Taxi Driver Online

Clampdown to drive up standards of taxis

BLACKPOOL is getting tough on taxis. Rigid enforcement has seen 32 vehicles ordered off the roads as part of spot checks carried out in recent weeks by the council and the police. Another 19 were found to have minor defects and had to carry out repairs before being allowed to ply their trade again.

Now, the state of Blackpool's fleet of more than 800 hackney cabs and private hire vehicles is to come under further scrutiny as part of moves to drive up standards in the town. Among the issues to be looked at are the fact many of the resort's taxis are much older than those used in other towns and cities. Some have almost 400,000 miles on the clock before they even start work in Blackpool.

A report to the council's neighbourhoods and culture overview and scrutiny committee says more than half of the resort's private hire vehicles are five years old, and more than half of the black cabs are 10 years old or more.

The report says: "There are continuing serious complaints relating to drivers' appearance, image and behaviour. The emerging new Tourism Strategy also sees significance in the need for a much improved taxi quality service."

Blackpool Council's public protection manager Tim Coglan said enforcement action had been stepped up in the last few months. He said: "We want to drive up the standard of the taxi fleet in Blackpool because these people act as ambassadors for the town. Quite often the first person a visitor meets is their taxi driver, so it's important in terms of appearance and the standard of vehicles etc, that we get this right."

The latest clampdown follows one last June when 26 taxis were taken off the roads and the owners of 14 others were given five days to bring their vehicles up to standard. Trevor Boaler, secretary of the Blackpool Licensed Taxi Association, said drivers welcomed additional enforcement.

However, he said some drivers had been targeted on a Friday night, which meant they lost out on vital weekend business because they could not get their repairs done until the following Monday.

He said: "What the public has to accept is that all taxis or private hire cars are small businesses and a person has invested capital to provide a segment of public transport. "If we want to improve standards we have to ensure the earning potential is good enough."

Reforming the Taxi Quality Partnership to look at issues affecting the trade has also been proposed. The issues will be discussed by councillors when the committee meets on Thursday at 5pm at Blackpool Town Hall.

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IDFIMH

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IDFIMH

Oh dear what a shame.

Let's all just carry on with the iffy motors over the weekend.

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IDFIMH

A timely reminder the the Edinburgh lads that that the £45k plate premiums in Blackpool have done nothing for standards - indeed, quite the reverse.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I would be interested to hear how plate premiums of Hackney carriages affect private hire vehicle standards in Blackpool?

These guys up here have bought into the illusion of ownership big time. The shiny new vehicles are status symbols nothing else. And the financial state of the trade has no bearing on their ideas of grandeur. This is the “I have a shiny new vehicle everything is rosy in the garden” mentality. Meantime the trade is haemorrhaging from every financial orifice.


Not to worry though things will pick up in the festival.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

I doubt if there's any link Jimbo, are you alluding to one?

But the point ably demonstrated by Blackpool is surely that the link between restricted numbers and quality is bogus.

Thus it's the same for both HC (restricted or not) and PH - quality should be regulated directly.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I wonder if, as claimed by Sussex earlier, that it is the case that the standard of Hackney Carriages in Blackpool is very low, mainly because there is an alleged plate premium of £45K. But I also wonder why it should be that there is also a low vehicle standard on the PH side of the trade, where there is no plate premium? I know nothing of Blackpool, only visited on a day trip years ago, so could not comment. Also, how would you formulate an average age anyway? Average earnings? who comes close in this trade? Average house price? (£200,000) do you know anyone (apart from GBC) who lives in one? "Lies, damn lies, and statistics". (Mark Twain? Abraham Lincoln?) Speaking of Lincoln, (restricted) average age of Hackney four years, almost all replacement cabs in last five years brand new, despite masssive (!) plate premium.

I suppose it could be argued that high plate premiums mean less spent on vehicles, but my main point is that the oft-made argument that restricted numbers raises standards is a false one, As places like Blackpool demonstrate.

It's surely down to other factors, primarily direct control of quality control by the LA. Competitive factors may come into play as well - that can explain high vehicle standards in areas without quotas.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

went to blackpool two years ago.
and it was a poo hole.
the golden mile is a disgrace.
the cabs are very old.
but the drivers seemed ok.

We're moving back to Hertfordshire in a couple of weeks. £200 K ?

If only it was that cheap !!

You will all be gutted to learn I'll be off line for a few days until BT get the broadband connection sorted. (and a few hundred boxes unpacked )

I was sat next to a 1986 FX4 (D) last week at C&S Taxis, the old boy that runs it keeps it immaculate, services it every 5000K (!) and to be honest it looked more appealing than some of the C&S rental fleet of TX's !

Sadly with this stupid, badly planned Euro 3 emissions standard that comes in from July, he's packing it in from August when his plate is due, as its not worth spending in excess of £3k on one of the untried systems we will be forced to buy.

Multiply that by a few thousand and you may well witness this wonderful 'unmet demand' everybody likes talking about so much.