Taxi Driver Online

Watch this space.

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IDFIMH

WoW I hope none of my other questions cause this kind of fuss........*wondering whats going on*


Bankside

Save that bit for when you get in the car.

It's really a bundle of fun.

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IDFIMH

nah the difference between you and me is that you are a self confessed opportunist, a wannaplate person, who hasn't really got very far in life, driving someones cab begrudgingly and basically is a failure.

I know dereg might come, even if it does, I am not worried, as I have said and you fail to understand, its about risk.

I have paid my price, and at the price that I have paid, I will make my money back and then some.

Dont worry when they are handing out plates like confetti, you too could be a man of substance, after all this debate is really about the have's and have nots!

I think you are missing the point, if you really were a man of substance as you claim and you really had something, little councillors with their own agenda wouldn’t be able to take it away from you.

As for taking risks, who in their right mind takes all the financial risk while handing all their control over to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker?


No wonder they treat the likes of you with contempt, the unfortunate thing is they think they can do the same to the rest of us as well.


So much for being someone you wannabe person, how pathetic and desperate can you get.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

you really bore me with your boring narratives, you got anything new to add yet?

shame the rest of edinburgh never agreed with your eternal wisdom

You could always try Middlesbrough, they have a quality control policy and the investment will be in your vehicle not an artificial plate value.

Regards

JD

The council have just issued 2 plates but i wouldn,t like to go to Durham in a rickshaw

Middlesborough has a strict quality control policy but Durham has a bizarre ad hock licensing policy. They wrote to the DfT stating they were gradually removing quantity controls but couldn't give them a date as to when that process will be complete. Their official policy is still quantity control but despite what they wrote to the DfT about removing numbers their unofficial policy is to issue licenses when ever they feel like it.

Regards

JD

Well I can't see anyone stopping you playing Jimbo?

But your statement about derestriction not allowng drivers to make a sustainable living is meaningless froth and you know it.

But I assume you'll agree that in Liverpool, for example, where the majority of drivers pay inflated rentals to work, then that prevents them from making a sustainable living?

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

Despite claims of scaremongering above regarding derestriction, perhaps Mr Bankside should be appraised of some basic facts.

1 If you buy a plate and numbers are never derestricted or derestricted only after a number of years, then it's likely to prove a lucrative investment. This is because plates as an investment are high-yielding because of the risk involved, thus compared to other investments they can be paid for fairly quickly and thereafter become highly profitable.

2 Cleary the risk involved is a political/regulatory one. At the local level, the risk has obviously been high in some areas, while in others derestriction is unlikely to happen in the near future - you can get a better feel for this at the local level, but it should be borne in mind that ultimately it's down to local councillors and thus the dirty and dishonesest world of politics.

3 However, developements at the national level are arguably more important. Around 2001 the Govt proposed that the right of LAs to restrict taxi numbers should be removed. In 2002 the Office of Fair Trading launched a year-long study of the taxi and PH trade, and in 2003 its central conclusion was that restricted taxi numbers should be removed, and it recommended this to Govt and LAs.

4 Clearly some LAs have acted on this (and the Govt's subsequent recommendation), but in the meantime the majority of those restricting numbers look likely to retain this policy. But in its response to the OFT the Govt said it would not order LAs to remove restrictions, but 'strongly encouraged' LAs to do so. It also said:

The Government itself will review in association with the OFT the extent of quantity controls in three years' time to monitor progress towards the lifting of controls. If necessary, the Government will then explore further options through the RRO or legislative progress if insufficient progress has been made.

Read into that what you will, but to me it's saying that if LAs don't derestrict taxi numbers then the Govt will do it for them. If the Govt stick to that timetable then the review should take place in a year and a half, so numbers could well be derestricted nationally within three years or so.

Of course, it's all about politics again, so it might never happen at all. But beware of those telling you that it simply won't happen, because the evidence suggests otherwise.

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

TDO
thank you very much I now feel I now have the full picture of the goings on, but one quick question, if the plates bought are saloon plates would they retain any value because their saloon and not the wheelchair variety???
Or is it these that could be hit first with our PC Councils???
Again many thanks.

Bankside

As you probably know, in some restricted authorities some licensees can run saloons while others can only run wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs), like the London taxi and the newer Euro-style taxi.

Thus, in Brighton, for example, the WAV plates are lower in value than the saloon plates, probably because the saloons are cheaper to run.

However, some LAs like Gateshead have derestricted numbers, but new plates must have a WAV, while the existing saloons continue as before. Thus because WAV plates are unrestricted, they don't have a value, while because saloon plates continue to be restricted then they continue to have a value.

I believe Newcastle plates are like Brighton at the moment? So if Newcastle did a Gateshead then the WAV plates would be worth nothing, but the saloon plate would continue to have a value, although probably considerably less than present levels.

It seems likely that any LAs derestricting in the future are likely to specify WAV-only for the new plates, since that keeps the lid on numbers slightly, and helps appease the saloon plate holders, and also provides a mixed fleet, which is also useful because some taxi customers prefer the saloons to the WAVs, thus it's a politically attractive way to derestrict numbers from the council's point of view.

However, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 envisaged that all taxis would be WAVs eventually, and the Govt should eventually pass regulations to make that happen. Thus even if LAs allow saloon plates in derestricted areas to keep their cars, then the DDA might mean that the saloons would have to become WAV anyway, but obviously the process would be delayed.

In 2003 the Govt annonced that the rules would apply from 2010 in all big cities, so if that was implemented then I think any replacement vehicle after that date would have to be a WAV.

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/ddafp.htm

So basically as far as the saloon plates are concerned, there are two big uncertainties in the hands of Government - derestriction and the DDA.

Of course, LAs could do both at any time within the law, so it's conceivable that in Newcastle numbers could be derestricted and they could specify WAVs for all plates within the next handful of years. Unlikely, but not impossible.

So I think there's a reasonable chance that numbers could be derestricted in the next few years, but saloon plates could retain a value.

However, I think a greater certainty is that all taxi will have to be WAV, at least in the bigger cities, so even the saloon plates would eventually lose their value.

Of course, this could take a while, so there could well be saloon taxis in Newcastle for another ten years at least, but if the WAVs are derestricted and the prospect of having to change to a WAV is imminent, then by that time the plates will effectively be worthless anyway.

Another possibility is that numbers are not derestricted, but the DDA is implemented, in which case all plates would still have a value, but the current saloon plates would clearly be worth less than they would have been if the DDA hadn't been implemented.

So basically the risks in buying a plate in Newcastle are twofold, at least from the saloon plate perspective - derestriction and the DDA.

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

Well, yes assholes like you do seem to be ten a penny in the taxi game. Shame that derestriction is proving my point though.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

that may be, but dick heads like you are a dime a dozen.