Taxi Driver Online

Stirling taxi deal to promote safe clubbing



A LOCAL businessman has called on clubbers to take advantage of a freephone taxi service.

S&M Taxis, run by Stephen McIntosh (40) and his partner Colleen Boyle, has installed a branded phone at the Stirling nightspot Fubar.

It puts callers through to the firm’s switchboard as soon as the receiver is lifted.

The firm put the same system into city bar the Kilted Kangaroo two years ago.

Mr McIntosh said the scheme could reduce anti-social behaviour by cutting queues at city centre taxi ranks and increase safety for revellers, particularly female passengers heading home alone.

Fubar’s parent company Castle Inns Stirling Ltd went into administration in July but Mr McIntosh said: “Hopefully, this will reassure people that Fubar will be staying open. We certainly wouldn’t be installing the phone line if we thought the club was going to be shutting any time soon.

“An agreement like this is a sign of how far our business has come in a short space of time. I don’t want to take business away from the guys at the rank but I want to continue to move things forward. I believe these phone lines are part of how we’re going to do that.

“It’s worked really well at the Kilted Kangaroo so far.

It benefits the bar’s customers, its staff and, obviously, ourselves.”

Councillor Tony Ffinch, chair of Stirling Council’s regulatory functions panel, said: “Any scheme that encourages people to take taxis is a good thing and I’ve not got any objections to this agreement.

“It’s certainly something I could see other firms starting up. I’m surprised other companies haven’t done it already.

“Other towns I’ve been to have freephone services on the actual ranks.”

http://www.stirlingobserver.co.uk/stirl ... -30067006/

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Yes, clearly the nighspot likes to promote safe clubbing



Sounds like Skippy

Yes, business is sh ii te so let's see where we can stick our little grubbies in to beef up the readies.

Oh yes, the taxi trade's always good for a dip into.



And the street trade takes the brunt. That's technological progress I guess.

How long will it be before it won't be possible to hail a car from the street.

Now here's the big question.

If a hackney is operating through a private booking, rather than doing what it should be and servicing the streets, then why isn't it subject to the same rules as other private hires while doing so?

And, if hackneys are operating as private hires, and denying those queuing at taxi ranks access to the street service, then why is there any restriction on the number of operating hackneys?

All the queues building up, requiring marshals to control them, and people walking the streets because they can't hail a cab, including vulnerable women etc, and all the while the taxis that should be working the streets are driving past them without passengers to answer a call to be hired privately.

While the big two are working their vested interest, having their cake and eating, denying others the right to service the street trade, and the council conspires with them to do so, it's the customers who lose out. they are the ones inconvenienced, freezing their borlocks off and putting themselves through an uneccessary risk.

So, if we are to have the two tier system we have now, with both hackneys and private hire, shouldn't hacks make the choice as to which they want to be. Private Hire with booked work through radios, or street taxis without radios, servicing the public?

And if they don't want to make such a choice, shouldn't there be only a single licensing system and no restrictions on numbers?