Taxi Driver Online

Taxi meeting over number concerns

Taxi drivers in Aberdeen have held meetings amid concerns about the growth in licensed cab numbers in the city.

Numbers have grown in recent years after the local authority removed limits on them.

Some cab drivers have claimed there are now so many of them that up to 40 taxis can be found waiting for a fare at one city centre rank.

Callum McCaig, of the city council's licensing committee, said he would listen to concerns.

He told BBC Scotland there were currently about 1,200 licensed taxis in the city.

"One of the problems may be a decline in trade due to the effects of the credit crunch," he said.

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IDFIMH

Are you listening Mr Taylor ?

Listening to what?
Despite wide publicity among the trade, the meeting was very poorly attended and was a shambles.

The same people calling for a limit wanted the council to cap PH as well FFS

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OK BTK.

Explain how creating another restricted quota helps?

It would have to be set at the current level, else how would you decide who was going to have their licence taken away?

So the same level, same business activity, what's changed?

What needs to happen is for market forces to be allowed to weed out the weak. Those who need to retire. Those who are too impatient. Those who sit on ranks rather than seeking the work. Those who are just fed up.

All it needs is time to allow this to happen naturally.

To aid the situation, and because there is no artificial restricton the council should amend the rules to allow licences to be mothballed. This flexible approach would encourage some taxis off the road now, to be easily reintroduced when trade picks up in the future, without having to incur the cost of another licence application.

This is thinking outside the box. Something selfish cabbies seem unable to do.

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Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

Who said anything about taking peoples licenses away ? What we see here is the aftermath of what would happen if you ever got your way. Is it not better to have regular surveys and add licenses if demand is unmet?
The way it is now in Edinburgh? I feel for the Taxi drivers in Aberdeen because we know how it feels in Edinburgh not being able to get on a rank at the moment the way things are in the trade. So much for market forces jim eh? People don't just leave the trade because they have mortguages to pay,bills to pay and mouths to feed!

I'm not going to argue with you Jim, you have your thoughts set in stone and no matter how rational my argument is, you always turn it round to suit yours. What I would say Jim is, and I've touched on this before, wre is your support from the poor over worked drivers then ? No support because the drivers know that if you ever get your way, what has happened in Aberdeen will surely happen in Edinburgh and it's bad enough as it is here, so no thank you very much! Have a nice night Jimbob!

I'm glad you agree that limits don't work. Edinburgh has had one for many years and the trade is in a worse state than ours.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The best way forward is no more renting out, one operator one plate, not the I need to put on 20 vehicles to satisfy demand
and let the operator decide the type of vehicle he wants to licence and not told he can only put a vehicle that the council decides on

If councils are going to issue licenses on the evidence of these surveys, ie when there is an unmet demand they issue more licenses. Surely if a survey comes back and reports that demand has significantly fallen due to say the reccession, shouldn't the councils then remove plates on a last issued first withdrawn policy?

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Grandad,

Eh Gus, think you better read again my freend. I'm all for limits, if backed by an independant survey. These surveys need to be done properly over a prolonged ammount of time and not just on friday sat nights at chucking out times.

Oh dear.

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Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

Problem is, thers no such thing as an independant survey. Edinburgh council has shown they are little more than a device to refuse licences.

What drives Edinburgh's restriction policy is their own transport inerests, the interests of councillors PH interests and counciol control freakery.

The council decides when thave a survey, what to survey, where to survey. They set the parameters. They are in total control of the result.

The system is easily corruptible. Edinburgh has corrupted it.

No new licences for 7 years. Edinburgh has boomed over that period.

Over 50 licenses refused. 50 applicants who recognised a demand.

Exponential rise in PH. Pseudo taxis, competng directly with the taxi trade. How so if demand wasn't increasing?

(PH has very recently dipped back. However, it has still nearly tripled in th 7 years since last a taxi licence was issued through increased demand.)

Even when a demand is identified the council, because of its own interests, still refuse applications.

We were told that we hadn't shown where demand existed. Gmac then did precisely and they still refused his licence. They are liars.

They went to court to ask for my case to be remitted back to the committee for reconsideration. They refused it a second time. They are deliberately trying to impoverish the applicant tough the prohibitvely expensive legal system They are scumbags.

The CGSC 1982 was never intended to be used to allow councils to play these games, to promote its oiwn intrests, t preserve vested interests of councillors and the trade. The council knows that unless you afford to hold them to account in court they are untouchable.

That's what our alleged democracy has descended to. Fascist control by scumbags funded by the public purse.

The plain fact is, when you consider this low level fascism with the body bags coming back from the illegal wars waged by our "leaders", our alleged democracy is not work fighting and dying for.

Perhaps what is truly disappointing is that fools like BTK don't have the wit to realise it.

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Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

So you are saying everything is rosey down your way then?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

things are not rosey but they would be worse with more taxis end of.....

2500 drivers driving cabs is still 2500 drivers driving cabs, whether they have one each or one between two.

Single shifters have flexibility when to work and when not to. Double shifters do not.

Owner drivers do not have extortionate rents to find on top of making a wage and up here they don't need a second mortgage to get a plate.

In Aberdeen, the vast majority of cabs are single shifted and usually driven by the owner.
Bring in a limit and competition will not decrease by a single cab.
It will follow the Edinburgh model where new drivers will end up renting shifts from owners, increasing competition and diluting what work there is. PH will increase as well, since they can't be limited.

Limits don't achieve anything except create a value for the plate - or maintain it. They don't limit competition, just change the way that the competition operates.
They do discourage retiring drivers from handing back their plate when they leave the trade. Sale of plates is illegal in Scotland and since we don't have the large amounts of corporate held plates Edinburgh has, we wouldn't have this problem. They would hire them out instead.
Nice earner for them at the rest of the trade's expense.

Control entry of drivers to the trade and you control competition. A driver's badge can't be sold, lent, rented out or double shifted.
It doesn't matter how many cabs there are because empty cabs are no competition.

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