Taxi Driver Online

Due to Oxford cab drivers being on less than the minimum wage the council has agreed to increase the fare tariff.
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UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Oxfordshire

January 16, 2008 Wednesday

Cab fares to rise by 8%

Oxford Mail

People using black cabs in Oxford face an eight per cent fare increase next month.

The rise - which would roughly put an extra 30p on a £4 journey - has been blamed on rising fuel costs.

Today, Hackney cab drivers tabled their annual fare increase in front of city licensing chiefs, who approved the 8.43 per cent hike.

By comparison, last year's increase was 1.2 per cent - or an extra 10p on an average journey.

It is expected that private hire firms will follow suit and pass on a similar increases.

Alan Woodward, general secretary of the City of Oxford Licenced Taxicab Association, said: "It's because of fuel costs, but if you look at train operators they have increased their fares by 14 per cent.

"Passengers will notice a difference, but we still represent good value for money."

There are 107 Hackney cabs and 366 private hire taxis in the city. A 21-day consultation period will take place before the rise is passed.

Meanwhile, taxi de-restriction in the city is still a possibility after it was revealed that some Hackney cab licence holders were earning more than £50,000 by selling their plates on.

De-restriction would allow people to drive their own taxi rather than rent one off a licence holder.

Andrew Davies, who sat on a panel that reviewed Hackney carriage licences, said: "The group is concerned the city council is inadvertently facilitating a trade in Hackney carriage licences."

Oxford City Council, which regulates the number of Hackney cabs on the roads, is undecided on the matter and will vote on the issue later in the year.

De-restriction would also allow Ted Maxwell - son of the late business tycoon and former Oxford United Football Club chairman Robert Maxwell - to get his rickshaw business off the ground.

At the moment Mr Maxwell, an Oxford University undergraduate, cannot ply for trade on the city streets because he does not have a licence.

With a strict limit on the number of Hackney cabs in the city, the majority of cabbies in Oxford are opposed to de-restriction, with some regarding a licence plate as their pension fund.

However, Oxford cabbie Faz Choudry said: "I think de-restriction would benefit the general public.

"At the moment there are shortages of taxis at certain times. This would hopefully get rid of unscrupulous taxis and enable people like me to buy their own cab.

"Other towns have made a success of it."
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Well you know what the answer to that is then?

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IDFIMH

Sorry I have forgotten, Can you remind us again.

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Grandad,

no JD he doesn't say anything about the minimum wage, its to do with the fuel or maybe up thier you use good old red diesel

It was me who highlighted the plight of Oxford cabbies being on LESS than the mimimum wage, "According to Mr Woodward that is". He did say that didn't he? Or was it someone else?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headline ... cences.php

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Yes I thought so but how about this. You can see the plate number in that pic as clearly being plate 107, well to most that pic will seem somewhat innocuous and meaningless and rightly so but it means an awful lot more to me.

Plate 107 is the "one" free plate issued under the terms of the last survey conducted by Transport Planning International. The plate was drawn out of a hat and went to a person who had recently transferred his own hackney license to a member of his family. In 2006 Plate 79 was owned by Abdul "RAZAQ" Chaudrey, considering there are no other Razaq's registered as proprietors in Oxford I assume Mohammed Razaq transferred this vehicle to Abdul Razaq .

Fortunately for Mr Razaq he hit the 85 grand jackpot when his name was drawn out of the hat? If the criteria for the one license application stipulated that existing license holders could not apply for the ballot, then one could understand why in the last 18 months all these were suddenly transferred to other family members or sold? Councillor Hussain transferred his plate to a Mr Mohamed Shahzad, 187ums transferred his, likewise Mr Razaq? I wonder how many more?

The point is, that the picture doesn't tell the full story unless you know most of the facts. I hope I have put a little more colour into the innocuous picture and instead of it being just an ordinary photograph it is now a masterpiece? lol

What I can't understand is why only 75 people applied for this one license, which even before it was issued was worth 85 grand or more on the scarcity market? There must be around 600 hackney carriage and private hire drivers in Oxford, yet only 75 applied for an instant windfall of 85 grand.

Now consider this, if for a moment we forget about the Oxford cab trade and concentrate on the ordinary members of the Oxford public and all those drivers and owners in the county of Oxfordshire and surrounding areas, I find myself asking the question, "Were any of these people aware of this ballot and if so did they really understand what was on offer? I would say not because if they did, then there would have been a dam sight more than 75 applications for the license.

Here’s what the recent Oxford report said.

People are invited to submit their names for entry into a draw for the new plates. Entry is dependent on meeting certain criteria agreed by the General Purposes Licensing Committee. According to the Taxi Licensing Office, there were 75 people in the draw for the latest plate available. The person chosen from the “hat” already had an immediate member of his family in possession of a license that had been transferred to them from the new license holder. This was also the case for two of the people selected in 2003. The review group was surprised and disappointed that this has happened.

The review group recommends that anyone who has previously held or currently holds a hackney carriage licence, either as the sole or joint proprietor should not be eligible for a new or additional plate. This is to allow those drivers who have never owned a plate the chance to licence their own vehicle.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.