Dublin City and its disgraceful lack of taxis

senordingdong

Flukey wrote:

We do need to have a proper night bus service. It doesn't have to be a 24 hour one,

That's what we have...it's not 24hours but if you're out late, even on a week night, you cn still get the bus home.

Flukey wrote:

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.

That's true, but, in my opinion, the little walk is totally worth the money I save not getting a taxi.

Flukey wrote:

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.

And as I said, there is not enough demand for that type of service. No, Nitelinks don't pick up inbound passaengers, but there really isn't alot of people heading into when all the pubs and clubs close.

Flukey wrote:

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.

Not really, if someone getting the nitelink knows their bus isn't leaving untill 12.30, then they have only themselves to blame for standing at the bus stop waiting.
And on that note..have you ever gotten the nitelink on a week night?
I have, and there really is **** all people ever on it.

Flukey wrote:

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.

That's not true. The only time there are queues at taxi ranks is friday and saturday nights...at which time there is a perfectly fine bus service running.
If they don't live in an area served by the nitelink then sure, they have to get a taxi...but suggesting that everyone who queues at Dublin's over-crowded taxi ranks does so becasue there is no nitelink service is just not true.

Flukey wrote:

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.

That's also not true...the reason for it is because so many people go to the city centre on friday and saturday nights.

Morse

markpb wrote:

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.



What has that got to do with anything?

Your wrong, and you can get a copy of the rules and regulations from the Government publications office in Molesworth St.

Taxi drivers have alot of rules covering them in the event of someone being drunk, aggressive, dirty, treatening etc.

You should maybe familiarise yourself with it (costs €7-).

constitutionus

markpb wrote:

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 a public service vehicale liscense. meaning they can serve the public with their transportation. they are not a public employee like the semistate that is dublin bus. its the same with swimning pools, theyre a public amenity too but they open when they want. not when you want to swim. and they charge you too.

im an employee so i dont pick and choose the work i do everyday. but my boss decides when i open and close and contractually even if your banging on the shop shutter i dont have to serve you then. end of the day taxis men contract is to provide a service when theyre on the road. how long and at what times they do that is up to them, its theyre privilage of being self employed.

the problem here is the public i.e state provided transport system. in other words bus's. try getting to tallaght from clontarf some time on a nitelink at 3.30 and you'll see all the taxis in the world wont change this situation its not good enough to say theres no demand, thats the point of a public transport system. to provide a service even when theres no regular demand. for instance in my old home town of tallaght theres a place called bohernabreena. its mainly populated with grannie types whove been in tallaght since the year dot. the bus that goes from there to the square is the only transport those pensioners get. without it theyd be stranded cause bohernabreena is bloody miles from the square , particularly to an aged persons mobility. theres no way on gods earth that bus can turn a profit but its still running cause its needed. thats what we need at night, a bear bones 24hr bus service that goes into and out of town. even if its only once an hour its better than nothing. we need this especially if it makes a loss cause you can be damn sure no private company will do it

markpb

constitutionus wrote:

its a public service vehicale liscense. meaning they can serve the public with their transportation. they are not a public employee like the semistate that is dublin bus. its the same with swimning pools, theyre a public amenity too but they open when they want. not when you want to swim. and they charge you too.

im an employee so i dont pick and choose the work i do everyday. but my boss decides when i open and close and contractually even if your banging on the shop shutter i dont have to serve you then. end of the day taxis men contract is to provide a service when theyre on the road. how long and at what times they do that is up to them, its theyre privilage of being self employed.

Yes, their license allows them to choose which hours to operate but not who they service. If they're in operation, they must follow the rules of their license, and that means taking people whereever they want to go, within the DTMA.

Stop thinking about them as businessmen for a minute but as franchisees. A McDonalds operator can't decide to ditch Ronald McDonald and choose a different corporate logo because they have a problem with him. It's part of their license that they must adhere to the McDonalds standards. Even though they own the entire building, buy the food and pay the staff, they still have certain rules to follow. Taxi drivers are exactly the same.

constitutionus wrote:

its not good enough to say theres no demand, thats the point of a public transport system. to provide a service even when theres no regular demand. [...] thats what we need at night, a bear bones 24hr bus service that goes into and out of town. even if its only once an hour its better than nothing. we need this especially if it makes a loss cause you can be damn sure no private company will do it

I agree absolutely but unforutunately successive FF governments don't. They think a PT service should put money before service and thats never going to get us anywhere.

Morse

Getting back to the title of the thread. There's only a lack of taxi's between about 2am-5am Friday and SAturdays. Before those times you'll see plenty of taxi's sitting on ranks.

Other than that its pretty easy to get a taxi anywhere in Dublin & at anytime too.

To the people complaining about taxi drivers 'cherry picking'. When you've been lucky enough to get a taxi on those nights have you ever felt charitable (sp'ing?) enough to offer the taxi to the guy he's just passed in favour of you?.

Bet your life you haven't

Its a pain in the ass looking at taxi's passing you on those two busy nights. But the alternative is worse!. The alternative would mean that taxi's are no longer allowed to pick up off the streets and instead the public would be obliged to wait at taxi ranks, imagine the scene then!.