Well it turns out that the "anonymous individual identifying only as a “Worried Driver”" described by TaxiPoint is actually an HCD; my guess was that it was a PHD, but of course there's nothing specific enough in the petition to discern that it's even organised by a
driver, never mind which code
But nothing much here that hasn't been read zillions of times before elsewhere. Except, of course, there's no cross-border angle, and there
is already a power in the Scottish legislation to cap PHCs, which is actually mentioned here.
No mention of London here, at least. But no mention of Glasgow either, maybe for obvious reasons...
Edinburgh black cab taxi driver's petition calls on council to cap number of 'wild west' private hire vehicleshttps://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... is-5125925An Edinburgh black cab taxi driver has called on the council to cap the number of private hire vehicles on the city’s streets, describing the current situation as “like the wild west”.
Keith Auld, 44, has had more than 800 signatures for his petition - ‘Cap number of Private Hire Vehicles in Edinburgh so everyone can make a living’ - which he launched two and a half weeks ago.
He says the market is being saturated in Edinburgh, with too many private hires already on the city’s streets, and he is calling on an immediate cap on their numbers, like the current limit on black cabs.
Keith believes there are 1,111 active black cabs in Edinburgh at the moment, with a cap of 1,300 set by the council. However, he claims there are currently between 2,400 and 2,700 private hires vehicles in the city.
Speaking to the Evening News, Keith revealed that he regularly sees private hires breaching their licensing conditions by picking up fares on the street and even occasionally using taxi ranks.
He said: “It’s a pure saturation of the market. It’s becoming harder to make ends meet. There are that many vehicles on the road just now, you can’t do your job. And the buses can’t get around as easy.
“We black cab drivers know the city’s streets inside out, we know every pub, every hotel, but the problem we are finding is we are competing with ridiculous prices, even Uber are struggling.
“The private hires do too many jobs and are tired, so they make mistakes, going down roads they shouldn’t for example, it’s becoming ridiculous. On a Saturday night in the Grassmarket it’s like a manufacturing plant for these cars, there are loads of them just mulling around.
“They are breaking their licensing conditions at every turn, they are even coming into our taxi ranks. I’m engaging with the union on this as I’m a union rep and a member of the Association of Black Cab Hackney Drivers, and we are working with the council and police to try to get them to acknowledge what’s going on.
“Saturday nights are like the wild west. The private hires are not meant to loiter outside pubs and clubs but they do, and youngsters coming out of these places expect to get a price right away instead of a meter.
“You will see what we call ‘seagulling’, hanging around the city’s busy venues and taxi ranks, which they are not allowed to do, we need to limit them. They are vehicles with sat-navs, not taxis. If they take a job that is not pre-booked they are not insured in the event of an accident because they don’t have public hire insurance.”
Keith’s petition also says that this “dilution” of taxis in Edinburgh is leading to a fall in the quality and professionalism of the trade in the city, “which is ultimately going to lead to somebody getting seriously hurt or even killed”. And he believes that this “national issue” of the increasing numbers of private hire vehicles will not benefit locals.
He said: “A cap is needed immediately and we need to increase enforcement, as they are just doing what they want and ignoring all the rules. It’s your pocket that’s getting hit. Everybody says it’s driving the prices down for taxi, but on a Saturday night that’s definitely not the case.
“Every city is getting swamped with private hires, it’s a national issue. It feels like they are trying to kill the black cab industry. We are not getting respected.
“We are trying to pressure the council to consider the Civic Scotland Act over-provision of private hires in a city. Just to highlight that there are too many on the road. We need that report to see as a fact that there are too many.
“I have this conversation with many a punter, who see it with their own two eyes on Edinburgh’s streets, there are private hires everywhere.
“We black cab drivers are skilled. We know how to deal with disabled passengers and every type of person really, we are trained on how to deal with someone who is difficult, maybe drunk. And we needed to have the required knowledge of the city’s streets to get our licences.
“So to have all that pulled from under our feet by someone with a sat-nav, that’s just ridiculous. The wider public have been supportive of the petition, and I think they respect black cab drivers in Edinburgh and all over the world.
“Fellow cabbies just want some support, we are happy to work alongside private hires, but give us a chance, there has to be a cap on the number of private hire vehicles in Edinburgh.
“Everybody knows there is an issue, but everyone is burying their heads in the sand.”
Keith is also calling on the council to run private hire licences better, to bring down the numbers and bring private hires “to the same standard of black cab drivers”. He added that this would help licensing and Police Scotland to enforce conditions easier.
The City of Edinburgh Council has been contacted for comment.
Login
Register
FAQ
