Taxi Driver Online

Survey asks people what colour Hartlepool's hackney carriage taxis should be

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/p ... be-8790507



Hartlepool Borough Council is carrying out a consultation after it received a request from a taxi company asking the council to amend its Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy.

Under the existing policy, all hackney carriage vehicles are required to be professionally painted or wrapped in a non-standard production shade of yellow.

The council’s licensing committee agreed to launch a consultation on the colour of hackney carriages in October following the request submitted by Blueline Group, which provides a number of the vehicles in the town.

In a letter the taxi firm raised concerns over the price of spraying whole vehicles yellow and noted partially wrapped or liveried designs retaining the distinctive colour “could be achieved at a much lower cost”.

They added the cost of wrapping or spraying vehicles to an acceptable industry standard can be more than £2,000 on top of the vehicle price.

The council stated: “We would welcome your views and invite you to share any comments, observations, or concerns you may have. Your feedback will help inform the Council's consideration of the proposed change.”

The council policy details the standards expected of drivers, vehicles and operators in order to ensure the safety and comfort of the travelling public.

Hackney carriages are cabs that can be hailed on the street or picked up at ranks.

The consultation, open to taxi drivers and the public, is running now until Friday, August 26, on the council’s Your Say Our Future engagement platform.

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IDFIMH

Is it me or did we discuss this when originally proposed 20+ years ago ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

More than likely, and that's 20+ years that drivers have been mugged off royally, having to license vehicles that horrible colour.

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IDFIMH

not as bad as Guildford's teal !

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I think this has been up in the air for years and year now, and I tend to glaze over a bit when it comes up

But when you've got HCs with a colour code like that it's always going to be a sore point, not just in terms of the yellow per se, but also preparation, colour matching and all that kind of stuff

If it were a colour that was a factory fit, then this wouldn't be such an issue, although quite why yellow would be normal is another matter.

But it's a made-up colour that some civil servant came up with 20+ years ago, and it's cost the local trade 100s of 1000s for no good reason.

Make them all white, or all black, if that's what you want, but made up yellow is pure madness.

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IDFIMH

Looks like it's set to stay

And no doubt to be reviewed again in a few years time...it was Blueline complaining last time round as well, innit?


Hartlepool councillors to decide this week what colour town's taxis should be following calls for more flexibility

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/p ... ty-9101745

The colour of Hartlepool’s trademark yellow taxis is expected to stay after more than 400 people had their say in a formal consultation.


Image: Hartlepool Mail

Hartlepool Borough Council recently asked the taxi trade and the public what colour they think the town’s cabs should be.

It followed a formal request to the licensing authority to amend the council’s policy in relation to its hackney carriage colour.

Submitted by Blueline Group bosses, who provide a number of hackney carriage vehicles in the town, it asked the council to review its current position and raised concerns over the price of spraying whole vehicles yellow.

A letter from Blueline noted partially wrapped or liveried designs retaining the distinctive yellow colour “could be achieved at a much lower cost” and added a “more practical and cost effective colour/livery choice” would help to “preserve the remaining hackney carriage trade for the public.”

The council’s licensing committee agreed to launch a consultation on the matter, and the results are due to be discussed at a meeting on Wednesday, September 23.

A council report states the survey revealed a “decisive mandate from the community, with 418 out of 491 respondents explicitly wishing for Hartlepool’s hackney carriages to remain yellow”.

A report to councillors recommends that the current private hire and hackney carriage licensing policy colour requirements are not amended.

The council report states that “Blueline Group makes a compelling commercial argument regarding the financial burden of full vehicle resprays and the logistical barriers it presents to modernising their fleet with electric vehicles”.

However, the report adds that the “commercial perspective stands in stark contrast to overwhelming public and trade sentiment”.

It goes on: “While Blueline’s proposed partial-livery and vinyl wrap alternatives offer a pragmatic compromise to lower trade costs, the licensing committee must carefully balance the economic concerns of an operator against a powerful and near-unanimous public and trade preference for maintaining the traditional, highly visible identity of the town’s taxi fleet.”

Hartlepool Borough Council’s current hackney carriage policy states such vehicles must be “professionally painted or wrapped to a non-standard production shade of yellow.”

A 2019 consultation around changing the colour saw councillors vote to keep the vehicles yellow in line with the views of the majority of drivers and residents who responded.

I have a vague recollection that when originally proposed they wanted to copy New yorks chequer cabs

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Not much new here, but smacks of the self-regard of municipal politics that's often on display

'Wha's like us?' as we often say up here, in both a self-regarding and self-deprecating manner...

The full saying is "Wha's like us? - Damn few and they're a' deid" (Damn few and they are all dead)


Hartlepool councillors reject call to change taxi colour policy over its distinctive yellow cabs

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/p ... bs-9160203

Hartlepool’s distinctive yellow street cabs are set to stay after councillors rejected calls for change.

Taxi licensing chiefs at Hartlepool Borough Council carried out a pubic consultation earlier this summer after one company raised concerns about the “prohibitive” costs of respraying vehicles.

Blueline Group, which provide a number of hackney carriage taxis in the town, asked the council to review its current policy to allow newer vehicles to feature only partial markings, in an approved design and colour.

In the council’s survey, 418 out of 491 people that responded were in favour of keeping the town’s cabs yellow. And councillors on the Licensing Committee agreed.

Meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Carole Thompson said: “Our taxi drivers want them yellow, the public want them yellow.

“We’ve done our due diligence, we have done our consultation. I think we just say ‘no we’re staying as we are’.”

She added the yellow colour is well known by passengers as being authorised taxis, and said public protection must be their “overriding objective”.

Cllr Sue Little agreed saying: “We’re Hartlepool and we are proud of our yellow cabs and I vote we keep them.”

Blueline, which has operations across the North East, claimed the council’s survey “failed” as it only asked people to choose from the colours yellow, white black, or ‘other’, and not about partial yellow livery or about applying it only to electrical vehicles.

It says it plans to replace its older diesel vehicles with fully electric vehicles.

But in a letter to the committee, boss David Wilson said the colour compliance costs would “affect that investment,” quoting up to £2,000 for a full respray.

However, councillors questioned that figure with their research suggesting around £350.

Blueline again asked council to allow partial livery in an approved standard manufacturer’s colour either generally or for electric hackney carriages.

It said it would mean vehicles would still retain “prominent yellow markings” to clearly distinguish them from private hire vehicles.

Cllr Matthew Dodds said the price of a respray was minimal after the cost of introducing a new electric fleet.

“It feels very much like something they don’t want to do,” he said.

Cllr Dodds added: “We have a heritage in this town of yellow taxis. London has the black cabs, New York has the yellow with black and white.”

Is that who I think it is?

Gamekeeper turned poacher, or something like that?

Was shocked and surprised to read that initially, but on second thoughts think I actually knew that but had just forgotten again


Aye, that's the global taxi triumvirate known the world over for their distinctive taxis - London, New York and Hartlepool

A full respray for £350.

That would just about cover the cost of the paint and primer.

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IDFIMH

[quote=

Cllr Dodds added: “We have a heritage in this town of yellow taxis. London has the black cabs, New York has the yellow with black and white.”[/quote]

Cllr Dodds does realise that london’s ‘black cabs’ can be (and often are) any colour ???