Andy7 wrote:
Its a viscous circle Dusty. Push drivers wages up (good) push operating costs up (puts people out of business - the margins of profit are not that good), or push fares up to the public (good for us, ?, or make less people use cabs? Good for customers?). But, put fares up, and less people use cabs, thus less drivers needed, and so on and so on....
Well, there's several competing interests in your analysis Andy7, and obviously what's good for one is not necessarily good for others.
My viewpoint is that of those at the bottom of the heap - ie those obtaining drivers' badges, and from that point of view I would say that making it more difficult to get a badge will drive up their profit/earnings, and as a consequence a better trained workforce and a higher quality service, and this in turn will attract better drivers.
In lightly regulated taxi markets in my experience what you end up with is a largely part-time/'between jobs' workforce, most working in the black economy (another big issue not addressed by the OFT) and earning below the minimum wage in what is basically casual employment.
As for other interested parties in the trade like despatch offices, I usually tend to view these along normal business lines - ie the good ones will make money, others won't or will simply go to the wall. The problem is that the despacth office business is simply too easy to get into, and to that extent few will make it big, particuarly in more rural areas where the size and profitablity of businesses of any kind is always limited.
Dusty
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