Taxi Driver Online

Oh and I've just purchased the domain name of "www.dontuseuber.com" for a nice future project.

I could sign up with uber tomorrow and every punter who gets into my car. I hand them my business card offering them a cheaper fare with a service.


All I need is an operators licence and my better half to be willing to answer the phone nicely.


ATEOTD uber is not going away. We can go to the chronicle. All this will do is promote FREE advertising for UBER. And they win again.


If you cant beat them. (you know the rest.)



As for using any car. I will be surprised if I can buy a 52 plate or y reg mondeo on its last legs but with a valid MOT for a company that is promoting as much to the trade as they are.

The knowledge was a joke anyway. Anyone who drinks knows the bars up here. I don't drink and have not ever been in any of them. But with an hour a day for a week. I passed the routes, churches, places of interest, bars, hospitals test with zero issue.

I opted for the PH test and not the hack test. But TBH the hack is the same but with an extra 2 routes chucked in for good measure.


I am also a Southerner....


The trade was old hat with radios. It is not old hat with dataheads sat on the dash like housebricks and paying office rent to a cigar smoking cowboy.

We all know that apps is the way forward. Anyone with enough savvy would make an app for the company they have now. LA, Blueline, etc. Place a customer rating system on it. Fix the fares. Pay online with card just like they already can where I am based. We already show the cars location before arrival. So a few tweaks and my mobile as the datahead and we are on the same playing field.

Charge me 15% on every job. I aint fussed. As long as there is a punter wanting a cab. I will scrape by.

Also. I you have a hack plate. Add uber to your phone or a cheap phone from the market.

Sit in the rank and take or leave extra work chucked your way.

Just to clarify. I aint going to uber. Probably never will.

I like my NHS contract work and a liverpool, carlisle, Manchester run at least once a week has me safe in the knowledge that I will always have work.

Uber aint going to take the NHS. It is too much hassle, hence why we have it and not the likes of NODA or LA.

So I went on uber and they will get me picked up from Sunderland and take me to the airport for £1.50 a mile.

Well that aint bad since they are not in Sunderland.

But I take it that the get around this because you booked through the (cough) office sited in Newcastle.

LOL. Soz guys.

Another post.


You don't use your own phone. They provide you with a Company uber phone for bookings.


So they can at least not go through my dirty videos of the better half.

I'm 99.9% sure Uber isn't open to Hackney drivers. I think if it was, many hack drivers would be joining.

I've done night shift tonight and been on the Uber app - no cars working all night.

Thats not good for a new business model - any punters wanting to try out Uber and nothing available. More negative stuff which is all good to other Private Hire companies and hacks.

It would mean Blue line taking up residence at the shell garage at the airport, mind you they already do

You can use your own phone, just download their driver app. Search "Uber Driver" in the Google Play Store or App Store.

Alternatively, they can also provide you with a phone, which is locked just to use their app, instead, though in London they are charging £3.50 a week for this.

Newcastle taxi drivers back campaign to bring back local knowledge test


The petition calling to bring back the test comes after Newcastle City Council axed the stringent checks

Hundreds of taxi drivers have backed a campaign to bring back the compulsory “Geordie Knowledge” test.

Newcastle Council scrapped the stringent test which demand cabbies in the city have in depth knowledge of the area they cover.

And now employees at some of the region’s biggest taxi firms have signed a petition calling for the locality test to be brought back.

Many drivers claim that customers will receive a poor service because of the decision to get rid of the test, while others believe the ability to find places in a driver’s chosen working area is a reasonable expectation.

Bosses at the city council say the decision to make the changes relates to pending government legislation, and the increased use of satellite navigation systems and app based systems.

Owner of LA Taxis Rob Armstrong said: “Newcastle might be losing drivers off the back of the locality test but it’s always good that anyone becoming a taxi driver in the city knows the area and knows where they are going.

“People can always rely on satellite navigation to find their way around but if you ask people they would like to think the driver knew the best way to go.

“Personally I favour having tests in place because it means it’s a better managed system.

“I would like the tests to stay in place. There should be time and effort put in to become a taxi driver.”

More than 600 people have signed an online petition calling for the traditional knowledge test to be brought back to Newcastle in just five days.

The news comes after it was announced taxi app Uber was launched in Newcastle, allowing passengers to summon a cab with their smartphone.

Jenny Dryden, 30, of Corbridge, Northumberland, said: “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. With everything that’s going on, with Uber starting in the city, the taxi industry is already quite hard.

“I have been on the taxis for eight and a half years now and have noticed a big decrease in the number of people using taxis as it is.

“Newcastle City Council are making it even harder for us. I have spoken to a few customers who are unimpressed the knowledge test is being scrapped.”

Michael Watson, of Newburn, said it was putting the general public at risk.

The 45-year-old said: “You do not know who is driving the car. The type of driver who does not know anywhere near here.

“People would not like their young daughters to go into a car with a driver who has not been checked by the police and does not know where they’re going.

“The standard of drivers will go through the floor and the council have not consulted any taxi groups over this.”

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council, said: “As part of its role in licencing private hire drivers, the council has introduced a new process that replaces the traditional locality test that private hire drivers had to take.

“The change is in anticipation of pending government legislation, and in recognition of the increasing use of satellite navigation systems and app based systems.

“Our new process will make applicants aware of their licensing responsibility and covers; safeguarding and vulnerability, passenger safety, medical fitness, road safety, and continue our extensive criminal record checks in the interests of passengers’ safety.

“The full locality test will however continue to be maintained for hackney carriage and dual licensed drivers which unlike private hire can pick up passengers for journeys that are not pre-planned.”

source: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... gn-9097699

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

Newcastle taxi driver 'knowledge' test: Everything you need to know about the test




As Newcastle private hiredrivers no longer face the locality test, the Chronicle looked at what the test was all about


What was the locality test?

The test was designed to establish that, prior to obtaining a licence, drivers have sufficient knowledge of the locality, and of their responsibilities, to operate effectively.

What were taxi drivers quizzed on?

Cabbies were advised by the council to get information from the Tourist Information Centre. The test included a series of verbal questions to assess drivers’ knowledge on churches, historic places of interest, hotels, tourist attractions, museums, cinemas, art galleries, casinos, court buildings, function suites, post offices and nightclubs.

What else were they asked?

During the test taxi drivers were given two locations, based within the city of Newcastle, and were expected to describe the shortest possible route between the two area. As part of their answer they were asked to name each road or street they travelled through to reach the final destination.

Where did the locality tests take place?

At the licensing office at Newcastle Civic Centre.

Who tested each driver?

A council officer tested the applicant’s knowledge of the area.

What happened if a driver failed the test?

In short, you would need to book another test before being able to qualify as a taxi driver. Following the unsuccessful test the examining officer would give the driver a locality test sheet, which they would have to produce at the licensing office when booking a re-test.

source: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... st-9097981

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

There's nothing stopping the companies from testing drivers knowledge prior to giving them a set is there

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

Years ago I would agree with knowledge tests, but now a days with sat navs,apps,mobile phones, there's no need for them. There just used to make it harder to get into the trade.

Road works, road closures, new one way streets, accidents where you need to find an alternative route, all show up on a sat nav? Must get one then!

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Former taxi driver

Yes it is ridiculously hard to pass the London knowledge test, but perhaps that's why they've only had 2 rapists in 400 years

So a hard memory test stops rapists?

Interesting theory.

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IDFIMH