Taxi Driver Online

So what your saying, in your most confusing post yet, is that a "taxi service" is only a "taxi service" when the operator of the service conducts his business from a rank.

So, the thousands of people operating a "taxi service" from a PH office are not offering a "taxi service" but a "private hire service" and when the public phone they are informed of this when they ask for a "taxi".

I don't think so.

Your quest for what you consider to be equality is not what I believe to be in the best interest of the public, I just wonder if the only reasong you berate my opinion so, is because you can see that I'm right.

Listen TDO, many markets remain restricted, however when such restrictions are to the detriment of the public numbers of providers should be increased .............. I have no argument at all with that.

The problem I have is that certain people, you in particular, seem to think that totoal derestriction is THE ONLY WAY to satisfy public demand.
I raised the question that public demand for "taxi services" could involve SOME unmet demand from the PH sector as the majority of PH offices trade under the "TAXI" name and most people outside the "taxi" community don't know the differance between HC & PH because of that.

This is why I call for proper investigation to identify exactly where the public are experiensing unmet demand. Then, and only then, will any council be in a position to form policies which will best serve their community.

I have heard so much "scaremongering" most of it aimed at councils by people like you ................ delimit by March 2005 or justify your decision to government ...................... delimit or you will lose in court costing you thousands, the list of threats goes on and on.

I am a taxidriver ...................... I work through a PH operator who offers a "taxi service" .................. I encounter restrictions every time I change my vehicle, but I don't complain as I know the restrictions imposed are, in the minds of those forming policies, in the best interest of the public to which we offer our services.

Your claims that two sectors offer two "standards" of service are correct but the wrong way round .......... PH offices provide a much better service to the public than the HC sector .................. any fair minded person would therefor conclude that the HC should be considered "second class".

In one breath you're saying the P/H sector is experiencing unmet demand and they can't supply an adequate service and in the next breath you're saying P/H supply a better service than the Taxi Trade. Is it not the case that there is only one type of service a P/H firm can offer the public, that being a pre booked service. A Taxi on the other hand is more versatile because it can operate under both public and private codes.

It has never been a consideration of mine as to who offers the best private hire service, I would have thought that most Taxi drivers couldn't care less. My only concern is that the service I personally provide to the customer meets my own high standards. I hardly ever work the radio, although I have one fitted, so I suppose the owner of the radio circuit is getting 97 pounds a month from me for nothing. I might add there are a great many like me who have a radio and very rarely use it, so it could be argued that all these extra 97.00 pounds a month are an added bonus for the operator.

I'm getting confused with your status Charlie you say you are a Taxi driver attached to a dual circuit yet in the Carlisle thread you said you were a Private hire driver. Can we be a little more consistent please? Here's what you said in this thread.



And heres what you said in the Carlisle thread.



Don't you think it's confusing?

Best wishes

JD

Equally confusing therefore is the title of this website

The term TAXI DRIVER covers drivers of both HC and PH vehicles, so as the driver of a PH vehicle I'm a taxi driver.

Maybe it would be better if you explained what you consider to be a TAXI DRIVER and then possibly what you consider to be a TAXI SERVICE.

Personally, my opinion is that the word TAXI in both contexts relate to the whole industry. We then break this down into 2 sectors ........... Hackney Carriage and Private Hire.

The justification for this opinion lies in the fact that ALL of the offices I have worked in have called themselves TAXIS even though the vast majority of vehicles used are Private Hire, most bookings are made for a taxi and a Private Hire car is sent.

It maybe an idea to set out what termanology this site is using for which sector as the term taxi seems to be applied when it suits but disgarded when it doesn't.

I am a taxi driver who drives a private hire car.

