Taxi Driver Online

I was recently discussing with a colleque why licensing authorities impose age restrictions on vehicle age & he suggested to me that they do this as an indirect way of limiting the amount of private hire vehicles on the road since the law only allows number limits on taxi licenses

The taxi trade are happy because it limits the competition & the private hire trade are happy because it means more work for the ones that are left

Does any one have any thoughts on this ?

I don't think it really limits PH numbers. Let's face it you can get a 5/6 year old licensed motor for under £2,000.

If anything I have noticed more newer taxi/PH vehicles now that at anytime I've work in this trade. Due, in the main, to the deals via the trade mags.

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IDFIMH

I think my views are basically the same as for the dress code, and reflect the same way of thinking.

I'm not sure if LAs do this just because they perceive that it raises standards or if they think it will limit numbers, but no doubt there are a variety of viewpoints on this, and no doubt many LAs consider that it achieves both goals.

But Sussex makes a good point in that age rules are generally unlikely to have much effect on numbers, given that most age rules do not seem to be particularly onerous.

Given how easy it is to lease new cars now, and the obvious influence that this has had on the fleets in many parts of the country, ten year age rules and the like are neither here nor there are regards keeping numbers down, and even five year rules don't seem particularly onerous.

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Taxi Driver Online
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When I started about 7 years ago my Mondeo was about the newest at just on three years, and most of them were around 8 or 10.

Two or three years ago an age rule was proposed, it was 8 years and caused a huge stushie.

But while the council has been getting it through the fleet has improved and there are few older than 8 and mines is one of the oldest.

A lot of the new cars in the trade are brand new, so I thinkthe age rule is now a waste of time.

i think city image has a lot to do with it no council likes tourists to be met with bangers a few years ago dundee was full of them coat hangers as ariels etc , then the council proposed a age limit and there was an uproar no way can we affoard new cabs they said now a few more years down the line everybody has new or nearly new cabs what really puzzles me is the saloons owners who for years ran vehicles which averaged around the 1500 mark and now with the city deregulated they are buying brand new vehicles ,age limits should be in place in all decent size towns with dundee having so many new cabs it would be difficult for the l,m,n reg brigade to argue why they cant afford a new cab,being a cabbie myself i dont bother which vehicle i get in all the interiors end up the same, but from the customers view its different its like a cabbie getting into an old train with the sliding sticking windows and worn seats worn floor small leg room then paying the same price to travel in a tillting speed train with all the mod cons both owners are in the same trade and id bet the cabbie would have something to say about the difference,it also does act as the original poster mentioned as a limit on private hire ,which again does benefit the trade rather than harm it,

Well said mr WAV, that's what I always say myself - many in the trade won't pay money for a car, but then expect the punters to pay the same fares as they would to hire better cars.

Turning it round the other way, if they went to buy a car and the price was set at £5k by the council and they got a L plate shed then they wouldn't be too amused.

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Taxi Driver Online
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Sounds much like what happened across the river mr Dundee. Funny that they go on about St Andrews being a world heritage town and all that stuff, but the driverfs can still weare jeans and trainers.

I hear you have a dress code and the drivers cant smoke even when their own their own, but when I go shopping and the like in Dundee or have a job there or fueling up I often see drivers smoking and with tracksuits on etc. etc.

So whats the score with that?

What a shocker , the self-employed wearing to work whatever they feel comfortable in

At least when you wear trainers you can chase fare dodgers

Seriously, I can possibly see the arguement that smartly dressed taxi drivers sitting at ranks gives a good impression of an area (very new labour/image is god), but in private hire most drivers complain they spend most of the day going back & forward to supermarkets & sitting in a car all day in tight slacks is not the most comfortable of garments

Also here we have some right rough housing schemes & I get the impression that many of the residents dislike people in authority & wearing any kind of uniform is asking for trouble

All the best

The thing is maybe that the lower end of the market offers the cheap fares by telephone and the dearer firms offer smarter drivers and newer cars.

On the other hand on the ranks both get the same amount of work and can normally charge the full fares so the lower end of the trade are exploiting the rank scenario.

I cant really speak myself because my car is a good age and I dont dress as smart as some of them, but if the council were to raise the game of the whole trade i would be pleased with that.

Maybe one solution would be to have a high quality taxi trade but the PH side could do as it wanted because customers can choose what they want be telephone.

IN St Andrews just now we dont have a seperate private hire trade because they have the same rules for the cars and the PH drivers have taxi badges anyway.

Sounds like a good example of what I was saying the other day about the uncompetitive nature of taxi markets.

Of course, where the same vehicles are also serving the pre-booked market that tends to be more competitive, but instead of competing on quality they will tend to compete on price.

A not unusual scenario in many parts of the country methinks.

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Taxi Driver Online
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