Taxi Driver Online

TAXI NEED SURVEY CAN BE USED IN EVIDENCE

A Plymouth cab firm has failed in its legal bid to stop the city council deploying controversial new evidence in an impending case concerning its failure to grant new licences.

The case reached London's High Court on Friday as lawyers for Key Cabs Ltd, trading as Taxifast, asked Mr Justice McCombe to rule out new evidence in the form of a council survey into the public need for taxis.

Andrew Findlay, for the council, said the survey indicated no significant 'unmet demand' for more licences. The survey evidence is relied on by the council in separate proceedings before Plymouth Crown Court, in which Key Cabs is appealing over the withholding of new hackney carriage licences.

The case is due to be heard next month, but the evidential issue reached the High Court as lawyers sought to overturn the Crown court judge's decision to admit the survey evidence. Mr Justice McCombe rejected Key Cabs' application, saying it was 'impossible to say that the decision was erroneous''.

Lawyers claimed the case was already bedevilled by delay, which they blamed on the council's alleged failure to resolve the issue despite having ample time to assemble all its evidence. In those circumstances the survey material should have been excluded, argued Hugh Newman QC, for Key Cabs. Mr Justice McCombe said the protracted delay was 'not ideal', but did not constitute grounds for barring the new evidence.

The legal dispute stems from Key Cabs' grievance over the council capping the number of licences at 359. In May 2003 the firm applied for 30 additional licences, but the city council failed to decide the issue, prompting Key Cabs' appeal to the Crown Court. Mr Newman said delays had stirred a deep sense of frustration among city cab firms.

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IDFIMH

It is unfortunate for Mr Preece that the court allowed the survey into evidence because it is the council who wilfully withheld making a decision on the original license application in 2003. For them to now benefit from not carrying out their statutory duty is perhaps morally wrong but not legally wrong.

Unless there is a further appeal against this latest decision the application will probably rest on two actions. Action one as we all know will be by way of appeal in the crown court, should that fail? Action two will no doubt be by way of judicial review in challenging the original decision of Plymouth council to refuse the licenses in 2003/4 when they were not in possession of recent evidence of unmet demand.

We shall have to see what transpires but I have a feeling it could well be next year before this case is resolved.

Regards

JD

rumour has it that since the council went public with their shame survey result, the plate prices have gone up to £30K nearly 500 HC drivers driving 359 cabs.

Even the DfT say that plate high plate values is evidence of SUD.

I wonder if Halcrow recommended, as they did in Nottingham, that plate premiums should mean no HC fare rises?

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IDFIMH

http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z2591209B

CITY CAB LIMIT IN QUESTION
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WILLIAM TELFORD

12:00 - 06 August 2005
Plymouth City Council is one of only a handful of local authorities going against Government advice and limiting the number of black cabs. The Department of Transport and the Office of Fair Trading both recommend 'quantity controls' on taxi numbers be lifted - to benefit the consumer.

But new figures show the city council is now one of only 30 per cent of local authorities still employing controls.

Transport portfolio holder Councillor Sue Dann today said the council was sticking with its 359 black cab limit.

She highlighted the cabinet's decision in May to keep the status quo, after a council survey showed there was no significant demand for extra hackney carriages.

Cllr Dann denied the cap was in place to protect the council-owned bus firm Citybus from competition - but the council was keen to preserve a mix of transport providers and wanted to encourage 'bus patronage'.

In some other cities bus firms have suffered in competition with deregulated black cabs, but also with well-run private-hire firms, an industry insider said. But in others buses had been unaffected.

Cllr Dann stressed: "The council took the decision to do what's best for Plymouth. This is nothing to do with buses."

But she added: "We have to have a mixture of transport providers across the city. We have to make sure we have the balance right.

"We want to encourage bus patronage. It's cheap and accessible and takes vehicles off the road.

"But that doesn't mean we are working with bus companies in preference to taxi companies."

She stressed bus firms, including Citybus, were not in 'direct competition' with taxis, and offered different fares and targeted a different market and usage.

She said the capping decision was under constant review and a new survey would be carried out every three years.

In November 2003, an OFT report recommended 'quantity controls' be scrapped by councils 'so that taxi supply was free to increase to provide consumers with more choice'.

In response, the Government said controls should only stay where a 'specific case' can be made that they benefit consumers.

In May last year, the Department of Transport asked councils to review their policies. The OFT said, that month, half the UK's licensing authorities had a cap - but today this has dropped to 30 per cent.

It said a 'large number' of authorities are reviewing current controls.

OFT's Daniel Gordon said: "We have estimated that when quality controls are removed the number of taxis on the street can go up by as much as 30 per cent - this is good news for the consumers.

"We are pleased our report has led to these restrictions being lifted, as many consumers will now have the benefit of more taxis and lower waiting times."

John Preece, boss of Taxifast, is fighting a legal battle against the council because he wants 30 black cab licences. He said: "The reason they are objecting to 30 plates is to protect Citybus."