On my badge it says Hackney carriage driver. On a private hire drivers badge here in Manchester I suspect it says Private hire driver. However, there are some Authorities that have dual licenses so that doesn't really get us very far does it lol

Some people might say that anyone who is only licensed to drive a private hire vehicle is a private hire driver. I have nothing against private drivers but when you see local Authorities advising members of the public that Private hire vehicles are not taxis and they can't be flagged down, then you have to wonder if the local Authority has got it right in describing private hire vehicles as not being Taxis. Perhaps it might then be safe to assume by a councils definition that drivers of Private hire vehicles, are not Taxi drivers.

What do you think?

Best wishes

JD

I'm not that sure the name of the site is really that relevant.

I mean, how many rivers can you buy on Amazon?

_________________
IDFIMH

I think the Brighton justification for keeping quotas is a highly flawed pile of poo.

_________________
IDFIMH

Hang on Sussex .......... I'm a PH driver ............ your a PH driver ......... when someone asks what you do for a living don't you say taxi driver ........ I do ........... when you bump into someone you haven't seen for a while do they ask you "still on the taxis" ............ cause they do me.

I'm a taxi driver and thats why this sites name is relevant to what I do for a living.



On my badge it says Private Hire Driver, but when the punter phones ***** Taxis for a TAXI he gets me ............... private hire driver = taxi driver ............. or one of the lads with a HC ............... hackney carriage driver = taxi driver. We both work from the same office ........... refered to by our punters as "the rank" ........... carry the same punters ......... the only differance is that he [edited by admin] off on a weekend and drops all our regulars in the [edited by admin] to sit on the ranks with the other deadheads (ex PH drivers now working HC but still working through the PH office).



My council uses vehicle license names ie Private Hire or Hackney Carriage and stays away from the word "TAXI" all together when trying to define the difference between the two codes as they realise how confusing it is when all the PH operators have offices called ******** TAXIS.

Of course,this takes away from your argument signifigant amounts of "government credibility" where you strategically pick statements to show your argument is the "will" of the government.

You yourself asked a similar question in another thread, "private hire or public service" I think it was titled .................... strange then that you choose to highlight where you believe I have contradicted myself and caused confusion. I suggest you review your own recent postings.

But thats only because it stops you from getting a free plate .............. if you had a plate you'd think it was great.

Try to see both sides of the argument, cause if the balance is not right its not really you that suffers is it.

There is a reason why most Authorities use the words Hackney carriage and private hire, have you figured out why? It is because although each perform the same function of carrying passengers from A to B, one is restricted by law from plying for public hire as a Taxi.

I assume the private hire operators you speak of have at least one Taxi on their books. Otherwise, they wouldn't be calling themselves Charlie's Taxis.



Strategic statements sound clinical lol. Which strategic statement did I rely on to inform you that private hire vehicles were in the main not described as Taxis, by most if not all local Authorities?

The will of the Government is neither here nor there, perhaps you should ask the transport commissioner for a Taxibus license seeing as how you think you drive a Taxi? Or perhaps you would prefer to go and stand on a Taxi rank and ply for hire? I take it you concede that your private hire vehicle is not a Taxi? I suppose if that wasn't conceded it would mean those thousand of minicabs that still parade around London, are Taxis.

When licensing Authorities and the police talk about Rogue Taxis, do you think they include private hire vehicle and drivers in that statement? Are there any differences between a licensed Hackney carriage Taxi and a private hire vehicle?



My thread on what constitutes a Public service has nothing whatsoever to do with your reference to a Private hire driver being a Taxi driver. So lets not divert from the subject matter.

You said in one thread that you are a Private Hire driver, then you eloquently said, in this thread, that you are a Taxi driver. To some, those two statements may seem a little confusing.

Cardiff says this about Taxis and Private hire Vehicles.

Hackney Carriages (taxis) can be hailed at the roadside; will be a London Taxi- type or black and white saloon, and importantly will display a light on its roof, which is on when it is for ‘hire’.

A Private Hire Vehicle cannot be hailed at the roadside, can be pre-booked usually by phone and will be working for a radio-cab company. There will be no light on its roof and customers should check for a yellow licence plate displayed on the rear of the vehicle.

Mansfield says this.

