Taxi Driver Online

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For someone who is accusing others of being obsessed you seem to know an awful lot of detail about this

How do you know what her initial intention was, precisely?

And how do you know she thought it was a PHC? She might have thought it was a saloon HC?

I think you may be just assuming things that aren't necessarily in the public domain, but even giving you the benefit of the doubt it doesn't detract from the general principle we're debating, does it?



You might as well argue that it's not the responsibility of the state to featherbed taxi proprietors, but you don't.

But the point is that you can blame other factors if you want, but if you support yet another factor in the equation that's detrimental to pubic safety then it's hypocritical.

So basically you're saying that the BPG is rubbish because none of it's the responsibility of the councils or the trade?

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Caledonian Cabbie

I thought the taxi BPG was about, er, taxis

By the way, just listening to the Style Council, and one of my faves is 'The Lodgers':

There's only room for those the same
Those who play the leeches game
Don't get settled in this place
The lodger's terms are in disgrace!

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Caledonian Cabbie

"You might as well argue that it's not the responsibility of the state to featherbed taxi proprietors, but you don't. "

If you think having a cap on taxi numbers is simply to featherbed taxi owners, you are very mistaken.

It is more about stopping the chaos that oversupply causes like overflowing ranks and racing to fares.
There also would be the need for more council staff to deal with an enlarged fleet.

It also means that the council can make calculations on what is a fair meter rate. Difficult to do with an unstable fleet size.

The cap on numbers is only a part of the regulations which are more designed to protect the public rather than taxi drivers.

I don't pretend the current system is perfect, but it is better than no cap at all.

The first thing that would happen if the cap was removed, would be that ecph would start replacing skodas with taxis, and taxis operating at reduced fares. A recipe for chaos.

The regulatiions have to strike a reasonable balance for the trade and public, It may not please you personally but that is not the intention.

So why do most councils in Scotland manage this without a cap, Frank?



What's to stop them doing so now?

And you're saying the blacks never discount fares?

But chances are any drivers they would recruit would be through the brief already and thus it would just be a case of rearranging the deckchairs.

And the higher costs would militate against fare discounting.

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Caledonian Cabbie

[quote="Caledonian Cabbie"]

So why do most councils in Scotland manage this without a cap, Frank?

What's to stop them doing so now?

And you're saying the blacks never discount fares?

But chances are any drivers they would recruit would be through the brief already and thus it would just be a case of rearranging the deckchairs.

And the higher costs would militate against fare discounting.[/quote][quote]


Number one, They dont have a fleet of the same standard as Edinburgh.

Number Two, The Cost of aquiring plates.

Number three, Not routinely to the public as a standard fare.

Number four, their current drivers would be trying hard to get a brief and drive one of their taxis, or they would be earning even less. Free training for their current drivers would not be a surprise.

Number five, In your world of free plates for all there would be no higher costs.[/quote]

But some capped areas don't have a fleet of the same standard as Edinburgh, indeed far from it, so I don't really see the relevance of the cap.



But they could still acquire them if they wanted.

Ah, but you're saying the cost is so humungous that that's what's preventing them, and more so drivers who would like to run a taxi.

Well said Frank



So discounting is OK when it suits, but not OK when it, er, doesn't suit.

No wonder you don't want all drivers to get plates on an equal basis Frank!



So why aren't the drivers trying for their taxi brief now?

And free training for drivers? Gosh, ECPH should be hauled over the coals for that one, what a way to treat their staff.



But all these squillions of TXs would cost more than an Octavia, surely?

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Caledonian Cabbie

But that's precisely what is happening. Of course a large part of this is because the council has a parallel vested interest, it owns the bus company.

Isn't it outrageous that this is the only case in the market where one business gets to control its competition?




Which proves you do not understand the free market mechanism of supply and demand. When supply increases beyond demand, then sensible people get out of the market and equilibrium between supply and demand is maintained.

The problem currently is that owners sitting on a plate value refuse to leave the market. Which is why the cap needs to be removed for the market to function properly.

The job of government should be to make this process as simple aas possible. I have long proposed that licences should be allowed to be mothballed so that re-entry when market conditions improve is as easy as possible, no hassle, no extra fees to be paid.

