Dublin City and its disgraceful lack of taxis

ninebeanrows

Last night it was my brothers 21st birthday i was taking things easy but i might aswell of just kept drinking. We left in a quest to find a taxi at 130 there were loads of taxis around the place don't get me wrong. Taxis with no1 in them just driving by. So we headed towards the leeson street, the canal end attempting to hail a taxi with many other people trying to do the same.

No luck there. So we then headed towards Merrion Square trying to hail taxi as we walked and as the rain soaked us. A taxi pulled up and pulled down his windo, " southside?" he asked us we said no "northside" he said sorry and drove one. So we kept walking towards Merrion Square by now it was 215 and we were tired and sobering up fast.

Hundreds of taxis driving by but no luck, we noticed that alot of the taxis simply had nobody in them! So we got to Merrion Square and another taxi pulls up "where ya's headed?" we go "northside" and then they drive off. So we get to Merrion Square and my dads like "fek it im driving home this is a disgrace", but i made him not.

Then we head down Pearse Street with everyone on the street trying to hail down a flippin cab. We reach the end of Pearse street and cross the Liffey by this stage its about 230. We then head to O'Connell Street persuming that there will be taxis queuing to pick people up at the taxi rank (outside Londis). So there's a queue of about 40 people so we decide to join the queue. I swear in the 30 minutes we queued there a maximum of 3 taxis pulled up taking 1 or maybe 2 passengers at a time.

Extremely tired and angry we decide just to walk back to Connolly Station and down Amien Street by now its 315 and everyone is coming of the clubs. We walked to the Buseireann station and just basically gave up and stood there with our hands out for about 30 more minutes before finally we got lucky and a taxi pulled over. It was 345 when we go into the taxi and actually were headed home. It was like heaven.

But what a disgrace, we have taxi men moaning about this and moaning about that yet they are allowed pick and choice who they pick up. Surely a taxi offering a service cannot discrimate against whether your going to the northside or to the southside. Not once but on two occasions. Its on a night like that you can see why somebody would say fek it and just hop into their car and drive home after their few jars.

:mad:

billy the squid

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=246 tbh

Anyway. to the best of my knowledge, taxis are not supposed to cherrypick fairs. They can refuse you if you are two drunk or if you look dodgy, but not because you want to go to the northside or the southside. Take the number down next time and complain to the local PSV office.

Booking the same taxi or a cab from the same company you went to town with is also an idea for future referrence.

Next time you get a cabbie that says "southside" get into the car and ask him "how much is it to Blackrock" when he tells you say "That's grand. I'm going there tomorrow, can you take me to [insert northside area here]

I agree, the lack of taxis is disgraceful. There just aren't enough. I used to live on the southside and still I used to spend 2 hours trying to get one. It's the main reason I didn't go out much, because the night was ruined by the taxi ordeal at the end.

gandalf

Same situation on Friday night, walked from Dame St to Ranelagh before I got one. And I have had that situation happen as well where they refuse to take you because you are not going in the right direction for them.

In the end on Friday a Bosnian Taxi Driver stopped for me, it was nice having an intelligent taxi driver to chat to for a change and the taxi was clean. On the other hand how anyone can drive through Dublin City on a weekend at around 2-3am is beyond me, people staggering around the road drunk out of their minds nearly jumping under cars to try and stop them

Mrs_Doyle

*No, No, No, No, you MUST be mistaken.
I distinctly remember the taxi men saying that thanks to deregulation there are too many taxi's on the road, and the poor auld taxi drivers are struggling to earn a decent living.
There is no way they would pick and chose their fares like this, I just don't believe you - you MUST be lying!


*Attach sever tone of sarcasm to above post for best results!

Laslo

Taxis are being regulated, fares are being standardised nationwide and there will be far greater accountability on the part of taxi drivers in coming years. The age of their little racket and their incessant bickering about 'deregulation' (see de-monopolisation) is coming to an end. Hurrah!

And who knows, if I'm really lucky, maybe they'll stop giving me lectures about how angry they are at the fact that my fare from the Airport to Malahide isn't long enough and they were hoping for a longer fare after sitting in the queue. :rolleyes: That's the risk you take boyos. If you don't like it, get a different job.

Trinity

same here tried for over an hour to get a taxi on friday night and loads drove by empty

shane86

Weathercheck wrote:

But what a disgrace, we have taxi men moaning about this and moaning about that yet they are allowed pick and choice who they pick up. Surely a taxi offering a service cannot discrimate against whether your going to the northside or to the southside. Not once but on two occasions.

