmingham is totally & utterly de-restricted.

I have been in the Birmingham cab trade since 1973 & full time since 1978. In the 1970’s, 1980’s & the early 1990’s, we had blocks of taxi licences issued at various times & then restriction again. About three or four blocks of plates were issued over that period. That is where the mistakes were made. Had the issues of plates been more progressive before the Transport Act 1985, we would have probably not been in the mess we are now.

Birmingham de-restricted in 1996 & has not re-restricted since then. And there does not seem even a suspicion of any light at the end of the tunnel! When de-restriction came about there were fewer than 750 taxis in Birmingham; now there are nearly 1400. Also in 1999 there were approximately 2500 PHV & now there are about 5300 of the little scull & cross-bone merchants.

At that time, when it was obvious that de-restriction was about to take place, the taxi trade representatives urged the licensing committee to accept a policy that all new free issue Hackney licence must have a brand new vehicle, which they accepted & this policy is still in force now. At the time the taxi trade reps genuinely believed that this policy would help to create and maintain a good quality fleet of Hackneys and would also slow the entry of HCV down to a manageable rate.

(All other vehicle changes must not be replaced with a vehicle that is older than the currently licensed vehicle & that applies to HC & PHV. So you can replace an existing licensed vehicle with another that is a month younger & that fits the criteria.)

But time & de-restriction has brought reality to bear heavily on the taxi trade in Birmingham. Between 1996 & the end of 2000 there were over 500 Hackney licences issued, an increase of over 70%. Most of the drivers who became proprietors are driving the same vehicle that they initially licensed when they had their free issue Hackney Carriage licence. They cannot afford to upgrade!!!

The age profile of both fleets is poor & that is putting it mildly. There are cabs on the road which will be coming of age in less than a year’s time & I mean 21 years of age & not the new coming of age at eighteen. PHV’s are the same with the greater majority being in the 8 to 14 year old bracket.

And now it is rumoured that the results of a survey that has recently been completed show no overt unmet demand for the services of taxis (in the area for which they are licensed). The survey is apparently available on the Birmingham City Council website under the Democracy in Action page of Licensing Committee, but I cannot find it.

The recommendations in the survey are that there should be a cull of numbers. Yes that’s the right word (my word) a CULL. There’s too many of you HC & PH b****ards so now we are going to get rid of lots & lots of you by introducing an age limit on vehicles.

PURPOSE BUILT HACKNEY CARRIAGES; MAXIMUM AGE OF VEHICLE 7 YEAR OLD. (There are no saloon Hackneys in Birmingham)

PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES; MAXIMUM AGE OF VEHICLE 5 YEARS OLD.

In other words if you cannot afford to upgrade your vehicle, then get out of the trade!!

So what was your initial question???? ….

But Birmingham is de-restricted. do you feel it does not work....

YOU BET YA!!! DE-RESTRICTION DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!

There must be a better way & full re-restriction ad infinitum is also NOT the way forward either. A policy of managed growth as has taken place in Manchester since 1992 (I believe) is the only sensible way to expand.

10.00am to 12.00noon Monday to Friday without exception 200 – 300 cabs waiting in line to join a 12 cab official city council rank that feeds New Street Station, snaking along about three quarters of a mile of road around a u-turn then a left-hand corner and another left-hand corner, then a right-hand bend, then another left-hand corner onto a fast-flowing dual-carriageway where the cabs wait in a bus lane to move forward. And when that lot is full they continue to queue on the fast-flowing dual-carriageway beyond a slip road that joins the dual-carriageway. But now other cabs are coming up the slip road to join this mega illegal feeder rank & the fun now really begins!!!

“I’m in front of you mate” shouts Mohammed, who is stuck in the slip road, blocking buses & traffic with nowhere to go.

“No you’re not, says Ali. I’m in front of my mate ‘the pigeon feeder’ & he’s in front of Abdul, who is in front of Derek & both of them are in the slip road in front of you Mohammed”

And then a dozen or so drivers get out of their cabs to tell other driver whose in front of who & the confusion really start. Waiting time, after 10.00am, for a fare a New Street Station from the back of the mega feeder rank is about 20 – 30 minutes if 3 or 4 big trains come in together, but it can also be one and a half hours or more. But at least its not as bad as Birmingham Airport where it is not uncommon to wait 4 – 5 hours for a job & you are lucky if you do 5 jobs in a 14 – 16 hour day.

