Similarly, enforcement would not apply in extremely high temperatures when drivers need to keep the air conditioning on and have no other means to keep cool.”


So now it has moved from the ‘common-sense’ approach to not being allowed to have the engines running until the temperature is below zero degrees. So that is actually below freezing point!


At the Trade Forum meeting I did express my gratitude for having the room at an agreeable temperature, but made the point that it was absolutely unacceptable that the council expects taxi drivers to work in freezing conditions before they can graciously have engines running to keep warm. I got the impression from the top table that they were not actually aware of the details of the directive and I was assured that it would probably not be taken to the extreme.


I wasn’t happy with that because we all know what ‘jobs-worths’ can be like and I requested that this is rewritten and any reference limiting drivers to being able to keep warm when the temperature is below zero degrees is removed.


However, that wasn’t the only directive in the information given to us. It was also recommended that drivers purchased a 12v internal heater to keep warm instead of running the engine!


You really couldn’t make it up!


I stated that whoever wrote the directive was effectively clueless as taxis have CCTV equipment (on standby but still running), large illuminated roof lights and taxi meters, all drawing power. So, to expect drivers to also run 12v internal heaters as well was nonsense!


At the time of writing, we are waiting for the re-write and I have asked any driver that encounters a jobs- worth to contact me.


DROP IN DRIVER NUMBERS


In February the Licensing Committee will be presented with a hackney carriage Fare Review which will hit the magic £3 per mile. There is also the proposed ‘Penalty Points’ system which has caused quite an uproar in the trade. There has been quite a protest about it, although I understand the council is keen to get this through, it is probably 50/50 as to whether it does or not.


PHTM FEBRUARY 2024


My view on this is that I will have nothing to worry about if it is brought in.


Lastly, it is quite sad to say that we have experienced a drop in the number of licensed drivers in the city, and I know damn well who is responsible!


This not only affects the service availability for the local companies but also the income for the Licensing department, which in turn means higher licensing fees for the local drivers.


This was brought up at our trade meeting and it was put forward by a trade rep that we need to lower the pass rate for the ‘Knowledge’ to encourage drivers to be locally licensed This is the same test for hackney and private hire drivers as we have a ‘Dual Licence’ allowing a driver to driver a hackney and a private hire vehicle. Currently the pass requirement is 80%, this was actually lowered a few years ago from 90%. The proposal is to bring it down to 70%.


The major issue is that there are easy PH licences to be obtained from areas, such as Lewes and Chichester, and work under Uber predominantly in the city so why bother getting a licence from Brighton & Hove?


The extremely annoying thing is that the Brighton & Hove Uber rep was sitting right opposite me in the room, and as usual, not taking part and more interested in tapping away on his laptop. I really wanted to stand up and point the blame directly at him for us having to look to lower our standards, especially as the Licensing Chair had only just spoken about our high standards. In fact to give her credit she did state that its should not be for us to lower our standards but for other areas, where their respective drivers are licensed to be raise theirs.


Apparently its quite difficult to get a cab in Chichester as very few of the them work there. This is something I have been told in good faith so I don’t know if this is actually true but I would not be at all surprised.


So there you have it, the arrival of Uber may be good for passengers but certainly not good for the local trade here regarding the falling number of drivers.


Actually I should also add that the Uber drivers here are constantly moaning on their WhatsApp group that the fares are now much lower with the lowest bid system and they should go on strike. Good luck with that chaps!


Proof that Uber is the race to the bottom! 65


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76