Taxi Driver Online

Cab marshalling scheme axed

A taxi marshal scheme aimed at reducing booze-fuelled trouble among late night revellers waiting to get home from Walsall town centre is to be scrapped.

The marshals who help co-ordinate people into taxis on Friday and Saturday nights will be axed by Walsall Council in the next two months.

The scheme, originally piloted last year, has proved popular but is being abandoned by council chiefs to claw back cash. It operates at taxi ranks involving black cabs or Hackney carriages in Lichfield Street and Bradford Place on Friday and Saturday nights.

Extra nights were added over the Christmas period to help people enjoying a night on the town to get back to their homes as safely and quickly as possible. It runs from 12.30am until 3.15am in Lichfield Street and from 3.30am to 5.30am in Bradford Place.

Violence was reduced according to a report into the scheme’s trial last year, while it also emerged that, because of the scheme, Hackney cab drivers were now less likely to overcharge their passengers or refuse to take them short distances. Councillor Rachel Walker, of Walsall Council’s decision-making cabinet, said: “Although the scheme has been well received we have not been able to identify permanent funding for the scheme beyond March.

“At a time of budget pressures we now have to make some tough choices and if the choice is between a home help and a scheme to help people home after a night out then I’m afraid that we must favour the home help.”

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I wish they would scrap the scheme in Romford too. Waste of time all it does is hold up the queue

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There's no excuse for animal abuse. If you ain't vegan you are an animal abuser.

Well if they want to send, and pay for, those marshall elsewhere I'm sure they will be most welcomed.

To me taxi marshaling is a big plus where ever it operates, and it's just a shame money can't be found to have it everywhere it's wanted by the trade.

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IDFIMH

Why dont the drivers pay the marshals, depending on how many cabs there are, £2 a night or weekend from each of them should cover there wage.

They are being used as a cheap form of policing here - they have got them directing traffic and moving Taxi drivers on from various points in the City. and lo and behold one was even telling general members of the public that they were not allowed to get into taxi's unless it was from a rank.

Boys and Girls it may not be all that it seems.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

We have a person on our base at weekends cos the punters would kill each other before we got chance to take them home if we didn't. We all pay £1.50 - £2.00 per night. It works fine

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Had them for a while now and I can't see any benifit to drivers. I still get the usual idiots trying to get in my taxi eating kebabs and far from stopping them I've actually had the marshalls trying to open my door for them

I guess it might cut down on queue jumping (punters not drivers) but frankly as long as they are paying I don't care where they were in the queue.

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There's no excuse for animal abuse. If you ain't vegan you are an animal abuser.

pay them no chance. I don't want them!

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There's no excuse for animal abuse. If you ain't vegan you are an animal abuser.