And those are just typical of ranks in the city. We have regular “Shooh offs” from these mega snake ranks by police, enforcement, traffic wardens (now called Civil Enforcement Officers in Brum) etc., etc. And when we ask where we are supposed to go, because there are not enough rank spaces in the city, guess what we are told to do? The answer is, “Go home & come out again when it is busy”

So you see de-restriction is not working!!!!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Councils will always de-restrict if they so wish!!

BUT, councillors either make policy of their own volition, or are guided by (in our case) government legislation, OFT, DfT, NCC guidance and publications.

In the past de-regulation was championed partly by section 16 of the Transport Act 1985 & then by the OFT Market Study in 2003, which the government criticised to some extent. Then came the DfT Best Practice Guidance in 2006, which again recommended de-restriction in those licensing authorities that still maintained quantity controls. In 2007 NCC reiterated this theme, but even on the front page of the NCC two page document it says, ‘Just over half of consumers think quantity controls are fair …’

Councillors have in the past given credence to these documents and letters, from these government departments, & consumer bodies. Now along comes OFT956 which gives the trade a little hope. Would it not be unreasonable to expect councillors to take notice of this new publication when deliberating on licence numbers, etc, etc? After all this is the latest from the OFT, the consumer’s champion.

I am not saying it will work & that it will stop councils from de-restricting if they so wish. But, if the taxi trade reps in any given area have a reasonable relationship with their licensing committee & can put these points over, then they might just be successful in either re-restricting (which I am not in favour of), or moving to a policy of controlled growth or controlled de-regulation.

What other tools have we got in our toolbox to convince councillors to change policy? Just sitting there & saying we want the issue of plates stopped or controlled growth etc, etc., will not work; but reasoning with committees using publications from consumer bodies might.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

It's nice to see somebody who knows what they're talking about.. a very accurate assessment...IMO... I was at the demonstration when Birmingham was de- restricted, and have always believed that the Birmingham association's were well and truly stitched up by council officers.... and that bad advice was given by that idiot who used to represent the T&G... .. nice to see Mr Schindler is still going strong....

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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!

Mike Shingler is no longer secretary of BASTA.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=8791

I meant that he was still alive

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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!

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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!

I suspect the report is referring to the fact that there is no real competition in the street markets, while there is more competition in the "pre-booking segment". Thus to that extent regulation in terms of quality and price is required for taxis/hackneys, but less so for private hire.

I think LOs have a larger effect, but surely anyone is able to point out to councillors the errors of OFT, DfT etc etc, if they exist.

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IDFIMH

Thanks. That looks useful. I'll read that.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Yes that's right. But they actually want to see fare regulation abolished, because they believe if that happened we would all charge cheaper fares & compete with each other & presumably hordes of passengers would get off the buses/trains and use taxis instead. Can't remember whether it was the OFT or DfT, but some clown in one of those Boffin Think Tanks even suggested that Hackneys should carry door adverts advertising cheaper fares in quiet times. Great idea that!!! So last turn on a rank with such a door advert would always work first!! Chaos reigneth!!!

Also the OFT has made it clear that the Table of Fares is a MAXIMUM charge that can be levied and as a result quite a few authorities now have the words 'This Table of Fares is a MAXIMUM CHARGE (or similar wording) in bold usually at the top of the fare chart. Is that the case in your area?

They also want to encourage the public to fare barter at taxi ranks, but acknowledge that this would not be practical for flag downs

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Only by using a newer report from one of these bodies that may discredit a previous reports that the LA had relied on in the past.

And yes LOs are powerful and in some areas almost untouchable.

Constant dialogue with these 'shakers & movers' is helpful though.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Out of interest do you not belong to a national association or union... as I know for a fact they were contacted regarding the OFT appraisal, and spent a great deal of time gathering information from the people they contacted

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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!

I think Mr T is asking, "do you" belong to a National association or Union but aside from that I am of the opinion that fares should be the sole domain of the service provider, which is the cab driver. Every other transport service industry has autonomy over what they charge and I don't think taxis should be any different indeed private hire operators do have autonomy of their fares and it hasn't been a detriment to them. In fact fares in all 343 authorities in England and Wales have a differential so it is hardly a new concept. The problem is, that many people have what I call the 1847 mentality whereby nothing should change.

If I want to react to prevailing business conditions then I need control of my business, I shouldn't have to rely on the whim of a councillor on whether or not I sink or swim? If I am being told that I can only use one of two vehicles than are vastly overpriced and uneconomical to run then I need the power in my own hands to sustain my own economic viability and I can only do that if I'm allowed to react instantly to any upsurge in market forces.

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.