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PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:21 am 
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STF wrote:
Reality in our trade never ceases to disappoint me and Sheffield contingent has it's fare share of let downs as does every licensing area. Would you suggest supending all licenses pending passing the new test? It may be one solution but within a short time we will be back to the same situation. So how is making the test more stringent going to solve the problem?


I'm afraid quality controls are far too laxed but if that suits your purpose then all well and good. It certainly doesn't suit mine.

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JD

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:49 am 
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Sheffield City Council, one of the pioneers of delmit policy has decided to recommend limit to go back on after analyising the results of a demand survey. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Taxi-plan ... 3555734.jp


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:11 am 
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So there's not enough cabs working at night, and the answer to this problem is to limit the number of cabs. :lol: :lol: :lol:

And then charge punters extra. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:28 pm 
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Absolute jokes at our Clown Hall. :shock:
Had they kept a tight ship then this tinkering would not be necessary. They have too many cabs in day and night with the only short fall for the busy two hours at Friday and Saturday nights, and that's what they're trying to fix. They did take a leaf out of your book and landed in this mess, so maybe you could let them have another page that shows them what to do next?
What a mess the free plates badwagon hurtles into, then shrugs responsibilty and wants others to pay for their mistakes. You wouldn't see that I suppose, would you?
Surprising isn't it this doesn't happen in London? Ha ha Does make a mockery of the London model a little methinks :D


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:21 pm 
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STF wrote:
What a mess the free plates badwagon hurtles into, then shrugs responsibilty and wants others to pay for their mistakes.

So why don't you hand your plate back and go and rent one? :?

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:37 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
So why don't you hand your plate back and go and rent one? :?
:lol: :lol: Woderful solution when you have your own cab and little work, so improve life by handing plate back and renting a cab. :lol: Simply classic.
That should work, almost as good as too many cabs so bring on more cabs, wonderful, that'll fix the problem.
You surpass yourself sir by your business accumin. Maybe there is a reason you and I are taxi drivers :?


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:44 pm 
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STF wrote:
Sussex wrote:
So why don't you hand your plate back and go and rent one? :?
:lol: :lol: Woderful solution when you have your own cab and little work, so improve life by handing plate back and renting a cab. :lol: Simply classic.
That should work, almost as good as too many cabs so bring on more cabs, wonderful, that'll fix the problem.
You surpass yourself sir by your business accumin. Maybe there is a reason you and I are taxi drivers :?

My point isn't that you should leave the trade if you can't earn out of it, although many would consider that a sensible approach, but how many of drivers currently moaning wouldn't have had a plate in the first place if the council didn't de-limit.

So it is they who should hand back their plates if they are now suddenly pro-quotas. Else one would consider them to be a tad two-faced. :wink:

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:11 pm 
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There is something the matter here with your reality sir. Do you have a problem with turning the water tap off when the glass gets full, or are you insulted in having to do that? How do you reconcile doing the opposite of what you did seconds earlier, and is that described as two faced in your vocab?


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:44 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
So there's not enough cabs working at night, and the answer to this problem is to limit the number of cabs. :lol: :lol: :lol:

And then charge punters extra. :lol: :lol: :lol:


You are being disingenuous, and you know it, Sussex.

As I said when I started this thread, DE-LIMITATION ISN'T WORKING!!

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:48 am 
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STF wrote:
Sheffield City Council, one of the pioneers of delmit policy has decided to recommend limit to go back on after analyising the results of a demand survey. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Taxi-plan ... 3555734.jp


Just noticed the vid in the link Ell Tell has got to be in everything :lol: :lol: :lol: :D


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:17 pm 
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The report that is in front of Sheffield council and although the politicians have in the form of Labour party cabinet decided to adopt a resolution to reccomend a limit to be imposed, the report doesn't actually support the stance.
Quote:
4.11 The consultants’ report makes clear that a reintroduction of the limit would not be advisable at this time for a number of reasons:

There is no overwhelming evidence in the report that supply and demand for taxi services in Sheffield is unbalanced. Therefore the market is functioning well, indicating that there is no need to impose a limit on taxi numbers
Demand has risen steadily in Sheffield over the past ten years, with a sharp rise since 2003, linked to the growing economy. There is no evidence that this increase in demand will halt in the near future, and therefore introducing a limit might restrict the ability of the taxi market to respond to this demand.
• Although there is no significant unmet demand at most times of the day, there is pressure on taxi supply at certain critical points, particularly at weekend night times.
• Hackney carriages are the only taxis that are accessible for disabled people. Restricting provision of these vehicles may lead to negative impacts on this group of users.

