Taxi Driver Online

Drivers hit out at plans to turn taxis into ‘buses’

TaxiTaxi drivers in Cambridge have come out against plans to licence them to operate as “buses”. There are proposals to allow hackney carriages to pick up more than one set of passengers at a time in a bid to increase occupancy and cut the number of journeys, as reported in the News.

But cabbies have said they are not keen. David Wratten, from the Cambridge City Licensed Taxis organisation, told a Guildhall meeting: “This will mean less work for taxis and more waiting on ranks to try and fill the cabs.” If the scheme was introduced, taxis could make shared trips, with each passenger paying a separate fare.

Beyond the environmental benefits, officers at Cambridge City Council argue passengers would like the scheme because they would only pay a proportion of the metered fare, and taxi drivers would benefit because they will receive several fares, and thus more money.

Similar schemes operate at Paddington and Euston stations in London, and in New York. Mr Wratten told the council’s environment scrutiny committee: “People get taxis for various reasons – if they want to share transport they get a bus. “Elderly customers get cabs as a treat and business people don’t want to share because they want to get from A to B and talk in private.”

The scheme would need separate ranks to normal taxis, clear markings on vehicles, and possibly the use of booking software to match passengers to cars. Marshals could be used to organise passengers into shared groups in the evenings.

Cllr Mike Pitt, the council’s environment chief, said nobody would be forced into operating a shared taxi, or into taking one. He said: “If there’s no willingness to provide it by the taxis, and no demand from the public, we will find that and it will go to full stop there. “It’s worth finding out if there is a viable business case.”

In the late 1990s, plans to introduce a “taxi bus” shuttle service between Cambridge station and the city centre were vigorously opposed by drivers.

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IDFIMH

That's about it in a nut-shell.

The one thing that always defeats these proposals in such a tight space as a taxi is the mix of people & destinations causing conflict amonst the already on board passengers, stopping to pick up on the way & then diverting via what one of the passengers thought was the route at the beginning of the journey, so that another passenger also already on board who is not in a hurry paying a slightly lesser fare, because of greater vehicle occupancy.

And the poor cabbie now has an argument on his hands between rival passengers & a would be passenger wanted by one occupant but not the other.

The job can be difficult enough without this type of hassle.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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if such a good an idea Mr Pitt............ YOU do it....