gusmac wrote:
toots wrote:
1. No I don't. There are several reasons why ph ply and the main one is lack of work from the system they work from. The other is greed. It matters not if an area is de-restricted this will continue as it does in all the other de-restricted areas. Uninsured ph/out of area taxis still operate in de-restricted areas and with more vehicles on the road they are less likely to be spotted
Greed is the answer and there is no shortage of that in this trade.
That said, large numbers of people looking for a taxi puts temptation in their way. The greater the amount, the larger the temptation.
I agree about enforcement but the fact remains that these people still need to get home. If enforcement were to be 100% effective, they would as a consequence need to wait even longer for a taxi. This is clearly unacceptable and unless you subscribe to the "more buses" scenario, the only legal solution is to increase the number of licensed taxis available.
toots wrote:
2. Again it's not necessarily the case a greater risk other than from an insurance/rip off point of view. It is however extremely stupid to get into a vehicle that is neither licensed nor it's driver licensed by any authority. That is the genuine risk and it's my belief that it's not prevented in a de-restricted area as it continues happen in these areas. Good enforcement will help prevent some of this. As will education of the public with regard to the danger of getting into a vehicle that's not licensed
Yet the risk must be greater - even in a PH.
Did not CEC recently deem someone unfit to hold a taxi driver's licence but fit to hold on to a PH driver's licence?
They must have a lower criteria for PH drivers or why else make such a strange determination?
There are lots of problems within this trade and there is more than one reason and more than one solution. I've worked within restricted and de-restricted times here. Private hire pirate now even tho we are de-restricted as they did when we were restricted. I have noticed that ph don't pirate quite so much when the systems are busy. I've also noticed that there isn't enough rank space for all the taxis now that we are de-restricted, forcing them to form illegal ranks in various places. Although there is an abundance of taxis and ph here people still try to get into non licensed vehicles, Ph will continue to grow in de-restricted areas as it does in restricted areas. We have the same criteria for a drivers license here for both taxis and ph, the only difference is the vehicle they drive and even with that in place ph continue to grow. I have no understanding as to why a council would consider somebody unfit to be a taxi driver but fit to be a ph driver at all, I'm baffled and I think it's stupid.
De-restriction works in areas of high employability where lots of people have lots of skills and are able to find various employment. However in large cities and towns were there is a higher level of unskilled people it is not such a good idea. The best scenario is managed growth, no abiliy to sell plates under any circumstances, a fair system to obtaining a plate when they become available and no transfers to other people allowed either. The loophole that gives people an unfair advantage to obtaining a plate over somebody else should be closed permantly.
I'm neither in favour nor against more buses. We have night buses here for those that can't afford or don't want to pay for taxi/ph. With 1000+ ph, a few hundred taxis and buses people will still get into unlicensed vehicles, why? Partly because there is no enforcement and partly because they are so drunk they can't think and because for a few minutes of their life there wasn't a readily available taxi/ph/bus.
I don't claim to have the solution to everybodies problems I just have a different opinion
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