In addition it is clear that:

• There are no positive benefits for the taxi user of introducing a limit on taxi numbers. The market would be less able to respond to rising demand, and there is no evidence to suggest that the quality of service offered would improve.
• There is a significant risk of legal challenge if the Council reintroduced limitation from people who wanted to enter the market but were prevented from doing so because of the limit (see Section 7).

After that sort of a call for limiting the number of cabs I would've expected any legal high court challenge to succeed, I don't know if others agree?
The final decission will be made by the full council due to meet on 9th January and likely to go either way, with the legal guys calling for no limit but many councillors think there are too many cabs.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:50 pm 
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STF wrote:
After that sort of a call for limiting the number of cabs I would've expected any legal high court challenge to succeed, I don't know if others agree?


Well I'm sure Sheffield councillors know the law but if they don't i'm sure some bright spark will inform them of the pitfalls of not having a survey that shows there is no unmet demand.

What specialised advice have you got from the advertising man who runs Taxi Today magazine? I'm sure we would all be interested, well at least some of us? lol

Regards

JD

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:12 pm 
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JD wrote:
Well I'm sure Sheffield councillors know the law but if they don't i'm sure some bright spark will inform them of the pitfalls of not having a survey that shows there is no unmet demand.
That is the dialema for them,they have got a syrvey that shows there is no unmet demand, but also goes on to advise against limiting numbers.
JD wrote:
What specialised advice have you got from the advertising man who runs Taxi Today magazine? I'm sure we would all be interested, well at least some of us? lol
If you have any contact maybe you could tell us JD, cus none of our lads have any contact with taxi today magazine or any of their advertising men. For three months they did send a bundle of mags to one chap who dished them out but last was in May or June and none since.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:42 pm 
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Don't limit taxi numbers

I WAS the chair of the licensing board in 2000 when the policy of limitation for Hackney Carriage Taxi Licenses in Sheffield went through a tough review.

The recommendation then was quite clear, after surveys were done, and that was that we should allow market forces to determine the limit. And they have.

Since 2000 the licensing department has issued around 80 licences per year.If a good living was not there to be made then the demand for licences would seize. And that is market forces at work.

As the chair of the licensing board in 2000, and having had five years experience as a member of that board, I had the experience to take this issue forward.

It was then, as it is now, not an easy subject to deal with, and it made me very unpopular. They were difficult times for me personally. Taxi drivers marched around the town hall demanding I resign.

But the licensing board is meant to be non-political. I, along with other members at the time, made our decision based on what was best for the people of Sheffield.

The limit in 2000 was 300 – nowhere near the number of taxis needed in Sheffield at that time. The survey then recommended 500 plus. (Private hire taxis were around 12,000 at that time, I believe).

Sheffield has changed and is continuing to change: more hotels, more people use our city at night. We do not need to set a limit on taxis. Market forces will determine this.

The recent survey, done in 2007, suggests that although the demand is met during the day, it is not met at night.

And therefore the outcome of this recommendation was that a limit should not be recommended.

Taxi drivers cannot work day and night. Working nights is the nature of the job and therefore the drivers need to be more proactive at being in the right place at the right time... moving around the city centre not stuck on ranks.

Where in the world in a large city do you have to walk to a taxi rank to get a taxi, other than in Sheffield?

An external report by London Council suggested that limitation should not be recommended. Officers from the licensing department recommend that there should be no limit.

All limitation does is push the consumer toward private hire taxis, and this could cause more ply for hire. Taxi drivers are there to serve the people of Sheffield, because without us they would not have a job in the first place.

Therefore it is the job of the council to make sure that the demand for taxis is met and they can only do this by allowing market forces to prevail, and not put the limitation back.

This issue has become a political vote catcher. And it is a disgrace. Taxis are a service for the people of Sheffield. Politicians should remember that when they vote on this issue next week at full council.

Gail Smith, Liberal Democrat Mosborough, Thorpe Drive, Waterthorpe

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:12 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
The limit in 2000 was 300 – nowhere near the number of taxis needed in Sheffield at that time. The survey then recommended 500 plus. (Private hire taxis were around 12,000 at that time, I believe).



12,000 PH in Sheffield? :shock:

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