Bryan Roland, of the National Private Hire Association, and editor of industry paper Private Hire and Taxi Monthly, said market forces should decide transport policy. He said Plymouth's population, university and nightspots had grown since 1992 - but the black cab cap had remained.

Private hire vehicles had increased from 180 to 736 in the same period. Mr Roland said: "The bus services are going down, black taxis are at a standstill, but demand for private hire has gone through the roof."

.

Eh? Has Mr Roland completely changed his mind in PHM as well, or is his Plymouth quote just for another audience?




So is the article saying that the figures are as follows:

1992
Taxis 359 PH 180

2005
Taxis 359 PH 736

Makes the PH growth in Edinburgh seem positively anaemic, at least as compared to the black cab side.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Oh that's f***ing nice.

The stupid cow wants to keep taxi quotas to help out the bus people.

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IDFIMH

obviously if she had supported your view point, you would have nothing but good things to say about her - well done Plymouth for not bowing down to these people who are determined to ruin our trade.

Don't you see the utter stupidity of a policy that means no more taxi plates, but has led to nearly 600 extra PH plates.

All that proves is that restricting taxi numbers has nothing whatsoever to do with demand or service, and everything to do with saving plate premiums.

All that said, I'm quite pleased Plymouth Council are so stupid, because they have come up against someone that's up for a ruck. And that could help many good folk that can't even spell Plymouth.

_________________
IDFIMH

well, todays news article seems like the taxis are winning the "war":

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G1CD2129B

CITY COMMUTERS ARE OFF THE BUSES
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NICK LESTER

12:00 - 08 August 2005
Bus use in Plymouth has plummeted by nearly three million journeys in the last five years according to official figures. The number of passenger journeys fell dramatically during the period from 21.4 million in 2000/01 to 18.7 million last year - a drop of 12.6 per cent.

The figures pose a major challenge for the Labour-run city council which has put buses at the heart of plans to meet the future transport needs of Plymouth, which seek to encourage more people out of their cars and to use public transport as part of a drive to tackle increasing congestion and pollution.

Getting more people onto buses is also one of a number of tough targets set by the council, and agreed with government, which could net the city millions of pounds in extra cash if met.

The dramatic decline in bus use in recent years has been put down to a number of reasons including the loss of concessionary fares for schools - scrapped as part of budget cuts under the former Conservative administration - which has had a 'significant' impact according to a council report.

Other factors highlighted include the growing cost gap between public transport and private motoring, rising car ownership, and the lack of integration between bus fares and car parking charges.

The report points out it is cheaper to park at Western Approach than it is to travel from Milehouse Park and Ride.

The local authority has also come under fire recently following the scrapping of a number of bus services by the council-owned Citybus, at the very time it is encouraging people to use public transport.

Labour transport chiefs acknowledge the decline in bus usage presents a challenge, but points out steps are being taken to tackle this.

Cabinet member for transport Cllr Sue Dann said: "We are aware that passenger numbers have been decreasing and we know that we have a challenge ahead, but we are addressing that challenge now as well as having more ideas for the future.

"We are currently increasing park and ride facilities out on the A386, we are putting in more bus priority lanes on major transport corridors in the city to speed up our bus journeys, and making sure we have got a much easier, more user-friendly ticketing system.

"At the same time we are working with the bus companies to make sure we can provide a reliable, quality bus service.

"That's happening now, and in the future we will be addressing the whole issue of public transport in greater detail."

Cllr Dann added: "We currently subsidise bus services up to £437,000 to make sure we try to address the issues of accessibility across the city, especially for those who may have a mobility problem, the elderly, or those without a car.

"What we intend to do is look at how we spend this money to improve the services we currently provide for those most in need.

"It's easy to constantly criticise public transport in the city, but unlike the Tory opposition, the current Labour council is tackling the problem."

The Conservative opposition however say the dramatic decline in bus use highlights Labour's 'failed' transport policy.

Conservative shadow transport spokesman Cllr Kevin Wigens said: "The figures showing the sharp decline in bus use highlight Labour's failed transport policy.

"The reality is in a city of this size and importance we should be thinking big and pursue our policy of introducing light rail and tram systems to encourage people to use public transport. This is what other cities have done or are doing, yet all we see from this Labour administration is a reliance on the bus, and it's quite apparent it's not working.

"It's also vital that public transport improvements are put in place before any more anti-car measures such as parking charge hikes are introduced."

......................................

they forgot that its often cheaper for 4 passengers to share a PH car in to town than it is for the same 4 to get a bus.
plus we come to their door and drop them exactly where they want to got quicker, cheaper, and safer. and they wonder why the buses are losing passengers.

If you offer folks a good service at a reasonable price, then why on earth would they want to mix with the riff raff commonly found on buses?

The only good thing about buses is that they take the sh** we don't want.

