Taxi Driver Online

No more licenses for black cabs in Birmingham

Sep 17 2010

No new black cabs will be licensed to operate in Birmingham for three years following a report which found there were more than enough to meet customer demand.

City licensing chiefs decided to extend a moratorium until 2013, but rejected proposals to cut the 1,400 currently on the road. Last week the Mail revealed that the survey, which consulted the taxi industry, police, the city council, disability groups and business groups, found cabbies could be grumpy and did not always use the shortest route.

It has also called for the fleet of black cabs on the roads to be modernised as 45 per cent were more than ten-years-old and presented a shabby image for Birmingham. At present cabs are forced off the streets after 14 years.

Heather Forrester, of survey company Research By Design, said: “They reflect an image, the design, the general condition, the smell.

“There was a general feeling that it was a relatively old fleet and do not look good when we have visitors coming for events like the Conservative Party conference.

“They may be in excellent condition mechanically, but they still look tired and old.”

Taxi driver’s groups welcomed the moratorium as it would stem the flow of rival cabs competing for trade but opposed calls for them to renew their cars after ten years on cost grounds.

They also hit back at claims that they were not wheelchair friendly.

Ray Beech, of the Birmingham and Solihull Taxi Association, said: “There are hundreds of wheelchairs and we will not be able to accommodate all of them. I had to turn one down recently because there was a giant oxygen cylinder with it, it was just too large.”

Discussions will also be held to tackle the problems of taxis queueing at the New Street Station ranks onto Suffolk Street following a survey of cab services in the city.

Licensing committee chairman Coun David Osborne promised to raise the issue of queuing at the New Street taxi rank with the transportation department after the survey found 49 cabs queuing at peak time, sparking complaints from nearby businesses.

Source; http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top- ... 7283842/2/

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Quite how were they going to do that?

Via a lottery?

_________________
IDFIMH

no, by insisting the drivers speak english......


OOOHHHHH BITCH!!!!!

i bet the survey cost £50,000

Less than £10K.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

The figures in the final survey report show the following;

The number of PHVs licensed in the past five years were;
March 2006 - 4285
March 2007 - 4567
March 2008 - 4889
March 2009 - 5203
March 2010 - 4904

And the number of HCs licensed in the past three years were;
March 2008 - 1332
March 2009 - 1466
March 2010 - 1411

If these proprietors have let their driver licences lapse as well as their vehicle licences, then the path back to the Promised Land of licensed vehicle driving in Birmingham is now a much tougher entry level than it was two years ago, especially for would-be PH drivers.

So there is hope & even if the numbers do start to climb again, then the new recruits should be of a much higher standard than the ones that have left the trade.

And that is a good thing.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

That's a good result Brummie. Common sense by a Council at last.