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Taxis Revisited in General
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Carawaystick wrote: »1. Domestic electricity and gas supply are the same as taxi's. there is a maximum price set and defined quality levels also. New entrants can enter the market if they think they can make a profit.
2. There was a problem with ordinary driving licenses. no-one suggested introducing a moratorium. The extra cost of the extra licenses can deal with applying the new standards to the extra licenses.
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4. But "enough profits to live on and re-invest in their taxi's" is as long as piece of string. Some people will need more to live on than thers - like someone who bought their house 20 years ago vs last year at the top of the boom - for a reasonably uncontentious difference in a person's fixed outgoings. How do you set the price of a new taxi in a falling market. How often do you re-adjust the price?
5. the age of cars is a cop out in defining the standard of a car. A 25 year old Merc could easily be of a better standard to a 8.5 year old compact saloon.
The govt just increased fuel costs by more than 5% this afternoon, OPEC did a lot more over the last few years... Black taxi's in Scotland belfast and England are distinctive enough without signs.....
6. I just disagree. I see no issue with part time drivers as long as their cars meet the objective standards and driver passes the same knowledge test. What about semi-retired drivers who only operate during profitable times and live off savings or a pension for the rest of the time for example?
7. Introducing a high barrier to entry would reduce the number of taxi drivers. I thought this is what most taxi drivers want?
8. I don't see this issue of holding a license for an amount of time solving anything. If you pass the test, the govt have decided you are a competent driver. How does passing a test, not driving for x years make you any better than some one who passed the test drove for x-1 years?
I'd say EU law would prevent any discrimination on license holders nationality. There is no requirement on any eu license holder to exchange it for the duration of the license. What about a taxi driver driving in Lifford and area, but living in Strabane? they could not get an Irish license
The govt should run the penalty points system to account for at least other EU licenses, the driver number is marked 5 on EU licenses. I presume there is a record of the address on the taxi license application, which needs to be reasonably current. It's not beyond the wit of man to deal with this problem.
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10. The HSA -Health and Safety Authority, not the HSE - The HSE can't even spell, I wouldn't rely on them to do anything.
I thought the HSA were busybodies enough to want to get involved before a serious injury. They wanted us (in a previous job) to take unreal precautions in case materiel clearly marked as safe (by the multinational manufacturer with deep pockets to sue) to use latex gloves - even thought they can cause a much worse reaction.....
There's a lot of buck passing regarding ranks, which needs to be sorted out by someone.
1 Not in the slightest way the same thing, energy suppy is capable of multiple customers at the same time, yet to see a taxi thats capable of doing that
2 Still needs the temporary moritorium while the TR etc. employ yet more consultants and prevarication, temporary moritorium and sort the whole mess out
6 Part time double jobbers are just an anathma to full time taxi drivers, do you the public want a full time and professional service or do you want the hotch potch you have now?
7. There have been several opportunities to implement this in the last 3 years
The 9 year rule could have been brought in for "replacement" taxis instead of waiting till 2012, in other words if you repaced your taxi ( of your own will) prior to 2012 then it should have conformed to the new specs, the "new" taxi operators from 1/1/2009 (plate numbers in excess of 45000) was originaly specified as ALL new entrants from 1/1/2009 ie even those who rented a plate or brought a 2nd hand plate, it was changed so that if you entered the market after 1/1/2009 but purchased a 2nd user plate ( below 45000 ) then you could exempt yourself from the 9 year rule until 2012.
8 I don't see any reason why having a PSV license shouldn't include some kind of driving test to prove that you're capable of multitasking in a taxi enviroment ( it isn't just driving! ) you've all seen "ordinary" drivers, totaly incapable of driving a car with a minor distraction like changing the radio station, try doing it with 4 drunks, yelling in your ear, constantly turning the vol up changing the channel, turning round to talk to their mates in the back and knocking either your arm or the car out of gear, people messing and opening doors at 60Kph, winding down windows for a breath of fresh air and then puking down the side of the car or a combination of them. As to living outside the area you are required to have a TC2 form from the Irish revenue if you're resident outside the area can you get one? As you say it's not without solutions but they aren't forthcoming0 -
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Actually my real interest is in exploring what the taxi drivers actually want done; they always seem to get somewhat vague in demanding a "review". The fundamental problem/issue here is SHRINKING revenue - taxi drivers seemed happy enough with the rules before last year when the economy is booming. There is nothing a "review" can do to reverse this fall in revenue. You may as well propose a review on the law of gravity given how many people hurt themselves tripping/falling. So the only way of improving the lot of some taxi drivers is to force others out of the business. This is the basic contradiction at the heart of the taxi drivers dispute.
And to be fair, many of the rest of your points are reasonable and well made. It's just that your basic gripe (i.e. driving a taxi is fundamentally different to the supply of consumer goods/services) is unfounded
On the first paragraph, drivers and driver unions have been actually asking for this and noting that changes and implementation of standards were needed for several years now in other to allow drivers to maintain some degree of net income and to improve the standard of driver out there. A trawl through the archives of sites like Boards.ie will show you pages and pages of drivers who have been saying as such for some years now. To look at the first pages of the recent Goodbody Report tells us that many drivers are working over the EU directive week of 48 hours, and that drivers incomes are down by 5% since 2005 (Page 8), even with fare revisions and working longer hours (Again, Page 8). This shows that the State even has accepted this as fact and yet Kathleen fiddles as Rome burns.
The mentality of needing more taxis on the road on the sole or primary premise of having to wait longer coming home on a Saturday has been taken (And still is, let it be noted) to the max now and notwithstanding the current economic strife in the Nation, it is at the complete detriment of the other 100 hours of the week. This is just not sound rational economics no matter how you look at it. While I am in agreement that part time workers are essential in the trade, the problem here is once again, some proper regulation of what is going on and how many at any one time. Somebody make the point about Tesco's opening more tills if it's busy; Tesco's may well have this staff on other duties packing shelves or in the stores for the rest of the day and they are called into assist if needed; Tescos may well just give them 10 hours work a week and they do not pay them for 30 hours on the off chance it gets busy and they certainly won't open a shop to trade for just 6 hours a week or when the GAA finals are on
But overall, Tesco's have people on top to make these calls. In the taxi industry, nobody is there to look out for the markets punters or workers and manage it as best they can.
On your last point, Jim; most drivers are unable to leave the industry due to social welfare so there is no mechanism for drivers to leave the trade. As such there is no means for this "market will level out" economic principle to actually take place; this has been well thrashed out and not dealt with by the State.0 -
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5 Out of all the people arguing that taxi driving is like any other business, only ONE has come up with a business that is price regulated ( energy supply ) and that isn't the same, as energy supply can be to multiple customers at the same time, taxis are one customer at a time, many people have said that business's are price capped by supply and demand, OK goes back to point 1 let the taxis set their own rates, if you want taxi driving to be run under free economy rukes then make it a free economy, I'll compete willingly, but if you're not prepared to allow us to encompass free economy then admit ( even if it's to yourself ) the taxi industry is different
- While energy supply can be sent to multiple customers at the same time, there is still a finite capacity - the grid is only designed to handle so much at any one time.
- Telecoms are price regulated -- and there is cell-capacity in a similar sense.
- Taxis can set their own rate -- up to a specific cap. I do agree that they need to be allowed to advertise this better.
More to follow, but I'm tired and I need my strength to try and avoid snotty bastards sneezing and coughing all over me in the cab
That and go and make a fortune anywhere the lazy-ass bus drivers aren't doing their job? 0 -
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