Taxi Driver Online

Could Derby's yellow cabs be about to turn back to black again?

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... rn-2344927

Taxi drivers hope so as they sign petition to send to Derby City Council


Image: Derby Telegraph/Victoria Wilcox

Unhappy Derby taxi drivers have set up a petition to change back to black cabs on the streets, instead of being forced to spray their taxis yellow.

Hackney cabs in Derby first became yellow in 2001 following a change of policy by Derby City Council to make them more identifiable for customers, including the partially-sighted.

But the cabs are purchased as black vehicles and members of the Derby Area Taxi Association (DATA) say that is how they should remain.

Javed Akhtar, vice chairman of DATA, said: “Most cabs are manufactured in the colour black, so it would make sense to allow new cabs to be licenced in black and that is exactly what members of our association and the majority of cab drivers in Derby would like changed.

“Just to be allowed to licence henceforth in the colour black, while the old ageing fleet serves out their remaining years in yellow.”

Mr Akhtar said that the same request has been raised at trade meetings with the council over the past 12 months.

He said that it was agreed that the Derby taxi trade would be happy to make the bonnet yellow to appease those with reservations.

He said: “The requirement to have to buy a cab a particular shade of yellow - of which there are not many on the market - or to have to respray a cab a particular shade of yellow, at an approximate cost of more than £1,000, only to have its re-saleable value reduced, is unwanted for many reasons.”

The reasons Mr Akhtar cites are as follows:

* It will invalidate body work warranty.

* It is a waste of resources.

* It is an additional and totally unnecessary anxiety placed on the drivers.

* It is against the regulators’ code.

* It is harmful to the environment.

* It is an additional expense of roughly more than £1,000 - a financial burden that could be better spent on maintenance, insurance, fuel, licensing fees or repairs.

* It makes the integrity of the vehicles weaker - the process involves removing windows seals, door seals, and door handles etc and then resealing them again, thus allowing for the possibility of water and other contaminants to enter into the bodywork that would not necessarily otherwise get in.

* It is a totally unnecessary extra expense as most cabs come painted to scrape off paint only to repaint is pointless.

* It is totally unnecessary - other authorities allow black cabs even where there are more partially-sighted customers than in Derby.

* It is unsafe for the driver - taxi drivers have been targeted because of the yellow colour and have had stones thrown at them and have been shot at with an air rifle, while driving.

* It is harmful to driver health - insects are attracted to the yellow colour so the potential for a bite from said insects is increased so potential harm to health is increased and a lot of endangered species of insects are unnecessary killed, which is not good for nature or our environment.

More than 100 have signed the petition

Mr Javed said: “The yellow colour requirement is holding back drivers from buying new. As they resent having to paint a brand new black cab (which can be available immediately without having to wait for the cab to go back to be resprayed) for the sake of some council official's vanity.

“Which is extremely inconvenient for drivers who would have to wait for a week or so for manufacturers to make a cab that is the Derby-shaded yellow colour.

“Please help us to bring about this change by signing the petition and letting common sense prevail.”

By Wednesday lunchtime, 112 people had signed the petition.

A city council spokesman said: “Making taxis yellow was to make them easy to identify as Derby taxis, creating trust for customers that they were getting into a licensed vehicle.

"The particular colour was chosen as an aid for visually-impaired customers.

“We are aware of the petition and acknowledge the issues mentioned in it.

"As a council we are already undertaking a review of the taxi fleet as a whole and this will need to include a consideration about future branding and identification."


Image: Derby Telegraph

Some of the reasoning here seems a bit far-fetched, and this one probably takes the biscuit.

To be fair though, I'm not an expert on which car colours attract which insects.

Are they big enough plate number signs in the windows?

Or do they need to be made a bit bigger.

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IDFIMH

For the partially sighted I imagine.

I think even partial sighted folks would be able to see them from the moon.

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IDFIMH

Huge changes proposed for Derby's taxis to be discussed next week

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... is-2412412

'It proposes some of the biggest changes to Derby taxis since horse drawn carriages'

Derby City Council members will meet next week to discuss plans to make huge changes to Derby's taxis.

One of the proposals to be considered by the licensing committee will be whether the city's yellow taxis should go "back to black" after more than 100 taxi drivers signed a petition, which was sent to the authority in December.

Hackney cabs in Derby first became yellow in 2001 following a change of policy by the council to make them more identifiable for customers, including the partially-sighted.

But, members of the Derby Area Taxi Association (DATA) argue that the cabs are purchased as black vehicles and that is how they should remain.

The meeting, on Thursday, January 17, will also discuss other proposals, as the council looks to bring a new fleet to Derby by 2020.

A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: "A new draft Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle Strategy will be considered by committee, proposing some of the biggest changes to Derby taxis since horse drawn carriages.

"As well as going ‘back to black’, the ambitious strategy focuses on modernising the city’s taxi and private hire fleet, making them environmentally cleaner, improving safety, and enhancing customer service and experience."

The council has won Government funding to invest more than £500,000 on the new taxi fleet.

Most of the new carriages would have a minimum of six seats as standard. The council also plans to launch free WIFI in all new carriages.

Despite the planned re-brand, new Hackney carriages will keep a flash of yellow on the bonnet, roof and boot.

The spokesperson added: "In order to support the influx of new electric vehicles, we have bid for, and won Government funding, allowing us to invest more than £500,000 on infrastructure solely for the new taxi fleet.

"New electric vehicle charging points will be installed at locations around the city, exclusively for Hackney carriages.

"This is in addition to the 230 charging points being installed in Derby, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire over the next few years, which are available for all vehicles to use."

If the draft strategy is accepted it will go out to consultation, allowing trade representatives and the general public to have their say on the proposals.

Councillor Mick Barker, chair of the licensing committee said: “This is an extremely exciting piece of work, which I am proud to be working with officers on.

“The importance of Derby’s taxi and private hire fleet cannot be underestimated. They are an integral part of our city’s transport system, and we’ll be offering support and advice throughout this process.

“With the government imposing further clean air demands, we want to 'future proof’ emission levels beyond that already demanded of us [in specific areas], whilst finding a way to benefit drivers, their businesses, and customers.

"The health benefits of citizens is paramount in our minds, and as it stands, we don’t have one euro 6 vehicle in the city."

Whatever next. And you'd think from reading the article that the council owns and operates the HCs

Another stupid council up it's own arse.

Have any of us ever been asked if we have WiFi?

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IDFIMH

No, but this kind of thing means that it creates an expectation that it least may be provided, just like card payments.

A bit like some Uber passengers virtually demanding that they plug their phone or whatever into a car's aux-in socket (assuming they have one), and the driver having to comply in case they get a bad rating.

Been asked a few times if people can Bluetooth their music through my car's audio system, but my usual reply is that it's too fiddly to set up while on the move

(Was asked that on Sunday actually, and ironically the guy left his phone in the car, entailing a lot of fannying about trying to get it back to him. Luckily managed to arrange something without having to hand it in to the polis, which is the worst possible outcome )

Down here that's the easiest way.

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IDFIMH