Taxi Driver Online

Hi, Can anyone give me guidance in relation to Meters. As you are probaly aware Fenland District has just had meters installed in all hackney carriages from the 1st of April. The council are now considering a new tariff ! ! ! and when they recalibrate the meters to be set with the new tariff they are going to have the meter show Op until the car actually begins moving and not as it is now showing £3.31 once flag down. Is this how most councils work?

No

Most have a flag fare ours is £2.40 which is for the first half a mile.
Then it's 20p for every 180 yards.
Waiting time is calculated at £23 per hour, whenever you are stopped.
Any extras are shown in a separate window and added at the end of the hire.

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

All meters should show a flag of how ever much the councils set it at, from 0, to being greedy £5.00
How have you got £3.31 P showing when the flag should work in 10Ps and not fractions, and easyer to count
Contact Bryan (with a Y) at the taxi and private hire paper he will keep you right
info@phtm.co.uk web http://www.phtm.co.uk

Every LA (or at least those that insist on hacks having meters) make up a tariff, there are no rules, and no comparison between any of them - almost anarchistic!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

A meter showing £3.31.

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IDFIMH

Must be scary watching the meter go up in 1ps,ours go up in 20p

a nil P flag is ok so long as the 1st 10yds racks up £2, the next 100yds £2 and then £1 per 250yds

sounds ok to me

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

sounds like the time on the meter with the letter p after it for pm, i have a cygnus meter if on 12hour clock will show time as 3.31p and obviously 15.31 on 24hour mode

Ours say either For Hire or the time, never known a meter pre set with the boot off as it's open to abuse.

But just incase you want to know the tech side of it.

Old meter will be driven through a transponder unit connected to the speedo cable and sriven from the gearbox, as most cars have electronic speedos now I would assume nobody still uses this method.

New meters are pulse driven, this is a signal from the speedo or radio or canbus box.

HTH.

Our Meters are calender controlled pulse driven and are set at starting flag £3.31 when flag down. They go up in increments of 31p after first mile and 2/5th. Our council think though this could be up for abuse and want the tariff to start when the car actually moves approx 50 yards and then display £3.31. On Friday our meters were showing £6.62 and people on the rank were getting in and straight out when flag went down. We explained to all our customers though we were normal time and to ignore meter . My only other question is though when do you actually put the flag down, when the customer is loading shopping in boot/ waving to you at the pub window telling you 2 minutes while they finish their pint or when they are actually in the car ready to go?

The world has gone f***ing mad.

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IDFIMH

Thats or biggest problem our LA did not look at the tariff before the introduction of the meters and so we are dealing in 1 and 2p s its a joke.

1 step at a time

Next fare review, have the flag and drops set in units of 20p.

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

Have your council checked with the meter manufacturer that this can be done?

Councils, or should I say councillors, have some crazy ideas on how meters should be calibrated, including raising the amount per drop in odd pence instead of reducing the distance travelled for the same 10p, 20p or 30p drop.

Tell your know-all idiot that is trying to introduce this barmy tariff to speak to, or better still have a day out on council expenses to Cygnus in Cannock.

They are extremely accommodating and if you are only just coming into the 21st century in Fenland, then welcome aboard.

I suggest your council muppets phone Cygnus on 01543 573912 and speak to either Ann, who calculates and makes up all the tariff chips, or a guy called Cartwright [can't remember his first name] for guidance on creating tariffs.

Our licensing officers spent half a day at the factory some time last year and they said the information they gained was invaluable.

As your council are just coming into the 21st century on this topic and don't know the difference between real time clock tariff changes in hired mode as opposed to next flag fall tariff changes, or what a change-over speed is, I strongly suggest that your council take a trip to Cygnus Automotive and that a couple of trade reps also go on the fact finding tour. It will be well worth it for all parties concerned.

The Cygnus website is http://www.cygnus-automotive.co.uk and their email; sales@cygnus-automotive.com

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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