Taxi Driver Online

There is no excuse at all, if a driver refuses a fare for no other reason other than it being too short a journey they should lose their licence, simple! The problems facing the drivers in Cardiff are the same the country over. ( speed bumps, traffic lights, one way systems and as for increased Hackney numbers, we went from 77 Hackney’s to over 300 at the last count here in Chester, that’s a 4 fold increase compared to Cardiff’s 2 fold.) Has the local driver’s association applied for fare increases recently and took their evidence to the licensing committee (ie, increased costs due to insurance,repairs etc) ?

Imo when people say "There is no excuse", they are accepting the problem, unfortunately siding with the powers that be in the process, as it never gets sorted out.

Also I would say that it is not possible to draw like with like as you have. At one stage (probably still the same) we had more cabs taxis pro rata than London - without the London wealth. To compare layouts of the roads again is not possible, with each City/Town having different criteria/agendas. You then have to get around the poor mentality of Councillors/LA officials who do not see taxi drivers being worthy of a decent living. I am out of it now, however I do have a lot of sympathy for the guys/girls.

P.S. You talk about taking evidence to the licensing committee! It was the police who objected to even more licences being granted (what more can you do than that), when the committee intended to put more out there. All they can see is the money being generated by the drivers.........keeping them in well paid jobs.


This is not a new problem for anyone, and needs sorting out. Though, not by bullying from the Council's,LA's, or for that matter - sympathy from the trade. If you relied on just local fares in Cardiff - you could not trade.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Cherry picking is WRONG and can’t/shouldn’t be defended by anyone. Why should local people be penalised by drivers ? In this instance I fully support the council in dealing with these parasites of the taxi trade.
As long as my wheels are turning with a fare onboard I don’t care how far they are traveling, if it’s a short fare it means I can get back quicker to pick the next one up. I would rather take four £5 fares than one £20, I bet the total distance travelled is about half that of the £20 fare.
When I spoke about taking evidence to the council I was referring to a proposed fare increase. You could also lobby your local councillors, timing this with local elections is always a good if they are due.
What the OFT report did to the taxi trade in this country is diabolical but that’s the way it is, alienating your own customers is never a good idea. Do you have a decent trade association in Cardiff ?

Certainly the same here, and I suspect same in most places, but, on the other hand, up here if you only did fares over £10 (say), then some nights you wouldn't do any fares at all, and on a good number of nights you'd only be taking £20/£30, say.

Which in turn comes back to the point I've been making but which you haven't directly replied to, namely who chooses who should do the cherry picking and who shouldn't? Not much cherry picking here, but if some drivers did start doing it habitually then they'd be doing all the cream runs and the other drivers would be left with the locals and would thus be a lot worse off, or if ALL drivers only did long runs then EVERY driver would be a whole lot worse off...

Another aspect of your logic that I just don't get is how you seem to think cherry picking will help make the council change course on things you don't like.

So a councillor or licensing bod reading this is going to say, yes we'll raise the tariff substantially, we'll get rid of the traffic lights and speed bumps, and cap numbers, because someone is advocating cherry picking and Cardiff has been getting bad press about it?

Of course Cherry Picking is wrong, so is inequality of wealth whereby people end up begging on the streets, who do not declare their earnings to the tax man. Before trying to take the high ground on this matter, no doubt you would also claim that taxi drivers should declare their entire earnings to the tax man, as I am sure that you do!

In Cardiff there are NO "four £5 fares" that would enable you to pay your way in the trade. The layout of the traffic prevents "Quicker" fares, as I said you would have to know the layout of the City - do not compare, it is NOT comparable. You would also have to know as to how quickly your metre gets to £5 + how long it takes to get to that given distance due to layout.

Imo it is no good anyone taking a holier than I stand, when others have had their lives decimated by the LA's - your area may be fine. What you believe in (from what I can see), is an ideal/rose tinted glasses world whereby everything is equal. Unfortunately the gentlemany system is broken, it has been broken by being a doormat to all and sundry - all of this being allowed by self employed people who have the power to bring Cities to a halt - makes my blood boil.

It is not an ideal situation, having said that - in another scenario would you watch your family starve to death........or would you bend the rules in hope that a broken system will have to eventually be mended?

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Your first paragraph covers us down here as well.

The Cherry Picking is hi lighted during big events ie concerts/big matches etc. I dont get your "Who does - who doesn't "bit, but I will say that we have quite a large ethnic amount if drivers whose moral code are questionable to say the least.

You also have to put things into perspective - you are reading press reports!!! Have you read anywhere - that NOBODY got home? The bottom line being there are drivers (lots of drivers) who do the job properly. Unfortunately it would seem that drivers on here are starting to believe press reports.

As for my logic in believing that Cherry Picking will make a council change its track - then you are right. Your next paragraph is extreme ie getting rid of.......However a visitation of the tariff would/should be certainly on the cards, as the City is not going to permanently want to be known to visitors as a rip off re taxis - very little said re hotels and pubs putting their price up........double standards all around.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.