Taxi Driver Online

Private hire drivers in Worcester don't need detailed knowledge of city roads, says council



PRIVATE hire drivers in Worcester will no longer need detailed knowledge of the city's roads - despite cabbies criticising the move.

Worcester City Council is shaking up its rules so private hire drivers no longer have to sit a tough exam known as the 'knowledge test' from April.

Instead, an alternative version will be designed without knowledge of city streets as a requirement.

The move is because private hire cars respond to phone call customers, often taking people to far flung destinations out of Worcestershire and airports.

The city council argues that they are quite different from hackney carriage drivers, who use Worcester's ranks to pick people up and get most business from shoppers, pensioners and revellers.

Worcester has more than 270 hackney carriage drivers but just 71 registered private hire drivers, all of whom are banned from using ranks to tout for trade.

The change has been criticised by Worcester Taxi Drivers Association, which says the private cab owners are being reduced to "simpleton" status, but it has been approved by the council's licensing committee.

The alternative exam, which will be called the 'essential skills test', will be devised by Worcestershire Regulatory Services and modelled on the existing one in Redditch.

Lesley Borthwick, chair of Worcester Taxi Drivers Association, says she has done the Redditch test to try it out and it was too easy.

Councillor Simon Cronin, who sits on the licensing committee, said: "I am a little concerned we are replacing the knowledge test with this 'essential skills' test.

"Worcester is not such a big city that it would be an insurmountable problem (to have no local knowledge), but I've lost count of the number of times we've been asked to degrade this test."

But Councillor Chris Mitchell, a fellow committee member, said: "I don't think they need to do the knowledge test, I use a taxi to get to Heathrow and Gatwick airports regularly, once or twice a month.

"It's not like a hackney carriage, where I'm looking to get home at 1am in the morning (in the centre of Worcester), it's a different industry within an industry."

The licensing committee has agreed the change, but has asked to see the final 'essential skills test' ahead of the April launch.

It will not include knowledge of Worcester's streets, but be designed around personal finance, receipts and paperwork, understanding verbal directions and using an A-Z when a satellite navigation system fails.

Under the changes, drivers can also apply for a private hire badge on its own, rather than have to get a dual one alongside a hackney carriage pass from the council.

It will be priced at £263 and need to be renewed every three years at a cost of £126.

The council says it believes around 40 applications are expected for the new, single private hire taxi badge, but a report on the change admits there is no "hard evidence" and that forecast will depend entirely on market forces.

source: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/116 ... s_council/

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

I guess after April there may well be more applications for PH licences

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

400 would be nearer the mark

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

He's talking rubbish. Personally don't see the difference between hack and ph in terms of the nitty gritty of the job. I'm badged and have done both and couldn't really say there's any difference apart from more sitting around and wasted mileage as a hack here.

Another council that hasn't got a f***ing clue.

And no doubt is being led by a local spiv operator who can't get drivers.

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IDFIMH

With the technology we have now why should anyone need to learn the "knowledge"?

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

How many sat navs know the answer to the 'big white house just down from the park they play hockey on'?

What happens when the punter wants to go on? Do you say hang on a bit whilst I play around?

What happens when the office get it wrong? Or do they always get it right up your way?

Having drivers that know where they are going isn't an opt in/out option, it's a basic requirement.

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IDFIMH

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

These Councillors seem to be of the opinion the Private Hire drivers do most of their work "out of area" such as airports.

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Grandad,

Clueless councillors are the bane of all our lives.

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IDFIMH

Listen, what you are talking about is little anomalies that your average taxi driver might come across every-once in a while and can be learned on the job. A satnav holds more practical information than any cabby required to pass any knowledge test anywhere in the country, including London.

Oh and if you are that concerned about your office getting it wrong or the punter wishing to change their destination on route, buy one with voice recognition.

oh and even Cabbies who pass the knowledge make mistakes. No one is infallible.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Worcester taxi decision lambasted as "disgraceful" by former mayor and leading Tory

A WELL-KNOWN former Worcester mayor and leading Conservative has slammed a decision to water down age limits on taxis - calling it "disgraceful".

Dave Clark, who retired from politics in 2011 after more than 20 years service, has hit out at Worcester City Council's licensing committee for what he calls "the wrong decision".

Mr Clark was part of the Tory leadership's cabinet during the last decade and a former licensing committee chairman until 2007, where he gained a reputation for taking a tough stance against taxis.

He has reacted furiously at the move to alter age limits, saying the current committee chairman Councillor Allah Ditta, a Tory himself, deserves criticism as his casting vote helped force through some of the changes.

Once the council deems a cab to be too old, usually around its twelfth birthday, drivers are now allowed to replace it with a vehicle aged up to three, instead of a brand new one.

Before the licensing committee vote, taxi drivers said the ruling over only new vehicles being acceptable could force them out of business, as they can cost up to £40,000.

Mr Clark said: "It would seem some members of Worcester City Council have forgotten why their licensing committee exists.

"It exists to ensure the taxi trade provides a safe service for the benefit of the pubic and one that reflects well on the city.

"We were not there for the benefit of the trade, but to work with them to provide a better service.

"During my years on that committee much time and effort was spent in ensuring the vehicles reflected that.

"That is why we set up a programme to reduce the age of vehicles in order to increase reliability and safety, and to improve on the inevitable tired appearance of older vehicles.

"For those councillors who trust in the testing regime they should look at the results of previous enforcement events.

"These issues were always around when we conducted regular enforcement evenings when over 40 per cent of those tested always failed the examination, with some being taken off the road immediately."

He said all his work "was done for nothing" and the council has handed the power to the trade "who now pull the strings".

He said Cllr Ditta backed it "for the benefit of the trade rather than the public" as chairman.

His attack has been refuted by Cllr Ditta, who said: "We had a request from the trade to look at the age limits and the committee took a democratic decision.

"Not everyone was content with it, but it was the officers who decided to bring it back and the committee had to make a ruling.

“We debated this issue quite a bit, if he’s not happy he can always address us. We can also bring it back to the committee if we wanted to change it again.

“If any vehicles are not up to standard, that’s when the enforcement checks can make a difference, and anyway you will always get bad apples, if a taxi at two or three years old is not well maintained it can get faults.”

He added that the original move just over one year ago, to introduce the defunct ruling over ‘only new’ vehicles was one many councillors were always sceptical about.

source: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/NEWs/116 ... ding_Tory/

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

Private hire, being pre-booked, SHOULD have pickup and drop points given with the booking and 9 times out of 10 they do, hacks have flag downs meaning the drivers wont have any info before the passenger gets in


simples innit

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

Aye, in a perfect world

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

if an operators doesn't get the correct instructions then they are a p*ss poor operator

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