Taxi Driver Online

Private hire taxis to drive for fare deal in greenway protest

PRIVATE hire taxi drivers are to hold a mass rally to protest against rules banning them from the city's greenways and bus lanes. A 30-strong group of drivers have vowed to flout the ban and show their anger by driving along the greenway between Maybury and the West End during rush hour on Tuesday.

The rally, which will start at 9am from the Maybury junction, will mark the start of a campaign which will see all Festival City Car drivers breaking the rules when driving around town on a daily basis.

David Coutts, owner of Festival City Cars with more than 200 private hire cars in his fleet, has told his employees to fight any penalties they get as a result of their actions - and has vowed to back them financially if they are taken to court.

Edinburgh City Council earlier this year ordered a review of the ban, which is due to be put before the council's Executive in the coming months. But Mr Coutts said today that stronger and quicker action needs to be taken.

He said: "Edinburgh is the only city in Scotland that bans private hire taxis from the greenways. By procrastinating about this, they have forced our hand and we have to do something. "We just want to be on an even footing with the black cabs. It seems ludicrous that it can cost £2 or £3 more to take a passenger from the airport into town than if they take a black cab because we get stuck in traffic."

He said he expected the authorities to book his drivers for flouting the law, but added: "At the end of the day, I don't think the police or the council can ignore what we are going to do. "If they do ignore us, it will be clear that they are endorsing our actions and agree with our point of view. This is the start of a long campaign and we hope other private hire companies will join us eventually."

A police spokesman said: "When we have contact with Festival Cabs as to their proposed plans, we will decide what action to take." Festival City Cars has been involved in a long-running battle with the council over whether private hire firms should be allowed to join black cabs and buses in using the city's greenways.

Currently, only black cabs and buses can use the lanes and private hire taxis have to use the ordinary lanes in the same way as private cars. But in Glasgow, where there are more than 2000 private-hire cars operating, they have been allowed to use greenways for almost five years.

Edinburgh's five greenways are on the A8 Glasgow Road from Maybury to Princes Street, Leith Walk, Lothian Road, the A70 Slateford Road from Inglis Green Road to Haymarket and the A71 Calder Road from the bypass to Ardmillan Terrace.

The routes are for buses and taxis only from 7.30am until 6.30pm on weekdays, and from 8.30am to 6.30pm on Saturdays, with the exception of Glasgow Road, which only operates during peak hours.

A council spokeswoman said: "Private Hire vehicles are currently prohibited from greenways when they are operational. "This issue is currently being reviewed and a report is being prepared for the Council Executive."

Tory transport spokesman Councillor Alan Jackson said: "Whilst I can't condone anyone breaking the rules, I do have a certain amount of sympathy for these people. "They are providing a service to the public, and both they and black cabs are public transport, so I think it is high time the council takes a serious look at this and how things could be changed."

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IDFIMH

go go go the boys about time

Is he the chap from Dundee?

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IDFIMH

cant believe ph arent allowed in the bus lanes.
they are down here and no one gives a stuff.
not even my fellow dinosauar cabby boys.

the very same!

i see that they are getting worked up on the old fastblacks site over this issue.

And quite right too!!! We all know there is no such thing as a private hire taxi - it is a contradiction in terms.
Coutts is a stupid asshole if he doesn't realise there is a difference between TAXIS and private hire CARS. It's just another publicity stunt to get his failing business in the paper.
PH never were were meant to be kid-on taxis - they were meant to be a chauffeur drive service. In Scotland, at least, they only grew through exploiting a loophole in the civic code when it replaced the original burgh police act.
If they are not booked for illegally using the "Greenways" then watch the fireworks that will follow!!!!!
Story goes that Paul Ferris is less than impressed. He's trying to keep a low profile and Coutts is doing this. Crazy.

as you may know the local rag always miss quotes things when they go to print wont be the first or the last time thats for sure.
i had a friend who contacted them with information on a stroy they were running (not to do with this issue) and they never printed all the facts he had given them only the bits that they wanted so the readers never got the true facts. papers always print what they think will make a good head line.

i have never said that iam a TAXI but why should joe public pay extra on there fare? and its fact that Joe public see PH as another form of taxi and you cant blame the PH driver for that. i dont tell anyone that iam a taxi as iam not one but a lot of people think we are.

why then do PH do "TAXI CARD" jobs ????? why do we work off TAXI metered fares???? ask CEC for the answers to that one please.

all i want is to get my passanger from A to B asap and if we had greenways acess life we be a wee bit more simple nothing wrong with that is there.

The only loop-hole being exploited is the 'transfer of plate' version, but you never seem to knock that one.

But what you don't realise is that the PH market in your manor would be tiny but for your council restricting taxi numbers.

So there you have the answer, but I bet you don't persue it.

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IDFIMH

As far as I'm aware the Scottish code is largely similar to the English legislation, and to be honest I can't see any loophole, so could you be more specific?

The fact is that the legislation always accomodated the kind of service that you refer to, but factors like restrictions on taxi numbers, the more widespread availability of telephones for the public and two-way radios and more modern equipment for the trade has facilitated this.

Thus it's more about market dynamics than a loophole.

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

However you want to look at it the Ph are feeling their own strength no longer the poor relations in the taxi world, company owners like David Coutts are in business to make money, end of story. The only way to take their companies forward is by wiping out the opposition, or controlling its level of existence. No need for handouts from the council and no privileged existence in a free market. Getting into the Greenways is just the tip of the Iceberg


Time to wake up and smell the coffee boys, your time as the elite Taxi force in Edinburgh is coming to an end.

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

Some might say it's a similar senario as to what's happening in the smoke.

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IDFIMH

The poor wee souls on Fasties are nearly having a coronary. I like their style thought. David Coutts is taking direct action while Jg, Rosss, & Co is running around with the begging bowls out.

Gosh I am impressed.

I bet the Ph and Mr. Coutts are [edited by admin] in their pants.


The end of an era.

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

No, you might suggest thats what the Minicab industry would like to see happening in London, but those of us who work there know its not.

I don’t know what it’s like in London GBC but if London Cabbies are anything like what we have up here you could find yourself in serious trouble.

Have a wee look on fasties, desperate people and all that.

Don’t get me wrong GBC. I would like to see them show some backbone but that would mean confronting the real issue. The C.E.C. controlling their trade.


Instead the begging has already started.

“Please, please don’t let these bad Ph take any more of our work”.

I find myself reaching for the sick bowl

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