Taxi Driver Online

If the business is so unattractive as to not be able to recruit new drivers on a decent wage/living, then all we get in the trade is an input of casuals and part timers or simply people who cant get a job elsewhere or claim much in the way of benefits.

Crap drivers or shortage thereof, lowers the demand and we all suffer.

If we recruit good people into the trade however, we improve its reliability and reputation and in the end, we all win.

Trying to stop others investing in the trade (including the restriction of plates by arbitrary number) is a double-edged sword, which will cut all of us in the long run.

Dusty,
I am sorry if I confused you with my answer or that it was not what you expected. I think the Oft were stating the obvious; that the power to delimit already lay with the councils. I knew, my bank manager knew, and to repeat what I said, buyer beware. But in more recent times in the dash to lend cash banks etc have thrown money at everybody without any due regard.
I cannot believe that at the present time plates are still changing hands in Manchester,albeit at a vastly reduced premium. Some people are convinced that the report will be sidelined. My problem is that personally I think that it was an opportunity lost and we might finish up once again with a fudge.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

It might be a fudge and the oft report was not as indepth as i fault it would be.

But I think the government will sort out things better than perhaps we think.

I might be wrong and it wont be long before we find out, but i just cant see how they can do nothing.

Yes im now a hostage to fourtune but thats what taxi forums are for.

The problem with new entrants into our trade, is that when they are needed i.e. when trade is buoyant, the rest of the world is also busy.

However when things are crap, and new entrants aren't needed, we have thousands of them, cos the rest of the world is also crap.

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IDFIMH

You seem to be assuming that fares would drop if they were unregulated, but because of market failure in taxi markets this would not necessarily be the case. There's a chance they could rise, in which case premiums/excess profits would rise.

As for the plumbers point, I'm totally lost.

Stick to the poetry Wharfy!!!

Dusty

So you want more drivers, but only if they'll driver your car.

That just about sums things up!!

Dusty

It's that virtuous circle I was talking about the other week Andy7.

Make it more difficult to get a badge and you'll boost earnings and at the same time attract only the more committed drivers and this will perpetuate itself - it seems to work in London.

Hand out badges on demand and you end up with low wages and part-timers/casuals and make it unattractive to anyone else.

The fares issue is a red herring - I would say that the fare rises in my manor in the last four years have almost doubled my profit/wage on a bread and butter one mile run.

But as a consequence the number of cabs has almost doubled.

But the part-timers/casuals still predominate.

Dusty

OK Ged, perhaps you and others knew the score and to that extent 'buyer beware', but I don't think that's the case with everyone?

Given the mountain of stats in the OFT report on consumer attitudes to taxi use etc, I think the OFT would have been better using some of its resources ascertaining the attitude/knowledge of plate buyers rather than just summing the whole thing up in a single sentence - ie plate buyers knew the score.

To me it's like buying complex financial products - many people don't know exactly what they are buying, or the risks involved.

I don't think the OFT would sum up consumers of such products in the terms they used for plate buyers.

But a survey of attitudes or whatever would have been useful, but maybe that would have pointed in the wrong direction.

Dusty

Dusty,
I do not wish to labour the point but I would say without fear of contradiction that every owner/ driver in the land knows that unless they follow the rules the plate would be removed, no matter what they had paid.Therefore it follows they must know what they are"buying" into.
It cannot be true that Wharfy is Paddington Bill, you will be telling me that there is no Santa Claus next.
Ged
Ps where can I access the pre budget statement you mentioned earlier?

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taxi driver @manchester airport

Ged have a look at this at 3.15

http://news8.thdo.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/sp ... ng_pro.pdf

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IDFIMH

Andy,
Thanks for that.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

well of course you are totaly lost you cannot get the grasp of anything,

lets try and make it easy, to try and put plumbers and electricians down (dont know how you dare) you quote them as an example not realising that they are in a racket and have a quota market.

try and stick to something you know a tiny little about like accountancy of yesteryear.

as for poetry stop guessing!

Rita

Yeah. Thats life.

So, yet another reason to restrict by quality not numbers.

And Yes, Dusty, I totally agree the points you made. But London also has a whole bundle of rogue operators in the PH field, and that cant be right either. If all the PH in London were properly licensed Hackneys, what then? Would that be an improvement?

My opinion is, that it would be, and that there would, overall, probably be a lower number of cabs, as it would knock out many cowboys.

If there are 26,000 Hackneys now, and 40,000 PH, and assuming they are all making a living, then, excluding the "premier" market, lets say 10,000 vehicles, would we end up with a London total of 56,000 cabs? Because if so, surely they would all still be making the same living that they are at the moment?

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There is Significant Unmet Demand for my Opinion.

The problem arises however when we ask those 40,000 or so, to take the KOL.

One assumes that if they were interested in doing that, then they would have done that already.

I think that if they ever got rid of 'normal' PH in London, then the KOL would have to be severely diluted.

Chances of that happening, are as likely as me getting a Xmas card from the North East.

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IDFIMH

Ok..so now we are getting personal here.

Let me assure you Mr Dusty that my day driver is on an excellent deal. At the end of the week, after taking into consideration how much my car repayments are ( I always have a high standard of car not only for me but also my driver)... office dues.. insurance... driver bonus incentive etc my driver is actually better off than me!

In fact... If I could find someone just like me to work for I reckon I would be better off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!