Taxi Driver Online

Take it you don't have timed controlled meters?

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IDFIMH

No we don't but even if we did it may be possible to charge rate 3 instead of rate 1 because the rate for 5 or more passengers is rate 3.

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Grandad,

So how do calendar meters (or whatever they're called) deal with tariff structures that are higher depending on the number of passengers (as Grandad seems to be portraying)?

Or are such tariff structures incompatible with calendar meters?

But that will only be available to multi-seaters, so saloon drivers won't have that option.

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IDFIMH

That’s what the ‘extras’ button is for, each press is 20p,(in our area £3 for 5 passengers or more) also comes in useful when there are road/bridge tolls to be added on as well.

What I meant was different tariff structures for more passengers or larger vehicles, rather than 'extras'.

For example, a T3 that would apply if there were more than four passengers, say.

Basically, there's two ways of allowing higher fares for more passengers - extras, or a higher tariff across the board. (Of course, not impossible that there could be both on the same tariff card, but not aware of any examples.)

But that would mean the driver would change the rate depending on the amount of passengers, so to that degree a time-controlled meter wouldn't be possible, or at least the driver could easily abuse it if he could change the tariff with a couple of presses of a button.

Of course, the rationale behind time-controlled/calendar meters seems to be to stop drivers charging T2 during the daytime just by simply changing the rate manually, thus the meter can't be changed manually and instead automatically changes to T2 at the appropriate time.

So to that extent, if the driver can change from T1 to T-whatever to account for different passengers, then obviously that's open to abuse, and undermines the principle of time-controlled meters.

But thanks for the explanation of how the extras work

Although, to be fair, I've had my meter about 15 years now (and it was second hand even then) and still don't know how to use the extras button

Our tariff structure is very straightforward, just T1, T2 etc, and although there's a £2 extras charge for an 'abnormal load', I've never had the balls to charge it , hence never actually used the extras button.

(Ironically, reason I got the meter for about £10 roughly 15 years ago was that I think Dundee was making time-controlled meters compulsory, so our Digitax man had a glut of older meters going cheap.)

Of course, there's one obvious way of preventing drivers abusing different tariffs for more passengers/bigger vehicles, which is to have a higher tariff all the time for bigger vehicles.

Which of course was what daftie officials and councillors did in Babergh a few months ago. But they eventually realised it would mean a higher tariff for lone pensioners doing the shopping just because they got into an eight-seater.

So presumably in Babergh now the drivers can change the meter's tariff depending on the number of passengers, and to that extend undermine the safeguard of time-controlled meters if they wanted to abuse it and overcharge

Sorry Stuart, I misinterpreted your question. One of the main reasons for calendar meters is to stop drivers overcharging. Most customers don’t even notice what rate the meter is on anyway, the opportunity for abuse is rife. I don’t really know how it could work (having different tariffs depending on the number of passengers) I think this is why most councils just charge a set price for extra passengers.