Is it really? Put yourself in their postion- you`re a taxi man from, say, Bray. You want to be doing runs out towards your area. If you can pick up 3 fares between 1am and 2:30am going to the likes of Dun Laoghaoire and Stillorgan, you can grab your last from town at 2:30, drop off the person and make it to that nightclub in Stillorgan for a load of handy in the area 8 quid jobs, before maybe heading back into town at around 4:30 in the hope of picking up someone heading to your general home area. If you were this driver, do you really want to make 20 euro bringing someone to Bray then heading home, or having to bring someone to Finglas for the same fare then drive all the way home. Its a no brainer.

Though I admit that its annoying seeing hordes of empty taxis passing and thinking whats the deal, i think theyre within their right to refuse to go to a particular area (although afaik its illegal). Like, how far can you take it? If a driver has an unmissable function in the morning and someone gets in and demands to go to Kerry, should the rule apply?

LundiMardi

This is the very reason why i avoid town.

There's been too many occasions when i've walked from the likes of the end of o'connell st to rathmines... One time i was 3 other people, ended up chatting to this taxi driver by stephens green, he was just parked there, talking on his stupid feckn bluetooth headset thing, and asked if he would take us to Tallaght, he said he would.... for €50:rolleyes: Ofcourse we went along, there were 4 of us so it wasn't that bad really, but what if it had of been just me? 50 feckn euro!!!!

shane86

Did he not have a meter? ffs a taxi to Tallaght could never cost 50 euro, for the five of yis yid be talkin a fiver a piece at most.

tbh most drivers Ive met have been decent, usually good for a chat and a laugh (alright, the Chris Finch from The Office stories about whatever tanned blondie they had in the car three nights before who had lost her ATM card and agreed to pay by different means mightnt be to everyones tastes, and hell it mightnt even be true, but its right up my street ). Its an industry that is overcrowded, and when you break it down most of them are probably earning maybe 12 odd euro profit per hour. Its relatively decent, but in a country with house prices like they are its not spectacular. Im on that wage right now but bollix if I want to be on it when Im in my late 20s.

is_that_so

shane86 wrote:

Is it really? Put yourself in their postion- you`re a taxi man from, say, Bray. You want to be doing runs out towards your area. If you can pick up 3 fares between 1am and 2:30am going to the likes of Dun Laoghaoire and Stillorgan, you can grab your last from town at 2:30, drop off the person and make it to that nightclub in Stillorgan for a load of handy in the area 8 quid jobs, before maybe heading back into town at around 4:30 in the hope of picking up someone heading to your general home area. If you were this driver, do you really want to make 20 euro bringing someone to Bray then heading home, or having to bring someone to Finglas for the same fare then drive all the way home. Its a no brainer.

Though I admit that its annoying seeing hordes of empty taxis passing and thinking whats the deal, i think theyre within their right to refuse to go to a particular area (although afaik its illegal). Like, how far can you take it? If a driver has an unmissable function in the morning and someone gets in and demands to go to Kerry, should the rule apply?

They are taxi drivers - in effect self-employed drivers. Being self-employed one doesn't have any "unmissable functions". No work=No money.

Notwithstanding the problems with drunks and other aggressive undesirables I find it hard to have any sympathy with them at all. I know one chap who works 3-4 days a week and takes the rest of the week off when he can. He works extremely hard during that time. TBH if they can't be bothered to work let people who will use the plates have them.

shane86

is_that_so wrote:

They are taxi drivers - in effect self-employed drivers. Being self-employed one doesn't have any "unmissable functions". No work=No money.

Notwithstanding the problems with drunks and other aggressive undesirables I find it hard to have any sympathy with them at all. I know one chap who works 3-4 days a week and takes the rest of the week off when he can. He works extremely hard during that time. TBH if they can't be bothered to work let people who will use the plates have them.

Nothing unmissable? Aye, if its their kids christening or wedding in the morning, sure feck it, money is money eh?:rolleyes:

As for "let people who will use the plates have them" its not as if theyre clogging up a restricted amount of issued licences. AFAIK anyone over 25 who passes the test can become a driver. Ill probably end up doing it in a few years for more cash on the side, morning to evening working a regular job and then maybe a few nights in the cab. In all honesty I cant fathom how the average Joe pays a mortgage without two jobs.