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IDFIMH

i thought thats why we had HC?

another news article from the local rag:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y21A42D9B

FEWER CABS IS BETTER FOR CLIENTS
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12:00 - 15 August 2005
We write in response to the article in the Herald on August 6 entitled 'City cab limit in question' and address each statement made in turn. A Government Response and Select Committee on Transport stated, "The OFT report manifestly does not contain the evidence required to support its own proposal for legislative change", and "The Government believes that local authorities should be given the opportunity to assess their own needs, in the light of the OFT findings, rather than moving to a legislative solution", while the House of Commons Transport Committee also said of the OFT report: "Its statistical and survey evidence are flawed and it fails to consider the relationship between the taxi and private hire markets".

I would hardly term this full-hearted agreement; what they are saying is that decisions should be justifiable, with which the taxi trade fully agrees.

The consumer benefits from limited numbers because there is reinvestment in newer vehicles, better maintenance and more vehicles available, as they are better utilised, with two drivers covering longer hours.

The consumer receives a poorer service from derestricted licences because there is less income per proprietor/driver, leading to less reinvestment and poorer maintenance, a part-time fleet at peak hours only, part-time drivers and a lack of professionalism and commitment to the taxi trade.

Taxis can provide bus routes, but on a large scale would require an office to co-ordinate the services provided. Unfortunately there is no primary legislation enabling this.

The taxi trade is against three-yearly surveys and is attempting to persuade central and local government to conduct five-yearly surveys, on the grounds that it generally takes five years to purchase a new or good-quality vehicle, the Local Transport Plans are on a five-yearly cycle and the costs of the surveys are borne by the licensees.

Plymouth City Council has reviewed current controls and will no doubt have justified its reasoning to the Department for Transport.

We do find it strange that Mr Preece wants 30 taxi vehicle licences, as he previously had nine but sold them shortly after he discovered he could not control taxis in the same manner as private hire, and so changed from a taxi to a private hire operator. There are, it is believed, 200-plus applicants in front of Mr Preece and, as the Crown Court and Plymouth City Council are fully aware through legal precedent, all applicants have to be treated equally. Where would the Plymothians like the additional 230 taxis to park - on the Barbican? Mutley Plain? Derry's Cross?

Bryan Roland is a very knowledgeable person on private hire and taxis, but is not fully aware of the numbers of Plymouth vehicles. Over the past 30 years they show a different story. In 1975 there were 90 taxis and 500 minicabs; in 1976, 100 taxis and 400-plus private hire; in 1985, 181 and 285 respectively; in 1990, 337 and 274; in 2003, 359 and 848; and in 2005, 359 taxis and 736 private hire vehicles.

Bryan states that market forces should decide transport policy. In my opinion, it does not work. This week I took a young lady from Raleigh Street to Springfield Road because her bus had not turned up. Should the bus companies be made to purchase 100 buses and employ 200 drivers? I had to wait five minutes in the Civic Centre; should the electorate make Plymouth City Council employ 200 more staff? The real world does not work like this, so why should the taxi trade be any different?

Plymouth is changing; the population has decreased slightly, service and dockyard personnel have been drastically reduced.

Taxi use has changed, with the summer period being the quiet time of the year. It is this writer's opinion that taxi offices and ranks provide for an increasingly niche market served by mandatory vehicles and a lack of enforcement that enable the private hire trade to take our traditional markets, including more than 50 per cent of wheelchair users.

RW HAMILTON

Secretary, Plymouth Licensed Taxis Association

I bet you a pound to a penny they haven't.

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IDFIMH

It hardly surprises me that people like Mr Hamilton have distinct problems with the facts.

What the Government actually said was this.

The Government agree that consumers should enjoy the benefits of competition in the taxi market and considers that it is detrimental to those seeking entry to a market if it is restricted. The Government are therefore strongly encouraging all those local authorities who still maintain quantity restrictions to remove restrictions as soon as possible. Restrictions should be retained only if there is a strong justification that removal of the restrictions would lead to significant consumer detriment as a result of local conditions.

However, the Government received a significant number of representations expressing the view that ultimately local authorities remain best placed to determine local transport needs and to make the decisions about them in the light of local circumstances. The Government believe that local authorities should be given the opportunity to assess their own needs, in the light of the OFT findings, rather than moving to a legislative solution.

Nevertheless the Government believe that local authorities should publish and justify their reasons for restricting the number of taxi licences issued. The Government will therefore write shortly to each district/borough council or unitary authority maintaining quantity restrictions and ask them to review by 31 March 2005 the local case for such restrictions, and at least every three years thereafter, and make their conclusions available to the public.



I don't care to comment on what constitutes full-hearted agreement but if Mr Hamilton wishes to avail himself of the facts he need only read TDO.

I notice Mr Hamilton is in complete agreement with the Government when they asked councils to justify their decision when limiting numbers but as we all know at this moment in time not one of the 50 plus restricted councils has so far issued any public justification whatsoever.

Regards

JD