Taxi Driver Online

Can I ask for what reasons are some topics locked down?

Probably because most of the posts on certain subjects degenerate into a mind numbingly boring repetitive personal attack by certain members against certain other members dressed up as supposedly clever quotes and silly youtube clips etc etc.
Those of us who do not care for behaviour like this are at last being spared this garbage by an excellent piece of moderation by those in charge of the site.
At last we can maybe return to what this site should be about, taxi chat and information.
For example Les as you are closer than most to those making decisions re taxis in Edinburgh have you any thoughts on the new Waverley Bridge road design?
Notice last night that at the Market Street end that when two buses stop at the bus stops either side of the road NO TRAFFIC can pass Must be great fun during the day as it was interesting at night. Do those who design these layouts have any concept of how to design road layouts???? Is there any input the trade has that may be able to adjust this farce??
Thanks

The City Of Edinburgh Council policy is not to aid or help the flow of the traffic within the city, particularly in the City Centre, their policy is to reduce the traffic and make it a pedestrian friendly area. Hence the widening of the pavements and the strategic placement of bus stops and other measures to slow the traffic down an discourage the public bringing their cars into the City Centre area.

The City of Edinburgh are not reaching their "air pollution" targets within certain areas of the City and are introducing these measures to cut down cars coming into the City Centre.
There are many examples throughout the city where bus stops have been located alongside traffic islands and opposite each other. This is designed to slow the traffic flow down and make it a safer environment for pedestrians.
It is hoped that the recent works on the Waverley Bridge will drastically reduce the numbers of vehicles using this route.

The George Street experiment is another example. This has little to do with the stated Al Fresco Cafe culture trial but more to do with gradually developing more and more of the city into a pedestrian friendly zone.

A few years ago there was the failed City Centre zonal charge scheme where bollards and traffic systems were introduced to discourage car users bringing their vehicles into the City Centre, similar to the London model. This policy was reversed at a very late stage, although many millions of pounds had been spent, after a public backlash at a local council by-election.

The bus stops on the Waverley Bridge are just another example of "natural" traffic flow management to both slow and ultimately discourage drivers using this route. Including taxi drivers. This will obviously effect the thousands of passengers arriving at the Waverley Station looking for a taxi service and their first experience of Edinburgh may not be a positive one. There is no doubt that the congestion in areas surrounding the station will increase putting added pressure on the Mound and North Bridge traffic.


The Tram project was also supposed to help achieve this but as the original plans had to be drastically reduced, due to overspending, the basically "one route" that is operates from and to has had a limited impact in reducing traffic congestion.
In a few years the City Centre will be more or less pedestrianised but on the positive side this may attract even more visitors to our beautiful City contributing to our local economy. Taxi drivers will just have to adapt, as we always have done, come out of their comfort zones and find new routes to get from A to B. Who said life was supposed to be easy.

The real problem for the taxi trade will be when the next Halcrow Unmet Demand survey takes place next year. The Waverley area plays a major part in this survey and whilst the period of time that a passenger waits for a taxi will inevitably increase in these City Centre areas due to the current policy there is a distinct possibility that the report will falsely deduce a lack of taxis to service demand and recommend an increase in plate issue, when in actual fact it is the accessibility during busy periods that is the problem not the lack of taxis.
It is the age old problem. We are expected to appear in sufficient numbers in short bursts and then mysteriously disappear when we are not needed.
Endlessly driving around the city, because of lack of sufficient ranking spaces, incidentally doesn't help with meeting the pollution targets either

I agree that these sites can have a habit of sucking one into negativity and I apologise if my posts or references to what I thought relevant "you tube" sites have offended anyone.
The trade does face a challenging time ahead with the venture capitalists queuing up to suck a sizeable share of any potential profit out of our business and our local economy through operating these remote App systems and the routes through the City Centre getting ever harder to negotiate. Not to mention the imminent 20mph speed limit.

It would be good if these forums could be used in a more positive way, but I doubt it as the reasonable guys who try and achieve this never last long.

For my own sanity this is my final post. Good luck guys.

Never say last post. If you ask the right questions this site can be quite helpful..

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

And which is why I seldom recommend Edinburgh to my clients as Tourist destination, I tell them it's fast becoming a hell on Earth unless your a tree hugging car hating zealot, I now recommend Newcastle..It may not break the Edinburgh Councils Bank account but it's several less people sponsoring their anti car green agenda.

As ever sort the chaff out from the wheat, a saying that applies very much to people.

If you find one Or two that are personal/negative - the one or two who criticise but never have the alternative - the one or two that can only argue by getting personal......then bomb them out by not replying.

We all know who the main one is. That person is slowly being outed as no one above the Scottish site is getting into discussions with him - leaving him very alienated by giving him a conversation bypass.

Stay around, different points of views are always needed.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

Les thanks for your detailed response and hopefully you will continue to post as info like this is very interesting.
My comments were not a direct dig at yourself or anyone else in particular it is just that I value my job and welcome an info exchange re our job in an open forum, as there are many of us who are not part of a radio company and access to this sort of info is not as easy to achieve. Sadly as we all know on certain issues that info exchange has been greatly reduced by incessant personal posts which reduce the effectiveness of this forum, Hopefully things may change for the better soon

This sort of traffic calming doesn't work. People complain but still take their cars, leading to more congestion and more air pollution rather than less.

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

Also on the Waverly bridge issue, they have also added zebra crossings on all exits and approaches to the mini roundabout at the market st junction.
Honestly in the issue of safety pollution etc, seriously how can anything be more ridiculously stupid .
The only sense it makes is as said to fvck everything up.

I assume this is a mis-quote.

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Grandad,

There we are.....sorted.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

This is what I can't understand, they hate cars but like every other town across the UK they're putting pedestrian crossings either before or after traffic islands. This surely hikes emissions up with cars stopping and starting all the time?

The problem with this forum is the low standard of debate due to the poor quality of its contributors. However, it reflects perfectly the mentality of your average taxi driver and your trade as a whole.

When Jon made his contribution to this forum, it was clear from his common sense posts that he could not understand the crass stupidity of people, who would actively seek to work against their own interests. Which is where I came in twenty years ago and nothing has changed right up to today's date.

In short, the taxi trade is full of Cab* niggers who have yet to evolve a mindset in which they believe they deserve better.


Sad but true.

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

Cabby John 1 writes:

I rest my case.

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