brick?

­PHC
magazine
18 | November 2016
­ news | black cabs told to cut night rates
Taxis told to slash night fares
to compete with minicabs
LONDON’S BLACK CABS have been told to cut the fares they
charge at night, “to have any chance of fighting back” against
the capital’s private hire trade.
A new report, called “Saving The Black Cab”, by the Capital City
Foundation (CCF) think-tank has concluded that taxis must also
address a range of topics, including: “meter anxiety” felt by customers
on longer cab journeys and the “inflation busting” annual
fare rise, in order to: “Stop trade haemorrhaging from one of London’s
best loved symbols”.
It added: “According to Uber, it’s busiest time in London is when
the bars close. At the same time, the streets of the West End are
full of black taxis driving around with their yellow lights on, very
visible symbols of how they have priced themselves out of the
market.”
CFF want Transport for London (TfL) to take action against Uber
and enforce a greater level of compliance, with regards to the
app-service’s high accident rate and alleged inadequate vetting
of drivers.
The report, written by
LBC radio presenter Nick
Ferrari, found that taxis
had, “Priced themselves
out of the night time cab
trade because of their prohibitive
post-10pm premium
on fares”.
The study said that the
number of hackney carriage
journeys had, “fallen
off a cliff” and was down by
a third in the last two years.
Mr Ferrari has called for
the scrapping of the Tariff
Three cab fare rate for journeys between 10pm and 5am, which
means that a taxi fare can cost up to twice as much as the same
trip in a licensed private hire vehicle.
For example, a typical six mile journey home in a black cab at
11pm will cost around £25.60 compared to £13 to £17 for a vehicle
taken through the Uber app. The late night Tariff 3 rate is between
45 per cent and 60 per cent more than the standard day
rate and has shot up since the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association
(LTDA) complained there was no incentive for hackney cabbies
to work anti-social hours.
The CCF report by Mr Ferrari also calls for London mayor Sadiq
Khan to threaten to refuse to renew Uber’s licence next year, unless
the company agrees to pay more tax to cover the cost of
maintaining the road network in the capital.
The LBC presenter said: “London risks losing yet another thing
which makes it different, special and civilised; the world’s best
taxis. But to survive, cabbies must change. They need to out-compete
Uber, not just demand that someone must make the competition
go away.
“Uber in London is popular and here to stay. Yet as we show, it
also has a dark side. Letting it control the taxi market wouldn’t be
good for Uber users, black cab users or the vast majority of Londoners,
who seldom use either.”
A spokesman for Uber said: “We believe there’s room for both
Uber and black cabs on London’s roads. However, it’s disappointing
that many of this report’s claims about Uber are wrong
or simply based on a trawl of the internet.”
Steve McNamara of the LTDA said: “We accept that the cab trade
has a role to play in safe-guarding its own future. However, it’s important
to note that our fares are set by TfL, so our hands are tied.
“The report’s findings also support our stance on the private hire
industry. Whilst there is a place for Uber in London, better regulation
is needed to ensure the benefit it brings are not outweighed
by the costs, an increasing number of accidents,
growing congestion and poor treatment of its drivers.”
INTERNET COMMENT
Paul
A taxi costs around £42,000
and has six disabled features,
including wheelchair
ramp, hearing aid loop and
high visibility seats as well
as space for an assistance
animal. This, along with a
special turning circle mean
that the fares set by TfL are
based on these costs of the
vehicle. The only way to reduce
costs is to lose the
disabled access and drive a
different cab. This is why
taxis cannot compete on price. But, equality costs and unless the
Government gives a subsidy, disabled access will be lost.
‘Leicester Square to Islington? That’ll be £1,000 darling - without a tip of course!’
BigMouthStruckAgain
My last experience in a black taxi involved being told about the
driver’s extreme right-wing views, how he voted Leave (in the EU
referendum) and didn’t want any refugees in the UK, (ie; that we
should ignore international law and basic human decency). Needless
to say, I got out and took the Tube instead.
Sure, there are a minority of decent cabbies, who the loudmouthed,
aggressive and eternally ultra-right-wing gobsh*tes
have done no favours. But, when every encounter you have with
these badly-driven, pollution-spewing vehicles and their ranty,
frequently (allegedly) fraudulent drivers is just awful, then people
aren’t going to keep taking black taxis in the hope that they’ll get
in one of the rare ones driven by a civilised human being.
I support my friendly, polite and well-driven local minicab firm,
take trains, buses, cycle or drive myself now. Black cabs and the
tax-dodging, employment-violating Uber can both kiss my arse.