Taxi Driver Online

Delay in scrapping taxi zones across Shropshire

http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co. ... hropshire/

SCRAPPING taxi zones across Shropshire has been delayed after some drivers said they would lose out.

Shropshire Council wants to create a single licensing regime for hackney carriages which would allow drivers to work across the county and not be restricted to their zone.

It had hoped to introduce the change from April 1, 2019.

But taxi drivers in zone four – Shrewsbury and Atcham – said they would be at an economic disadvantaged as they already have to have wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

All hackney carriages across Shropshire will have to be wheelchair-accessible from April 2021 with those who chose not to being offered the opportunity to continue trading as private hire operators.

Mandy Beever, transactional and licensing team manager, told the Strategic Licensing Committee: “In response to this we are looking at postponing the implementation to April 1, 2021.

“This would allow us to notify all existing hackney carriage operators that they will be subject to that and they have got two years to get their vehicles up to that (wheelchair-accessible) standard.”

Councillor Simon Jones, for Shawbury, said it was a “very sensible suggestion” from taxi drivers in Shrewsbury.

Licensing across Shropshire is currently based on the former borough council areas of South Shropshire District Council, North Shropshire District Council, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, Oswestry Borough Council and Bridgnorth District Council.

The initial 10-week consultation which ran from June to September saw just 16 responses with 80 per cent of those in favour of a countywide regime.

Ms Beever said because of the changes there will need to be another four-week which will begin on Monday 8 October after councillors gave their approval.

It will then come before committee in November, before going before Cabinet at the start of 2019.

Councillor Paul Milner, for Oswestry South, added: “This is important.

“It is hard enough for people who use wheelchairs to get taxis as it is and it is important that we follow this through.”

That makes no sense what so ever.

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IDFIMH

Changes to taxis in Shropshire

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/loc ... hropshire/

All taxis across Shropshire will have to be wheelchair accessible by 2021.

The taxis - hackney carriages - have to conform with the access or the owners re-licence their vehicles as private hire vehicles.

Councillors voted through the changes at a meeting of Shropshire Council on Thursday.

Councillor Robert Macey said that if existing taxi proprietors upgrade their vehicles, the number of wheelchair accessible vehicle would increase. The owners now had two years to make the transition, he said.

Customers will also be able to hail taxis to take them across the whole of Shropshire from 2021 after councillors voted to remove the five existing hackney carriage zones.

Councillor Macey said the zones were an almost 10-year old legacy from pre-unitary days and said there should be a single taxi regime across the whole of Shropshire.

"The increase in ‘cross-border hiring’,brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015, has increased the risk to public safety and adversely impacted on the available business for taxi proprietors.

"Removal of the zones will put taxi proprietors in a better position to retain business as they will be able to pick up passengers throughout Shropshire without the need for pre-bookings; this increases passenger choice."

Give that man a coconut

It does not increase passenger choice,the majority of disabled people are not in wheelchairs and a lot of them cannot access WAVs thus it is actually reducing passenger choice,forcing people to using an alternative(private hire) instead of accessing a vehicle off a TAXI rank.
Why if Councils want total WAVs for the TAXI fleet do they not think the private hire fleet should also be total WAVs.
Mixed fleet of vehicles is the best solution for everyone.

I think a lead ornament in his brain might be more appropriate as now taxis are going to struggle because 99 % of the punters will dislike their vehicles

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

I actually think the council have got it spot on.

Loads of little areas have become one big area, thus make the area open to all hackneys, and maybe to stop the flooding of the ranks, that the trade has moaned about up and down the country forever, the WAV condition will restrict the increase.

Also WAVs can be the smaller 4 seater variety that can take the old dears, and don't cost the earth.

Well done to the council.

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IDFIMH