In this way the market mechanism would function perfectly.



So what. bigger fleet, more licences, more fees to pay for the increase in staff.

There is an argument which says that in a recession it is madness not to open up the trade.


More taxis means more vehicles and more employment in the car industry. More administration staff in the council. More servicing staff for vehicles. And more employment for drivers.

All in all it makes real sense to open up the trade now just for the employment benefits that accrue at a time when the pressure on unemployment is fierce, and the need for increased benefit payments which compounds the national budget deficit.




This is just inane bollo cks. The tariff is set from an algorithm based on the costs of an owner running the vehicle and the average swage a driver can expect for doing so.

Frank, YOU should know this already.



But the regulations aren't protecting the public, they are only protected vested interests.

At least two lassies assaulted proves this. Do we have to wait for a third Frank? Or a fourth? More lassies being harmed just so that your vested interest can be protected.



So you admit its failing, but still you put your own interests first. Your daughter Frank. Your daughter?



A recipe for market forces Frank. If its not ECPH it will be someone else. It could be any of the big three.

As for tariffs, then a switch to taxis, with higher running costs, would preclude such discounting. Let me tell you now, the current reduced tariff may not last forever. It is being used to gain market share. ECPH are in the business, not of growing the market, but only their share of it. At all of our expense.

However, what the cap will allow them to do, because they are not capped, is to respond to increases in market growth long before the taxi trade is even out of the traps because it has to lag behind while a survey is done.

By the time the data is harvested, ECPGH will have responded by adding another 50 cars. This is their business plan.

ECPH and PH gets bigger, it dominates the market, given to them by a trade so inured in protecting plate values it refuses to grow its own sector.

We're all going to be working for Woodburn and Gibson boys. get used to the idea.



The regulations are failing the public. Proof of this is herding punters onto marshaled ranks, and forcing them to walk the streets. Encouraging them to seek alternative transport like PH, buses, night buses, lifts from strangers and unlicensed vehicles posing as hire vehicles.

The trade is giving away our work while the politicians are playing politics with women's lives.

Let's hope I'm wrong, eh? Let's pray that a female does not end up dead because Edinburgh restricts taxis.

What I do know is that if any of mine ever fell because of this licence restriction, then someone would be getting gutted as a result. End of.

The warnings were there. The warnings were clear. The warnings were ignored.

YOU Frank, are equally culpable. Because YOUR greed and stupidity is prolonging the eventual day of pain. YOU are preventing our trade from maturing into one where everyone has an equal chance to earn a reasonable livelihood.

You Frank. It's down to YOU.

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Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

jimmy boy,

Is my day of pain coming soon?
Because I have sold up and I am only staying on as a driver till the summer is finished.
After then I can earn more driving different vehicles.

It's called market forces, but you believe market forces don't apply to Edinburgh taxis.

It is only you and gary that are looking forward to driving for ecph, good luck to you.

So much for taking a break

Mrs "T" will be happy she still has the TV control LOL

[quote="Caledonian Cabbie"][quote="Frank Lay"]

[quote]Number Two, The Cost of aquiring plates.[/quote]

But they could still acquire them if they wanted.

Ah, but you're saying the cost is so humungous that that's what's preventing them, and more so drivers who would like to run a taxi.

Well said Frank =D>

[/quote]

There is a substantial difference between a company wanting to aquire a FLEET and an individual wanting one taxi.

That didn't last long. Sad tvvat.

What do you call reasonable?

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

Somewhere north of where we are just now Toots.

It may be fine for owners sitting in on a saturday night with their driver grafting away to pay for his privilege, but drivers should have the right to control their own costs and work when it suits them, not just when they've paid a rental to do so.

_________________
Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

Quality.

Compare my post with yours and ask who is making argument and who is simply admitting he has no argument and has to resort to playground jibes to assuage his ego.

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Skull, "You are a police inspector, aren't you?"
Cab Inspector Smith, "Yes."
Skull, "So, are you going to tell Mr Taylor what his rights are?"
Smith, "And ... What rights?"

I asked a simple question as to what you thought a reasonable income was. I personally think that between £20 and £30 per hour is reasonable. So if you could stoop to answer the question without evasion that'd be real sweet

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