Mind you, im 5 years off 25, knowing my luck they will put a cap on new drivers, it will be back to the old system of having to buy licence rights off retiring existing drivers.

LundiMardi

shane86 wrote:

Did he not have a meter? ffs a taxi to Tallaght could never cost 50 euro, for the five of yis yid be talkin a fiver a piece at most.

Of course he had a metre, he didn't use it tho... It was the agreement that it would cost 50 euro.. We knew that wasn't what it normally costs. But we needed to get home, and he took advantage of the situation.

Snowbie

Again i avoid town because of this nowadays and i dont miss it at all.Walked usually to Fairview before i was in the comfort of a taxi.
I was one who use to wait in the Qs,but i gave that up quickly for the long walk home.Gave up town entirely now.

markpb

shane86 wrote:

If you were this driver, do you really want to make 20 euro bringing someone to Bray then heading home, or having to bring someone to Finglas for the same fare then drive all the way home. [...] i think theyre within their right to refuse to go to a particular area (although afaik its illegal). Like, how far can you take it? If a driver has an unmissable function in the morning and someone gets in and demands to go to Kerry, should the rule apply?

Taxi drivers must take you anywhere you like within the Dublin Taximeter Area. No ifs, buts or what if's - it's part of their contract with the Garda Carriage Office/Taxi Regulator. If they don't like going northside, they shouldn't be operating a taxi.

They do it at night because they know that most people will be too tired/drunk/lazy to take their plate number and make a complaint and the sooner people get off their backsides and start complaining, the sooner we can get rid of that childish and illegal behaviour.

LundiMardi wrote:

Of course he had a metre, he didn't use it tho... It was the agreement that it would cost 50 euro.. We knew that wasn't what it normally costs. But we needed to get home, and he took advantage of the situation.

And I presume you took his badge number and reported him the following morning? If you didn't then it serves you right for getting ripped off.

Laslo

LundiMardi wrote:

Of course he had a metre, he didn't use it tho... It was the agreement that it would cost 50 euro.. We knew that wasn't what it normally costs. But we needed to get home, and he took advantage of the situation.

I'm not sure I understand. He essentially blackmailed you into paying twice the fare under the threat of leaving you stranded? More the fool you are for letting him.

LundiMardi

Laslo wrote:

I'm not sure I understand. He essentially blackmailed you into paying twice the fare under the threat of leaving you stranded? More the fool you are for letting him.

Well, think what you want, i don't really give a ****. It was that or walk for hours.

shane86

markpb wrote:

Taxi drivers must take you anywhere you like within the Dublin Taximeter Area. No ifs, buts or what if's - it's part of their contract with the Garda Carriage Office/Taxi Regulator. If they don't like going northside, they shouldn't be operating a taxi.

They do it at night because they know that most people will be too tired/drunk/lazy to take their plate number and make a complaint and the sooner people get off their backsides and start complaining, the sooner we can get rid of that childish and illegal behaviour.

Thats a pretty ****ing childish assesment in fairness. Rule or no rule, you dont become a customer until you set foot in the cab. Bus drivers refuse to drive certain routes if the buses get attacked, but self employed drivers cant refuse to go to certain places unless they genuinely believe the customer will be disruptive?

Is there a rule against taking a "deposit" before setting off to cut the risk of customers making a run for it?

Honestly though, what the hell do people here have against taxi drivers? As stated previously, 95% ive met have been decent- good for a banter, good laugh, and they usually round down the fare if its below the 30 cent mark. One guy who brought us to Maynooth turned off the meter and agreed to call it 30, which probably saved us 3 euro. Another time I lost my phone, the guy answered it, arranged a meet and he refused the 40 quid i offered him. You dont see much mention on boards of the fact close to a thousand of them gave up a days fare to taxi sick kids around on some special day thing on the southside for free.

The bus drivers can be alot worse- anyone ever notice that a bad flu seems to go around the bus depot anytime an important Ireland match is on? Three scheduled 38 buses in Blanch failed to show the night of the Swiss game last year when i was townbound to see it, nearly missed the start. Its no wonder you all hate taxi drivers. Im sure that given the attitudes you all have to them they havent been particularly friendly to you guys and have demanded the extra 5 cents if the fare came to 10.05.

