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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 5:06 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 01, 2009 3:04 pm
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Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
Hello,

We would like to bring to your attention a Taxi Fare Calculator for the UK.

It uses the latest Mapping software combined with the latest Local Authority Tariffs to give accurate estimates.

You can add a link to your website in our Taxi Directory for FREE.

Many thanks for your time.

www.TaxiRoute.co.uk - Get a Fare Quote!

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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 8:46 pm 
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too long winded

why not just estimate fares?

use google mapping?

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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 9:55 pm 
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Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
wannabeeahack wrote:
too long winded


Agreed. The next verion of the software (in testing) will just be a 1 question system. But, it doesn't solve my problems. I will always need to know FROM, TO, WHEN and the LOCAL AUTHORITY.

Eventually I will be able to cut it back to just 1 question. As I should be able to geocode the Local Authority from the start point and defualt to tariff 1.

wannabeeahack wrote:
why not just estimate fares?


thats what it does?

wannabeeahack wrote:
use google mapping?


I looked at many mapping solutions and tested most before I decided to go with MS MapPoint. MS MapPoint has much stronger, wider interfaces with much more functionality. Google was a close 2nd as it's so pretty.

Thanks for the feedback. Hope the above make sense. Not saying im right but thats the picture at the moment.

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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 10:14 pm 
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It doesn't work. I put my address and post code in and calculated to my dads address and postcode and it sent me to the wrong place. the distance quoted was 1.6 miles south but my dad lives 7 miles north.

I have my own system on my computer whereby I use autoroute to calculate the distance and then put the miles into a programme that I made to calculate the fares for all 4 of our rates. It is very simple and very accurate.

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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 10:26 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 8:58 pm
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Location: Plymouth
When asked to quote I put the destination in satnav. This gives me a distance. On my phone which is a PDA I tap in the distance on a spreadsheet I have wrtten myself. This Spreadsheet muliplies distance by running mile tariff rate (at all tariffs), adds the flagfall and gives an instant result. Then it adds a percentage to cover the "dead" miles on the return. Roberts your fathers/mothers brother.
Takes about 15 seconds from start to finish.
I have linked the gps in the phone to the spreadsheet, but to be honest, the mapping/routing software is not as good as the Garmin I generally use, but the calculation is intantaneous. I will happily continue to take 15 seconds.
If I am at home I can do all the same on my computer of course, and I can produce the figures for a written quote.

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PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2009 11:29 pm 
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Location: Hampshire (HC)
Chris the Fish wrote:
When asked to quote I put the destination in satnav. This gives me a distance. On my phone which is a PDA I tap in the distance on a spreadsheet I have wrtten myself. This Spreadsheet muliplies distance by running mile tariff rate (at all tariffs), adds the flagfall and gives an instant result. Then it adds a percentage to cover the "dead" miles on the return. Roberts your fathers/mothers brother.
Takes about 15 seconds from start to finish.
I have linked the gps in the phone to the spreadsheet, but to be honest, the mapping/routing software is not as good as the Garmin I generally use, but the calculation is intantaneous. I will happily continue to take 15 seconds.
If I am at home I can do all the same on my computer of course, and I can produce the figures for a written quote.


Ditto [with caveats]. Which sat-nav software are you using Chris?


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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 1:09 am 
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Location: Plymouth
In my Garmin, City Select, cant remember if it is V7 or maybe V8. The advantage to me is that it is the same on the handheld satnav or the computer. The side reason is that as a boat skipper, Garmin is the best IMHO at marine mapping (charting) and the way I use both land and sea is the same so becomes more and more intuitive.
I have a second spreadsheet that includes MPG, price per litre, estimates the running cost fairly accurately and so lets me see what the actual cost to me will be and therefore shows my profit on the deal.

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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 1:21 am 
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Just thinking this is in the wrong directory, it should all be in equipment if you ask me. I tout because I'm a Hackney Driver, business should tout on TDO with permission in equipment.

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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 6:33 am 
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Chris the Fish wrote:
Just thinking this is in the wrong directory, it should all be in equipment if you ask me. I tout because I'm a Hackney Driver, business should tout on TDO with permission in equipment.

Is there anyone who thinks this is really a business?

I hope he makes millions, but I doubt he will make a bean out of it.

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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:13 am 
Don't work.


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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:56 am 
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half the time joe public wont even know thier own LA, settle on an "estimate" rather than a "quote", especially as any price generated as a QUOTE can/could be seen a 100% fixed and legally binding under common law

also, your system restricts a price search to one LA, if im after a price for a longer trip/airport run id want to search a bigger area

what happens when a rate rise happens, and your system throws up the old price = disgruntled punters...

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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 10:28 am 
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wannabeeahack wrote:

what happens when a rate rise happens, and your system throws up the old price = disgruntled punters...


Clearly if a council approves a rate rise then the system needs to be updated. With my system it takes about 5 minutes to reset the new rates when there is a change.

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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:28 pm 
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Location: Hampshire (HC)
Spread sheet on my PDA + sat nav. Fare rises updated in seconds and I have different mileage rates shown so I can discount with knowledge of the actual yield.


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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 9:44 pm 
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I've been thinking about this, and I must say the scheme is, to be blunt, madness. For example, the standard quote from Pymouth to Gatport Airwick is £250 - a trip of about 250 miles, the same for Heathport Airrow, the running mile on our tariff is £1.32 so the quote that this Mob would put out is £330.00 - very nice way to put punters off. The really long distance jobs can be charged at much below the meter. It is the shorter jobs that would cost say £20.00 on the meter that leave the district that get charged at about £25.00 - so the whole idea of a national quoting system on meter rates is, I am afraid, nuts.

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PostPosted: Sun May 03, 2009 1:14 am 
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sorry taxiroute but just dont see the point. any experianced driver worth his salt should be able to give you a very accurate meter quote.
i regulary quoted within 20>40p over the distance of the whole of edinburgh.

besides if its in toon or out of town, does really matter what a piece of software says,its down to the negotiation between driver and punter.

for country work most use a country card or satnav distance x £ per mile.

youre addressing a problem that doesnt exsist imo

or at least one that the solution to already exsist


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