Taxi Driver Online

just heard on the local tv news aberdeen council have voted to deregulate
no mention if its any cabs or just wavs

But what about all those poor souls that have been hiring out their plates illegally.

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IDFIMH

Not the main issue, but this has caught my eye.

The proposals include doubling the fee for pre-booked hires from 50p to £1.

I was wondering when councils were given rights to set fees for pre-bookings.

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IDFIMH

From 'This is North Scotland':

COUNCIL TO SCRAP LIMIT ON NUMBER OF TAXIS FOR HIRE

GRAHAM LAWTHER

11:00 - 09 January 2006

Scores more taxis could soon be plying Aberdeen streets.

City councillors today agreed unanimously to scrap the limit on the number of licences it dishes out.

The current ceiling is 915, which has left more than 200 hopeful drivers on the waiting list for a yellow plate.

Licensing committee members said the licence limit would be scrapped as of today.

Convener Councillor Raymond Hutcheon said: "I feel that taking off the limit is the only way we as a council and a licensing authority can try to provide the service that many people are telling us they cannot get."

Taxi trade representatives accepted the move and said they would mount no legal challenge.

But angry Aberdeen Taxi Group members accused the committee of rushing the initiative.

Rainbow Taxis boss Russell Burgess said the move was being made with no parallel effort to improve the taxi ranks in the city centre.

He also said the potential improvement to services would be undermined by the continuing ban on empty taxis using bus lanes.

Mr Burgess told the committee: "We have been promised better lighting, better signage, shelter for our customers at ranks for some considerable time now - where are they?"

Mr Hutcheon said efforts were being made to the council's Safer Cities group to fast-track the improvements.

He added that the environment and infrastructure committee was being asked to look again at the bus lane ban.

Mr Burgess also claimed the vehicle testing regime in Aberdeen could not cope with the extra numbers.

But Mr Hutcheon pledged capacity would be increased.

Committee members said they believed the relaxation would trigger more taxi drivers to operate at the airport, the railway station and during the early hours of weekends to get revellers out of the city centre more swiftly.

Mr Hutcheon said many people were now going on courses to train as taxi drivers - but were being stopped from entering the trade because of the ceiling on the number of licences in Aberdeen.

Committee member councillor Steve Delaney added it was high time the restriction was ditched.

He said: "It is out of date and it needs to be removed. We need to get taxis out on the streets."

But Rainbow director Raymond Anderson warned the move was likely to see no net increase in the number of drivers working the city centre in the early hours.

He predicted it would simply prompt existing red-plate holders driving private hire cars - who are not allowed to stop on streets or ranks, or use bus lanes - to switch to yellow plates.

ATG members also claimed the move had come out of the blue and claimed the committee today had intended to pass it with no invitation to the trade to address members.

Mr Hutcheon said he had told the trade in October that the move was on the cards and said it had been discussed with the trade at a Taxi Review Group meeting in October.

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