There were at least two drivers posting on AH/boards, but theyve both been banned . So much for balanced argument and debate.

melekalikimaka

i get taxis all the time at bout 2.30/300 am weekday and ends and don't have that much hassle? camden street is grand, fleet street, connell is grand too, just depends where you go to get them i thinks

senordingdong

I get the nitelink, it saves a lot of hassle.

markpb

shane86 wrote:

Thats a pretty ****ing childish assesment in fairness. Rule or no rule, you dont become a customer until you set foot in the cab. Bus drivers refuse to drive certain routes if the buses get attacked, but self employed drivers cant refuse to go to certain places unless they genuinely believe the customer will be disruptive?

There's a small difference between the threat of being physically attacked and not making money on a long route.

The simple fact is that the contract they agreed to when they signed up to be a taxi driver states that they must serve the entire DMT area. It doesn't say anything about the customer, it says they must serve the public in the DMT area. There's no technicalities about it. It's one of the few operational rules taxi drivers have to abide by. I've nothing against taxi drivers, I use taxis all the time and don't normally have any problem with them. I don't come on here complaining about them. If they break the rules, then I do.

The only reason most taxi drivers turn down long routes (and you'll notice the OP was only turned down for a cross city trip) is because its more profitable for them to make lots of short hops than one long hop. If they want to do that, they should get a hackney license.

Is there a rule against taking a "deposit" before setting off to cut the risk of customers making a run for it?

What has that got to do with anything?

Flukey

Question: Why did you not get a bus?
Answer: There was no bus.

Conclusion: We have a shortage of buses at night, not taxis.

There has never been a shortage of taxis in Dublin. The reason it is hard to get taxis is that so many people are trying to get them. The Nitelink is good, but in truth only serves a small range of customers, so they have to go for taxis. If we ever get a proper night bus service, then it will resolve the problem.

The reason it is hard to get taxis is that so many people are trying to get them.

Surely that means there is a shortage, then? There aren't enough taxis for the number of people wanting them, and no alternatives to taxis. Where I lived last year there wasn't a Nitelink that went anywhere near. I agree there should be a better night bus service but there isn't so for the moment, don't you think there should be more taxis?

Morse

shane86 wrote:

Did he not have a meter? ffs a taxi to Tallaght could never cost 50 euro, for the five of yis yid be talkin a fiver a piece at most.

You should have got into the taxi, asked him to turn on the meter, which he's obligied to do in the DMA. If he refuses, call the guards.

The driver has to turn on the meter within the DMA and after the 25th of this month is required to do so country wide. He's also obligied to give a receipt for the fare, all taxi meters print them but most people don't ask for one 'nor are they offered one.

As in all industries there's good and bad. We've bad taxi drivers, bad judges and bad politicans. It doesn't matter what rung of the ladder your on, you'll find bad everywhere and I truely believe its unfair to target taxi drivers alone.

As for 'cherry picking', who can blaim them when most people after about 2am are drunk. Its happened to me here and in every other country I've visited. We're all gulity of it to some degree.

mikemac

OP, for future reference if this happens again there's a well known trick you can use.

Stand outside Connolly Station where the rank is and there will be loads of taxi's coming down Amiens Street back into town.
Someone will stop and will having no problem doing a run on the northside and there is loads of room for the driver to turn to back around and head north.

I've often done this when struggling for a taxi on nights out.
Obviously, be careful walking around here if you are on your own though

admiralofthefleet

micmclo hit it on the head there, thats exactly what i do.

I very rarely use taxis but if there isnt any alternative i will. i live in raheny so i always go to connolly and get one at the luas or if there is people there i will walk up to the cert building, i never have to wait more than 5 mins.

i always tell people to go there but they wont, thinking they will get attacked, the area has a bad rep. but its actually ok, no worse than most of town at that time of nite.

i used to live in blackrock & connolly is great for taxis to the southside as well. all they have to do is head to the toll bridge from the ifsc and your half way there.

constitutionus

i always love when people bitch about taxis, i hate to break it to you but they're not a public transport service. theyre a private selfemployed businessman who provides a transport service. big difference. your problem isnt the lack of taxis, its the nonexistantpublic transport service provided by this government.
its the 21st century for gods sake where the 9 to 5 is practically extinct. why the hell dont we have 24 hour bus's

senordingdong

There's no need for a 24 hour bus service.
And having more taxis will not help the situation since they are only needed on friday and saturday nights.
People here who have trouble with these things need to explore other options, like the nitelink and night luas. Or not standing in the city centre with countless thousands of others who are trying ti get taxis. Walk away from the city a bit.
And if a taxi driver gives you any bull**** about not going to another side of the city, or not using the meter, then grow a pair and stand up for yourself.

markpb

constitutionus wrote:

i always love when people bitch about taxis, i hate to break it to you but they're not a public transport service. theyre a private selfemployed businessman who provides a transport service. big difference. your problem isnt the lack of taxis, its the nonexistant public transport service provided by this government.

