Editorial Comment
The Microphone in the Face Question
A Liverpool taxi driver, who we will refer to as ‘Ginge’ has come up with an idea that if it was ever implemented, it would be, if not unique but highly unusual in that it would appeal to both taxi and private hire drivers - but NOT taxi operators. Initially, we dismissed it as fanciful and unworkable but the more we think about it the better it becomes. Like all good ideas it is simple, and easy to enforce and even better, the enforcement could be undertaken by another agency other than our dedicated and over-
The idea came out of the cross border hiring campaign and the fact that it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is a huge stumbling block for any taxi problems that the
a change in the laws, and trying to change laws
In Liverpool and as we now have discovered as well in other big towns and cities there is a serious problem with cross border hiring involving private hire and hackney carriage vehicles, and
the festering hate that individual taxi drivers feel towards this practice, so much so that we fear it might one day end up becoming violent, and let us all pray to god that it won’t.
However, if you take the trouble to talk to the private hire, whether individual drivers or through their representatives, THEY are fed up with the situation. We have yet to meet a private hire driver who doesn’t have a complaint that since they started work on the system the owners have taken on x amount of drivers without a
corresponding rise in work. Nevertheless, under present legislation there cannot be a limit put on private hire ‘plates’ even if there was a million private hire vehicles, the council would have to
of an operator’s licence that he must prove he has enough work on his system to provide his drivers with x amount of work before they are allowed to hire out any more sets. Obviously the x would be the subject of vigorous debate, however there are a number of ‘baselines’ already out there that could be used. The most obvious is the London formula for calculating fare increases that factors in the costs of running the vehicle, the RPI index, etc. There is also the minimum wage that could be taken into consideration; in essence, the idea is to provide, not so much a safety net, but an ‘elf n safety’ net.
surprisingly easy as most private hire systems are now computerised and therefore it would be a relatively simply task of comparing the volume
capitalists he/she/they want to maximise their
increasing the radio rent, or increasing the amount of vehicles, or both. Under this proposal they would be prohibited from doing either unless they could prove that they had increased bookings and therefore needed extra vehicles to cope.
to increase more work, however this proposal would mean that the owners would be forced to always be looking at ways to increase work and they would in turn be rewarded with increased revenue. The drivers on the system would not have to put more and more hours in, and theoretically at least the need to ‘pirate’ work off the street would be reduced if not eradicated altogether because there would be ample work to keep the driver busy.
us for a minute transfer what is custom and practice throughout the taxi and private hire trade to another section of transport. Supposing the boss of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, who is no stranger to controversial, and sometimes
a result it would mean that the working hours of pilots doubled. In addition, because they did not
were instructed to hang around airports poaching other airline’s passengers despite not having the correct insurance. Would he be treated as a daring, dashing entrepreneur or helping police
he did something similar, would he be lauded or
The hours that taxi and private hire drivers have to work these days and the decline in income that all taxi and private hire drivers are experiencing regardless of the credit crunch is the elephant in the room in both national and local political circles, and it is high time that someone from
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