Taxi Driver Online

Guildford cabbies quit trade because of Uber's popularity, says council report

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey ... e-15614131

The taxi-hailing app's success has forced the borough council’s licensing officers to look at increasing charges for drivers


Image: Surrey Advertiser

The success of Uber in Guildford has led to a number of cabbies quitting the trade completely, and could drive up the cost of borough taxi licences, according to council papers.

Uber’s popularity has now forced Guildford Borough Council’s (GBC) licensing officers to look at increasing charges for drivers to obtain licences and take the Knowledge test - a test all cab drivers must pass to secure a licence.

A one year licence for a hackney carriage will increase by £28.95 to £249.74 in April if the proposals are adopted next week.

The cost of the Knowledge test for a hackney carriage will also rise by £48.05 to £100.50 under the new measures.

And taxi drivers will see the bill for renewing their five year licence go up by £422.43 to £970.97.

The effect on taxi and private hire fees and charges has been laid out in a paper to go before councillors at GBC licensing committee on Monday (January 7).

It suggests there has been a drop in the number of licensed drivers in the borough due to a change in the length of time a licence is valid increasing from one year to five years, but also to the impact of Uber in the area.

It states that a number of drivers are now licenced by other authorities with “less stringent requirements” but that the “most notable impact has been the considerable increase in popularity of Uber”.

In order to work for Uber, drivers and vehicles must be licensed by Transport for London (TfL) and not GBC.

The report says: “We have seen considerable numbers of drivers apply for a TfL licence and as such, the number of applications received has reduced. Secondly, due to the increased competition, a number of licence holders have left the trade and not renewed, again reducing the number of applications.”

According to figures presented in the report, the number of applications for vehicle licences has dropped from 629 in 2015/16 to 541 in 2017/18.

Drivers taking the Knowledge test or applying for taxi badges dropped from 428 in 2015/16 to 277 in 2017/18.

There are now 61 borough-licensed operators in Guildford.

If approved by councillors the proposals will go out to public consultation and take effect on April 1, 2019.

If objections are raised, the licensing committee will consider the feedback at its meeting on March 25 and set another date for implementation of the new costs.

In March, around 25 taxi drivers clogged up Guildford's one-way system in protest at a cut in fares.

Isn't a drivers badge supposed to be 3 years? And isn't the cost supposed to be cost recovery and not make a profit?

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Grandad,

I thought the "spirit" of the law was for a minimum period of 3 years but might be wrong

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

Maximum 3 years for a driver taxi or private hire.

Maximum 5 years for private hire operator

so they can do less than 3 years but not more then ?

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

Try telling that to our mob.

Correct,3 years is the norm if requested by the applicant,but individual circumstances can be taken into account leading to the issue of a lesser period than 3 years.

I suspect, without checking, that's the cost of an ops license.

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IDFIMH

For drivers, yes.

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IDFIMH

These stories confirm, if confirmation was required, that licensing fees are upmost in the minds of councillors/officers when in-fact it should be enforcement and public safety.

Bit like London where the mass rise of PH has effected the income for the tube, which has blown a hole through the Mayor's investment funds. Hence I suspect the real reason for the introduction of the congestion charge for London PH.

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IDFIMH

Will be a lot of *fixed* costs involved, so if the number of licences reduces substantially, then substantial fees increases will be required to cover those fixed costs.

Of course, there should be an element of variable costs involved as well, but probably a lot less significant than the *fixed* element, and although in theory it might be easy enough identifying variable costs (such as staff numbers) in practice reducing such variable costs won't be quite so easy.

Yes, suspect the usual journalistic confusion here over the precise nature of which fees relate to which licences.

Always take such articles with a pinch of salt, and just look at the bigger picture - ie big fees hikes to make up for reduced number of licences due to Uber and, reading between the lines, perhaps even because of the earlier fares *reduction*, and even the colour code for HCs.

Another good one this morning which looked like quite a juicy headline, but after reading the story it was mainly about applying for a licence and the various fees and procedures involved (and brief mention of a modest fees rise). So in essence the headline had almost ZERO to do with the article, and little really in the article worth reading about for trade anoraks

Fees to become a Sefton taxi driver set for BIG changes

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... r-15621300

And you'll have to pay out even if your application is knocked back

Guildford taxi 'Knowledge Test' rise questioned

https://www.eagleradio.co.uk/news/local ... uestioned/

A Guildford councillor has questioned a rise of more than 100% on charges for cabbies to take the Knowledge Test when their Uber competitors use satnavs.

Cllr James Walsh said the proposed changes by Guildford Borough Council on fees for hackney carriages and private vehicles seemed to be a “disadvantage”.

The council is now seeking feedback from taxi drivers over the changes which include the cost of the Knowledge Test for a hackney carriage doubling from £48.05 to £100.50 under the new measures.

The exam tests drivers on their navigation skills around their borough as well as understanding of legislation.

Officers say this is due to a change in the way costs are calculated and to the rise of Uber in the borough leading to more drivers switching to work for the mobile phone app taxi service.

A one-year licence for a hackney carriage will increase by £28.95 to £249.74 in April.

And taxi drivers will see the bill for renewing their five-year licence go up by £422.43 to £970.97.

Councillors agreed the proposed changes at Guildford’s licensing committee on Monday (January 7).

Cabbies can now comment on the proposals and if no objection is raised they will come into effect on April 1.

Speaking of the Knowledge test cost increase, Cllr Walsh said:

“How essential is that in the age of satnavs? It seems like a competitive disadvantage as they are effectively paying double than last year for something Uber drivers will not use.”

Mike Smith, borough licensing team leader, said there was still justification for the test as it made sure drivers were aware of legislation as well as locations and that not everyone always knew the postcode of where they wanted to go.

That does seem excessive.

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IDFIMH