Actually, you'll find that a taxi license is a public transport license. They might be private business men but they operate under a license issued of them to operate a public service. If they can't abide by the contract they signed, then maybe they should reconsider their occupation. Do you pick and choose the work you do everyday?

its the 21st century for gods sake where the 9 to 5 is practically extinct. why the hell dont we have 24 hour bus's

Nightlinks were provided and though I'm no fan of them, people didn't use them and DB cut the service levels. A 24 hour bus service would be great but we don't have the same level of shift and night work that other countries so there's no real demand at night and I can't see the government making them PSO.

There's no need for a 24 hour bus service.
And having more taxis will not help the situation since they are only needed on friday and saturday nights.
People here who have trouble with these things need to explore other options, like the nitelink and night luas. Or not standing in the city centre with countless thousands of others who are trying ti get taxis. Walk away from the city a bit.
And if a taxi driver gives you any bull**** about not going to another side of the city, or not using the meter, then grow a pair and stand up for yourself.

I think they need to expand the bus service. Where I used to live was served by ONE bus route which stopped at 11.30. That is horrendous for a capital city IMO especially considering it was about 3 miles from the city centre. I was constantly leaving events early to get the bus home. At least if it went on until 1am, with buses say every half hour, that would be an improvement and you'd have a chance to go out.

There are many areas not served by the Nitelink or Luas at all. It's all well and good telling people to use that if you can, but it isn't an option for a lot of people. I've ended up walking the whole way home without ever getting a taxi, I've tried all sorts of places outside the centre and I still could never get one. And what can you really say to a taxi driver who refuses to take you somewhere or jacks up the fare, when you have no other way to get home? Especially a girl on her own. I'd rather pay more money than walk home through Dublin on my own at 3am, and obviously the taxi drivers know that but what can you do? After standing for over an hour alone in the cold I take what I can get. It's sad that that's the situation but without a proper bus network, taxi drivers will rip people off.

Flukey

We do need to have a proper night bus service. It doesn't have to be a 24 hour one, but a significant improvement on what we have. People are only going for taxis, because of the lack of a proper night service on the buses, and the DART. The Luas runs slightly later, but it only serves certain areas.

When I am in town I use the Nitelink to get home, and it is great. But it only serves a limited number of places. Unless you are within walking distance of Trinity College, it is not much use to you. You can be further from the centre of the city, but still in the city, and see a half empty Nitelink that won't stop to pick you up.

If you were out meeting friends in Crumlin and returning home to Malahide, the Nitelink is no use. Because it does not pick up inbound passengers, if you want to go from the southern suburbs to the northern suburbs, or vice versa, you would have to at least get a taxi into town in order to get the Nitelink the rest of the way home. For a lot of people going home after a night out, it means travelling into the city, not out of it.

The Nitelink doesn't start until 12:30, with the last regular bus having been at 11:30, at which time, even during the week, there are a lot of people around. So we have a full hour with no bus service whatsoever, even when the Nitelink is running. It is ridiculous.

That is why we get queues at taxi ranks. A lot of those people don't want to get taxi. They'd prefer to get a bus, but there aren't any, or at least one that suits their travelling needs. There are no queues at taxi ranks at 8pm or 9pm or 10pm, when thousands of people are heading into Dublin, or other parts for their night out. They are going by bus. But when it comes to going home, and the bus service isn't there, they have no choice but to get a taxi. That is the only time there is a real demand for taxis, and the reason for it is not the shortage of them, but the shortage of other means of transport.

It's easy to go out, but it is awkward getting home. When you are going out, do you get a bus or a taxi? We'd nearly all say a bus. When it comes to getting home though, well that's a different story, because the buses aren't there. Going out, to get to almost anywhere, is easy enough, even if you have to take a couple of buses. But when it comes to going home, the buses aren't there.

There isn't and never was a shortage of taxis at night. There is and always has been a shortage of buses at night. Taxis are getting the blame for the problem caused by the shortage of buses. So stop moaning about taxis, and moan about the real problem.