Taxi Driver Online

Cannot remember where it was ,but noticed PH,had a notice on
the side of the cab,saying that only pre-booked customers were allowed to be carried in the vehicle,and if not,the customer,was not insured.
Thought this was a good idea.

Aren't all the arguments about plating PHV's just nonsense, a distracting side issue to the real one.

Why do we need two licensing systems. It just adds to confusion. The old days where private hire licences were intended to be for chauffeur driven hires, ie limousines, wedding and funerals etc. have long since gone. For the main part, aren't they just operating in the same way as taxis do, except they don't pick up from the street (At least they're not supposed to)?

And, aren't the traditional taxi services also mainly operating like private hire, contributing to the problems of customers having difficulty hailing from the street at peak times, infuriated by seeing empty taxis passing them by hurrying to fulfill a private hire?

This is crazy.

Wouldn't the OFT have served us better, and our customers, by resolving this dilemma?

Why not a single tier public carriage service coupled with flexibility of vehicle types to cover all licensed hire requirements?

Easy for the regulating licensing authorities, easier for those who work within the industry and much easier for the public to understand, possibly even encouraging greater use of our service, which we all want.

And, also much safer for everyone involved.

The current system suffers from the classic british disease of being designed by a committee.

Isn't it time for common sense to prevail?????



Jimbo

Get rid of quotas. Possibly.

Compare taxi licensing with pub licensing.

In the case of pubs, the LA issues the license then substantially leaves the licensed trade to deliver the service to customers. And they stand or fall on the quality of that service.

With taxis however, the LAs issue licences, then proceed to act as if they own the taxi fleet.

They set prices.
They police the trade to the point of harrassment.
They set up disciplinary procedures that make the Spanish Inquisition look like a cheap gameshow.
They limit the number of licences.
They tell cabbies what they should wear to work.
They dictate the maximum age that a vehicle should be used.
They dictate that cabbies should attend a training course of their design (brown envelopes to their pals?).

Can you imagine the licensed trade allowing them to get away with all this nonsense, and more?

We need standards, yes. But the way that LAs are currently behaving is outrageous. They don't make the investment in the trade. Self-employed owners and drivers do. The council doesn't employ these people. They don't provide NI, SSP, pension, holidays or any of the other benefits associated with employment. So why should they "run" the trade as if they owned it?

Isn't it time for them to butt out and let those who deliver the service design how it is delivered?

Jimbo

The system in Edinburgh works. If private hire drivers want to be taxi drivers let the put in the time and effort to sit The Knowledge and not by slipping in through the back door.
As Kenny MacAskill said in his article in the Evening News "If it ain`t broke , don`t fix it".

I don`t agree. Taxi numbers should be limited and councils should not issue licences willy nilly. However I do believe they should only be given to qualified taxi drivers.
In Edinburgh black taxis can only be driven by qualified drivers. PHCs can be driven by anyone with a driving licence and with minimal vetting. That is not to say that most Edinburgh PHC drivers are unprofessional or crooked but they are not black cab drivers.

De-regulation!!!!? Don`t make me laugh!!!! In 2001 there were 233 sexual assaults in unregistered "cabs" in the de-regulated City of London. De-regulation means handing the system over to perverts and cowboys. Lets have MORE regulation so that only serious,reliable and professional taxi drivers are driving our citizens around our towns and cities!

Exactly! London has started dealing with cowboys and perverts by regulating. The way to get a good taxi system is to put in place legislation to get rid of these types and attract professional,"checked"drivers to drive your taxis.

Some on this site seem to want a free for all which would no doubt bring in profit to the cowboys but would be detrimental to the overall taxi system and its passengers. Are all you taxi and cab drivers really so blind to all the money launderers and drug dealers who blight the business? Or do you just turn a blind eye?

Somewhere else on this site someone talks of charging below the councils metered price. Sounds good until you realise that anyone laundering money does not need to make a legitimate profit on a taxi business. But in the course of giving the customer cheap fares the legit drivers are forced out of business. It happened in Dublin and has happened for years in Glasgow and Paisley>(Renfrewshire contributor must know this).