Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers hand in petition calling for numbers limit


A 200-STRONG petition calling for a cap on taxi licences was handed to Fareham Borough Council last night.

Fareham Hackney Taxi Association claims there are too many taxis in the town.

There are 233 hackney carriages licensed in Fareham. In neighbouring authorities, Portsmouth is capped at 234 and Southampton is capped at 283, although the population of each of the cities is considerably more than that of Fareham.

Fareham removed its cap 27 years ago, when a taxi company threatened the council with legal action unless it made more licences available.

Fareham Hackney Taxi Association said that now is the time to revisit the regulation.

The association claims that there is not enough work for drivers to go round and that income has been affected.

Secretary of Fareham Hackney Taxi Association Mel Charlton, who runs Meon Cars, said: ‘We are asking the council to stop issuing plates and badges.

‘Any business would not employ more people if there wasn’t enough trade and this should be the same at the council.

‘They are absolutely flooding the market.

‘This weekend most people went to Whiteley. If there’s nothing to come to Fareham for, then there will be no demand for taxis. To keep issuing plates goes against any duty of care that the council should have in making sure we can actually earn a living.’

Chairman of Fareham Hackney Taxi Association Simon Nelson said: ‘The proportion of taxis on Fareham compared to the population is a lot higher than in Portsmouth and Southampton. We don’t make a living any more, we just survive.’

Council leader Sean Woodward said: ‘In Portsmouth, the taxi plates are limited which means they change hands for thousands of pounds.

‘We run an unlimited system which is controlled by the market. If people did not think they could make a living then they would not apply.

‘Also, I would ask them, which ones would want to give up their licences if we brought in a cap which was less?’

The licensing committee will consider whether or not to review the figure and implement a cap.

The council said that a cap would cost £15,000 a year to maintain, which would be added to the cabbies’ annual licence fee.

source: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/traffi ... -1-5139546

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Same old tosh spouted by someone who doesn't actually realise 'the market' is manipulated by the council he leads.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Yep one of our drivers wrote to the council recently asking why they continue to license cars despite the problems of over ranking etc. the reply was that the council wants enough vehicles licensed to GUARANTEE that on the BUSIEST saturday night of the year there is no queue of people waiting for a taxi

Of course the councils are manipulating the market to

a) maximise the revenue stream for their council
b) keep fares as low as possible
c) ensure that demand never exceeds supply resulting in complaints that people couldn't get a taxi when it is busy

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

No they do it because you bleedin dopes let em

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

Once the gates have been opened you'll never get them closed again.

Interesting to see an operator wanting to limit badges.

First time for everything.

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IDFIMH

woodwood is a dick he is hated by most fareham people and has just seen over whitely shopping center which have one road in and out an no infrastructure to support the amount of visitor plus he did it with fareham shopping center not 4 miles away from it i get you picture an you decide

http://www.farehamconservatives.org.uk/ ... &Itemid=87

sarisbury is more southampton btw

Stop issuing badges ?? I had an idiot say that to me last year round here, I said "OK then what about them start with yours when you go and renew next year"?