No Private Hire Vehicle to be painted white with black bonnet and boot lid, or to be a London type taxi.

The word “taxi” or “cab” whether in singular or the plural or any word of similar meaning or appearance to either of those words and whether alone or as part of another word shall not be used.

Now that's not me saying you can't advertise yourself as a Taxi, it's the licensing Authorities. I suspect if the truth were known your own Authority probably has the same understanding as to what constitutes a Taxi as the two examples I have given. Which Authority are you licensed in?

Anyway, I've presented you with enough points to get your teeth into so I await your next eloquent contribution.

Best wishes

JD

No, what I'm saying is that there's confusion over the terminology, but that's a different issue from quotas.

Have a look at the Gateshead Council website, and you'll see the term 'taxi' used to mean what is often termed a hackney carriage.

http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/consumer/taxi.htm

Clearly, Gatheshead uses the term in the same way as the DfT, which all seems perfectly straightforward.

Have a look at another LA site, and you'll see that they use the term generically, as you do (if you look closely then you'll see that they also use the term in the Gateshead sense when they refer to taxi ranks!)

http://www.southglos.gov.uk/Licensing/T ... rriage.htm

Therefore there is clearly confusion over the terminology, but this does not affect the substance of the other issues like restricted numbers.

As for the site title, it uses the term generically, this was to a large extent because of the availability of a suitable domain. Obviously this is not ideal, but it is nothing more than a tiny nitpicking point for people who can't think of anything else to say - the banner across the non-forum part of the site explains what the site is about, and this should be crystal clear to anyone except the most naive, perhaps a member of the public who comes across the site by accident.

But I think you're just playing silly beggars anyway, so all the above will very probably be a waste of time.

Err, I don't think so, when did I say that - I can't recall having ever done so.

I really don't thing that you what my case is about restrictions at all.

I can't find any scaremongering, just an honest assessment of the Govt's position.

Can you point out a specific example of scaremongering?

I think the term applies more to things that are unfounded, such as the Liverpool cartel's warning about sexual offenders if numbers were derestricted

Another example could be the T&G's 'OFT KO'd' headline - not that it's scaremongering, but that it was total bollocks

I think that on here you'll get a more reasonable assessment of the Govt's position, indeed even the T&G has changed tack since that stupidity.

As for the second part of your statement about losing thousands in court, this seems to be more stuff that you've made up.

You wouldn't be a T&G member by any chance?

You see, by not answering questions and chosing instead to pose more you add to the confusion.

ALL of the points you raise bear no relation to what we are talking about either.


this may surprise you ............... but I'm not a vehicle.



I have no roof and would under no circumstances allow a Yellow plate to be displayed on my ar$e.



I've heard of spray tanning on here, but where exactly am I to be painted what colour and I have no intention to turn into a London type taxi.



Oh I'm sure we were all aware of what constitutes a taxi, however in none of your response did you actually define what is a taxi driver. Nor did you define how a PH operator can advertise as a taxi service and then send a PH vehicle to carry the passengers. Surely if a customer phones for a taxi they should get a taxi, and if your definition is completely correct they are not recieving a specific service they are requesting.

Shouldn't such PH operators be investigated under the trade descriptions act, after all you seem to be suggesting that we are two completely different trades .................... I'm sure you'd be upset if you were to order a cooker from Curry's and they sent you a microwave instead then said "well they both cook things".

The simple facxt of the matter is that we are all percieved to be taxi drivers, even by the government, and PH operators who advertise themselves as a "taxi service" should be included in the dissection of government statements concerning lack of TAXI provision.

After all, if you don't your not really being fair.

What are you on about now, where did I say that the two sectors offer two standards of service?

I think you're making it up as you go along Chas!!

The DfT and Gov quite clearly use the term taxi and private hire, and do not use the term taxi in the generic sense.

Clearly in other contexts the word taxi is used generically, particularly where the general public are concerned.

But there's no confusion about what the Govt means, I think you are the only one that's confused Chas