JUST HOW INDEPENDENT WILL LICENSED
A couple of recent headlines which potentially could lead to counter intuitive consequences for both taxi and private hire drivers have been drawn to our attention. The first is well known amongst both the trade and the public, the Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers should be considered to be employees. The second, less well-known headline, is that of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s proposal to revise the operation of the three hackney carriage licensing areas which existed before the council formed through the merger of three pre-existing councils.
CHANGES IN BOURNEMOUTH, CHRISTCHURCH AND POOLE
If we consider the BCP proposals first. Two of the three hackney carriage licensing zones (Bournemouth and Poole) have a limit on the number of hackney carriages licensed. Christchurch has no limit. Some highlights of the proposals are that hackney carriages, in each of the three zones should have a distinctive livery of a white colour with a reflective blue stripe along each side of the vehicle and BCP licensed vehicle logos on each front door and bonnet. Each of the licensing zones will be retained as separate operating areas, with hackney carriages restricted to public hire activities within their licensing zone. Therefore, whilst all the hackney carriages will carry the same livery, they cannot all be hired in each of the zones - a feature which may well frustrate and confuse some would-be passengers when they try to flag a vehicle that does not stop for them.
The number of hackney carriages in the Christchurch zone will remain unlimited, however any new vehicle licences will be for approved wheelchair accessible vehicles only.
The limits in Bournemouth and Poole will be increased by up to 15 approved wheelchair accessible vehicles in each zone, each year for the next four years.
Based on the latest publicly available data, the number of hackney carriages licensed in each zone are; Bournemouth 248, Christchurch 135, Poole 87. An annual increase of up to 15 hackney carriages per year in Poole, will have a more dramatic impact on numbers than the same number in Bournemouth. After 2025, there will be no limit on vehicle numbers in any of the zones.
BENEFITS TO NEW BUSINESS START-UPS
The limits on hackney carriage numbers are seen by some as a barrier to people starting their own business. This was cited as one of the justifications for increasing the limits on hackney carriage numbers in BCP, leading to complete removal of any numerical limits by 2025.
The view that hackney carriage limits are barriers to entry to the trade is not an uncommon one. Where caps on hackney
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carriage numbers exist, the limit to entry to the market place view needs to be judged against the benefits to the public that a limit offers, such as service and vehicle quality and availability.
In the BCP zones, the hackney carriage fleets already rely heavily on pre-booked hires, to supplement the hires obtained at taxi ranks. It is likely that most, if not all newly licensed hackney carriages in the BCP zones, will also join booking circuits to supplement rank based earnings.
MORE FREEDOM FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS - LESS FREEDOM FOR DRIVERS
Restricting new vehicle licences to wheelchair accessible vehicles may provide some benefit to wheelchair users, as the availability of wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles, for pre- booked travel, may improve. However, increased dilution of earnings at the ranks and increased reliance on pre-booked hires for income, can limit the autonomy of drivers to work the hours of their choosing and can prove to be counter- intuitive, with respect to availability of hackney carriages at ranks, reducing the level of service available to the public.
Looking ahead to emerging from lockdown measures, we should also consider the likely ‘new normal’ profile of demand for licensed vehicles. Business and commuter travel is likely to be supressed for a considerable time, perhaps several years, as people continue to use video conferencing in place of face to face meetings and in place of commuting to an office. Consequently, day time demand at railway station ranks is likely to be lower than pre-Covid levels. In Bournemouth and Poole over 20% of hires are obtained at the railway station ranks. This will force much of the fleet to seek hires elsewhere, increasing competition for the night- time economy demand. Coupled with additional competition from new licensed hackney carriages and no increase in avail- able rank space, it is likely that pressure to join booking circuits will increase further.
A common complaint amongst booking circuit operators is that hackney carriage drivers working on their circuits often log out, or ignore offered bookings, at the busiest times in order to work on the ranks, where they feel they are likely to get better fares. Some circuit operators sanction drivers who operate this way, by measures such as an embargo on offered bookings for a period of time, or offering the juicier fares to more loyal drivers. Whilst drivers are commonly free to choose when they opt in and out of booking circuits, we have seen that increasingly, circuit operators increase pressure on drivers to focus on the pre-booked hires offered through the circuits, to enhance the reliability of service to clients booking at busy times.
And the final huge concern is that it is unlikely anyone will ever really know if the changes proposed achieve their aims.
MARCH 2021
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