Taxi Driver Online

allo allo, how dare you come onto this website with a theory which hasnt been previously approved.

dont agree with you....but will defend your right to say it.

GOOD ITS NICE TO SEE A SCAB DRIVER KNICKED

I'm not going to be drawn into playing your "answer all my questions in detail or I'll belittle what you've said" game. Plated vehicle prices would find their own level



To be quite frank looking at your proposals it would seem you don't have any answers, never mind "all"?

This is simply personal abuse, which I shall ignore.



I thought you said numbers were to be decided by local authorities so how can you say if they will be large or small? What criteria have you in mind to ensure numbers are large?

If you refer to my previous posts you would see that I propose a 1-tier system, the numbers in it would be set by the LA with reference to current HC & PHV numbers. This would mean that in the vast majority of cases the numbers of Taxis would be equal or similar to the combined current HC and PHV fleets and would therefore be "large" in relation to solely HC numbers



You mean most cab drivers would have their own taxi from the limited supply that is available? So what happens to those that don't have their own cab?

See above and as I already said those who don't own their own vehicles would be able to rent from owners, but as there would be so many owners , this would keep rents down to reasonable levels.



So you don't know how many cabs are to be licensed by each authority yet you offer up an opinion that they won't attract a huge premium?

See above and refer to basic economic theory.

At the moment your authority is unrestricted and there is no value on a plate yet when it becomes restricted it will instantly obtain a value. So to what number should your local authority restrict Taxis?

Probably in the region of 400 for a town of 100,000 and growing, ( plus the Gatwick cabs at about 200)



Not could, you are most certainly wrong.

Each to their own opinion



We are all under the impression you want to reduce plated vehicles in order that you can make a decent living, so where do these increased vehicles fit into the equation? Under your scheme would there be more, or less vehicles?

See my answers above





I am sorry to burst your bubble but the basic economic theory which you trumpet but can't explain is just pie in the sky. I said there was evidence to the contrary yet you make a rather childish statement about economic theory as though you know what you are talking about? You only have to look at Liverpool as an example to realise that your notion about plate premiums is as empty as your proposed blue print for change.

Liverpool went from having 300 vehicles to over 1400 and the plate premium is 50 grand. Manchester went from having 450 cabs to over a thousand and the plate premium is 50 grand. So before you start spouting off about economics in relation to the number of vehicles it might be wise if you did your homework?

Try drawing a supply and demand curve for these rather large cities and basic economic theory will tell you that demand for taxis exceeds supply by a considerable margin therefore plates will attract a significant premium. It's really so simple even a child could understand it.



I thought you said there would be a one tier system? Where have these private hire vehicles come from?

See above about how an LA would calculate Taxi numbers.



How can they run their own Taxi if you intend reducing supply to a level where in your opinion a person can make a decent living without working 75 hours a week? How many cabs do you intend to take off the road to meet your requirement of a decent living?

You make too many assumptions on my behalf. I am simply stating a desire on my part to allow drivers to earn a living and see their families. As I said before I do not have all the answers, what I am trying to do is outline what I believe to be a workable framework for the Taxi Industry which will allow ALL participants to benefit.



Who gets to choose the initial entrants and what makes you think you would be successful?

Initial entrants would most likely be current HC and PHV drivers. If there was an excess of drivers then either Grandfather Rights or a Ballot would be used to decide initial allocations. To be decided locally.





lol I hope you are not suggesting that I read the same book that is responsible for your evaluation of the future of the Taxi trade?

Anything that teaches you about simple supply and demand theory would do.



You need to try to see things from a wider perspective, all the relevant questions have been answered above.



If you don't have answers to the questions being asked of your preferred system, then I suggest you go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Perhaps you should consider leaving the future of the taxi trade to the meeting of minds think tank but on second thoughts it would appear they don't have any answers either.

Ah, no one has the answers except JD??





Obviously the general concensus is that your vision is a little obscured?

I hope to have answered a few of your questions so that that you can now see the way to my land of hope and glory taxis with no sick or violent punters and huge tips???? So maybe I can lead you into the promised land????

JD

But if you had a very small supply the LA could easily bring supply and demand into equilibrium merely by raising prices, and this would in turn inflate premiums, so that doesn't concur with your theory.

MY idea is that the new taxis would likely be equivalent of the total number of current HC and PHV. There would be so many that plates could only attract a small premium if any

Anyway, if in effect what you're saying is that restricting the numbers doesn't make much difference then doesn't that defeat the purpose of what you're proposing?

No, the restriction would have a purpose as no new entrants could dilute earning potential. But the restriction would include all the telephone work currently undertaken by both PHV and HC but not surveyed or assessed in any way and would have the effect of levelling the playing field between current PHV and HC.

And you claim that very few drivers would be excluded. But if you look 20 years down the line and most of the current drivers have left the trade then the new kids on the block would either be renting or would have to buy a plate?

And if currently most cars are singled then the trade could easily double the amount of drivers in the trade, so you could in effect double the amount of cars on the road without releasing any more plates.

That, you clever person, is the achilles heel in my plan!
I had though of limiting badges as well as plates but as this is all only a theoretical discussion I felt it was a bit over the top.

So how does that help any driver who wants to remain an owner driver, and how does that square with your claim that supply and demand would be in equilibrium?

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So if you're limiting badges to a specified number then why bother limiting vehicle numbers?

Here's a better idea - why not limit badge numbers by quality control, and let vehicle numbers find their own level?

Here's a better idea - why not limit badge numbers by quality control, and let vehicle numbers find their own level?

To some extent a passenger can be part of the problem in todays 2-tier system. They just want to get home/to work/out/in/wherever.
But you are absolutely correct, a PHV driver shouldn't take an unbooked pax.
He should give the pax a card with the number on it and tell him to phone the office while he waits in the pouring rain beside the Licensed and Legal PHV. 30 seconds later a Booking will come through and the ( now soaking ) pax can legally get in and be taken to his destination.

Try drawing a supply and demand curve for these rather large cities and basic economic theory will tell you that demand for taxis exceeds supply by a considerable margin therefore plates will attract a significant premium. It's really so simple even a child could understand it. My suggestion is that Taxi numbers would be heavily influenced by current total HC & PHV numbers

TDO. for your information.. just to fill in a few gaps, when they started issuing licences in Liverpool there were more private hire than Hackney's, Remember their were only 300 Hackney's, and if I Remember rightly part of the condition of issue was that the driver had to of held a hackney or private hire Licence for at least two years, a great many plates went to private hire drivers, and the private hire fleets shrunk, but they have grown back.

This is economic theory at work in the real world, JD.

My proposed limit would stop a growth in PHV and allow drivers to benefit from their own efforts.

Wherein lies the economic theory attached to putting a cap on numbers, in order to restrict a commodity or market? lol

Perhaps Alistair Darling could use you in his latest think tank on economic growth? Allo Allo has a great idea, lets put a cap on everything so some can make a decent living at the expense of others? Great idea.

JD