4. Developing the Taxi Transformation Plan - SPAD

Raising vehicle and driver quality requirements is likely to suppress the number of new licence
applications coming forward as the requirements will be increasingly stringent. This in addition
to the forecast population growth and evolving role of the taxi market as a result of improved
LPT will result in a shift towards equilibrium.
In order to inform future policy and to understand the evolving relationship between supply
and demand it is recommended that regular data collection exercises should be introduced.
These should take the form of surveys of household travel habits including taxi trips and
surveys measuring demand including on street surveys of hiring activity and reporting from
telephone operators on the demand for services.
4.3.2) Enhanced Industry Standards and Expectations
There is an existing charter which sets out how taxi drivers/operators are required to
act/operate along with the levels of service that customers can expect. It is recommended
that this charter must be enhanced and enforced in order to reduce the current levels of
„cherry-picking‟ documented by the public feedback in Chapter 2. In order to achieve this
there must be a requirement to ensure that when at a rank the taxi must pick up the first
passenger in a queue and be obliged to transport them to the destination specified regardless
if this is a short fare or into a congested area. This will be a key message the drivers and
operators will be required to sign up to as part of their licence agreement. Linked to this
requirement must be effective enforcement, performance management and public and trade
education, (see initiatives under other objectives). This is a key requirement for the London
taxi industry and helps ensure the public have confidence in the industry.
4.3.3) Transition to Operator Based Licensing
SPAD are currently in the process of moving all individual taxi vehicle licences to operator
licences. This process will be completed by the end of 2011. There will be an ongoing
requirement for all those owning taxis to obtain a vehicle and an operator licence from 2012.
In addition drivers must obtain their driver‟s card as per the existing situation. There is
currently a freeze on new operator licences until 2012 until the process is complete. In order
to become an operator, individuals will be required to obtain two vehicles. This additional
requirement will form part of the required increase in quality restriction. It is anticipated the
move to operator based licensing will facilitate greater accountability and assist SPAD in the
monitoring of drivers and vehicles.
4.3.4) Fares and Fare Review Mechanism
The fare structure with a flag fee followed by increments for set time and distance is a
universally accepted method of structuring a fare. It is recommended that the fare structure
be maintained with some minor modifications to address current identified issues.
The public and operator feedback has highlighted an issue with telephone bookings and the
reluctance of drivers to take these fares. One method of encouraging telephone bookings to be
met is by increasing the booking fee associated with the fare. Currently this is set at RM3 and
it is recommended that a series of public attitude surveys are undertaken to establish how far
this fee could be increased without suppressing demand.
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