Taxi Driver Online

Despite all the controversy over binge-drinking and the government attempts to price a pint or a nip of whisky out of reach of all but the rich, pubs remain an important part of Bri-tish culture. Country pubs, in particular, are vital to communities and provide a meeting place for people who would otherwise rarely encounter the neighbours.

They are, however, fast becoming extinct due to a tax and licensing regime which is making them marginally profitable at best and loss-making in many cases. The last thing licensees faced with these challenges need are any more measures which discourage people from going out for a meal or a drink, but that is just what will happen following the decision by Aberdeenshire Council to increase taxi fares by something in the region of 10% from August 1.

Nobody wishes to deny taxi drivers the right to make a decent living, but with the current pressure to encourage people out of private cars and on to public transport, the plight of rural communities appears to have been overlooked yet again.

Taking a bus to Strathdon or the coastal villages of the Mearns is just not a realistic option. Drinking and driving is now, thankfully, socially unacceptable and the only mode of transport available to people who want a relaxing drink or a glass of wine with their meal is a taxi. Yet a 10-mile late-evening journey home will now cost nearly £23, a major consideration on top of the food and drinks bill. The government has poured vast sums into subsiding bus travel. Perhaps it should look at ways of subsiding rural taxis to ensure the continued existence of an important part of our culture.

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De ja vu

£23.00 for a round trip of 20 Miles !!!! good money if you can get it though £16/£17 might be nearer a reasonable price.

That aside its not just Rural pubs that are suffering...town pubs are as well.

We have had 3 Pubs close out of 7 since the smoking ban came into place 4 years ago...before that we had one Pub close in 50+ years.

This will get worse under all the new lunacy laws and rules covering pub licensing, Staff need to be qualified to pull a pint, Licencees need a personal licence or they cant train such staff....Its not just about getting to a Pub.

A few years ago I,d be Taking the Customers to the pubs and then get them home later...now sadly I very seldom get the outward journey as they drive themselves then get a mate to take them back for the car next day...thats a big drop in runs on a weekend night.

Jobs fecked im afraid.....the old fallback of Council contracts might just be the final nail in the TaxI/PH coffin as state spending tightens up and contracts dry up.

Dunno how you City Drivers find things but Country town Taxi/Ph are beginning to go the way of the Publican....or the Dodo come to that!!!

Don't worry about it bloodnock, market forces will sort it all out. When there is no market, no problem. No job, but, no problem

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

Should it get really bad Toots and I have to sell the house, the Cars, Grandma and the children....one theyve all gone can i take up lodgings at your place....I can dust and clean and stuff, I know i'l be fine cos the Government runs courses on such domesticity

Of course you can but there's no need to dust & clean I've already got a cleaner. If you're a dab hand at ironing I'll come collect you myself

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

Smoking ban, dispropotionate toilet provision for women, banning happy hours, the scottish government has killed the pub trade.

Our customers are now smoking, pi ssing and drinking cjeap supermarket alcohol in their own living rooms.

Who needs taxis?

We have a similar problem here, but, at least they're going to each others houses so we get some fares to take them back to their own home

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

Remember Blood nice sharp creases down the knickers, OH I forgot Toots goes comando

I wonder when they are going to realise they are loosing revenue, and once they do how long they will keep this up without doing a u turn, it must be hitting them at the moment but they wont admit it, and all those job loses as bar staff are laid off, and councils not getting any rents and rates and license fees
If they bring in a minimum price for drink and force the supermarkets to do the same, the supermarkets could say Feck off we wont sell it, then they would be Fecked big time as they would have no revenue coming in

The ones that crawl out once a year and that you never see hide or hair of again for 12 months.....Oh yes, they want a taxi service but tend to hope that others may support it and keep it financially viable until the next time they want to use it..

It would appear that losing revenue is more attractive than losing face

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

Neither the UK Government nor Scottish parliament gives a flying feck about who suffers from its mediocre Laws and rules...they all sit pretty in their Ivory towers and live the life of royalty made off the backs us peasants trying to make a living just keep these self centred numb farts isolated from reality in cloud cuckoo land!!!

In all honesty little has changed in a 1000 years....the elite walk all over the workers...