TDO wrote:
JD wrote:
The main concern is one of public safety," said Mr Chandler. "There is a limit on the number of licences issued because surveys show there are sufficient taxis in Newcastle and North Tyneside."
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Well that's bullocks if the cars are only doing PH work.
The crux of the issue is probably how do Berwick HC entry requirments compare to Newcastle PH requirements?
I'm obviously a thousand miles behind everyone else on this subject but I feel obliged to put in a pen'orth or two. It seems Newcastle City seeks to attain the opposite of what the Government seeks to attain, namely cheaper fares and better vehicles by allowing more competition.
(From the Web @::
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/taxi ... erepor3782 Quote:
Presented to Parliament by the
Secretary of State for Transport
by Command of Her Majesty
May 2004
THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE’S REPORT ON THE REGULATION OF TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE SERVICES IN THE UK INTRODUCTION
1. The Government welcomes the interest that the Committee has shown in taking evidence and producing two reports on the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)’s study into the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles in the UK.
2. The Government believes that where markets operate effectively competition can be expected to provide strong incentives for good performance –
encouraging firms to improve productivity, to reduce prices and to innovate; whilst rewarding consumers with lower prices, higher quality, and wider choice.The OFT has been empowered to advise where laws and regulations may be preventing markets from operating in the interests of consumers. The Government strongly supports the role of the OFT in conducting analyses of this kind.
3. The Government considers that taxis and private hire vehicles are an integral part of local transport.
The Government also considers that it is detrimental to those seeking entry to a market (in this case would-be taxi licence holders) if it is restricted without justification that is apparent to all. Consumers should therefore enjoy the benefits of competition in the taxi and private hire markets.
END EXTRACT.)
Response:
I confess to knowing little about this so I won't comment on the interaction between the forum members. We are all entitled to a view on everything but......!
For the above extracts to be meaningful they do depend on certain anomalies being excluded from the equations.
1)
encouraging firms to improve productivity, to reduce prices and to innovate; whilst rewarding consumers with lower prices, higher quality, and wider choice.
1a) Improve the productivity? How? Yep, drive faster. Oops, speeding, speeding, speeding .. driving ban? Accident? Death? Cool, this paves the way for an unrestricted service for sure. the more dead the better!
1b) "...whilst rewarding consumers with lower prices..." Lower Prices? okay, this means longer hours then. Longer hours = less sleep = more chance of falling asleep = more chance of having an accident = more chance of death = cool, this paves the way for an unrestricted service for sure. Unless, I missed the bit that says you will get some money from the Government to pay your bills? Missed that so I have?
2)
The Government also considers that it is detrimental to those seeking entry to a market (in this case would-be taxi licence holders) if it is restricted without justification that is apparent to all. Consumers should therefore enjoy the benefits of competition in the taxi and private hire markets.
2a) I am old I readily admit, but I want to get older, I don't want to be picked up by a driver so near to sleep that I run the risk of dying or being damaged thank you.
AND..., are the benefits of competition so great when it is driver-v-driver trying to stay awake and work longer because he or she has to pay a bill that was budgeted for at the appropriate rate?? I, for one, believe not.
So, my humble input to this debate is that safety is a, possibly the, major issue. Longer hours because of cheaper fares increase the risk of accident to driver and passenger (you have to match, at least, income to expenditure in order to exist). Cheaper fares can only be acceptable in the framework of a cheaper cost of living. Giving the increases in my area I don't believe any argument re cheaper living costs can be sustained by anyone.
So, Newcastle and North Tyneside, go for it and find a form of words worthy of Dan Smith and justify Restrictive Numbers on the Grounds of good old safety.
And, for Berwick upon Tweed, surely a town such as your self should only licence to suit the needs of the town. Think lives, Think safety. Think families trying to make ends meet put at risk by your thoughtless lack of policy.
I think we've been here before and it is only in recent years that lots of areas have allowed a rate for drivers to afford better vehicles with higher safety standards while maintaining some standards of living for his or her family, forward is the way to go, not back!