Taxi plan to charge £5 before even moving

Taxi plan to charge £5 before even moving










By Richard Marsden
LATE-night black cab fares in Sheffield could rise to £5 before a wheel is turned as part of plans to encourage more drivers to work in the evenings rather than daytime.
An independent survey into taxi provision in the city,
commissioned in February, has found there are up to 100 more taxis than necessary plying for trade during the day - leading to congestion around taxi ranks at Barker's Pool and outside Midland Station.

What do you think of paying £5 before your taxi even moves? Add your comment below.

Vehicles driving around the city looking for custom also cause extra pollution and congestion.

Ruling Labour councillors also want to bring back a limit on the number of vehicle licences - which has almost trebled from 300 to more than 800 since restrictions were abolished by the Lib Dems in 2000.

Labour does not want many further black cabs on the road than those which already have, or whose owners are applying for, licences. The restriction would only apply to Hackney carriages, not private hire vehicles or drivers asking for a licence.

Sheffield Council leader Jan Wilson said the proposal for a limit is against the conclusion of the independent report but she said doing nothing - as recommended - would be the "easiest option".

She said: "At the moment, there is surplus capacity. We are looking at a limit similar to the total number of taxis currently on the streets."

Coun Wilson said the council does not want to force black cabs off the streets but
persuade drivers to "work at
times when there is greater demand".

Some drivers are currently reluctant to work late because they only earn an extra 50 pence per journey.

But Coun Wilson said providing an additional fare band, possibly starting after midnight and charging a minimum of £5, may provide a financial incentive for drivers to change their hours.

Currently, the minimum fare is £2.50 in the day and £3 in the evenings and overnight. The council is also proposing that more cabs should have CCTV but has not announced how this would be funded.

Proposals to limit the number of black cabs will be voted on at a meeting of Sheffield Council's cabinet next Wednesday before a final decision is made by the full council in January.

A decision on changes to the minimum fare would have to be decided by the council's licensing committee.

Here is an interesting quote from Sheffield Forum

[QUOTE=redrobbo;2905546]
It will not be my intention to personally comment on any proposed new night-time rate - as that would compromise my position on the Licensing Board. However, I will take note of views expressed on this thread.

What I do want to do is explain what this news story in The Star is all about.

Some years ago the council lifted the limitation on the number of taxis operating in the city. There were then about 300 taxis. There are now about 800.

The taxi trade associations and individual licensed drivers have petitioned the council to re-impose a limitation. They claim that there are far too many taxis trying to earn a living from too few passengers. There also expressed concerns about the limited number of approved taxi ranks and other issues.

The petition was sent to the Licensing Board for consideration. The issues raised in the petition were too many for the Licensing Board to consider, so it next went to a Scrutiny Board for detailed examination and consideration - where it was decided that a user survey should take place (nb this is a legal requirement when considering limitation). That survey has now been completed.

So, what's in the survey report? I have earlier this week received a briefing on the survey report, and I understand that it shows that there are no significant delays encountered in obtaining a taxi - except at certain peak times of demand, mainly late Fri & Sat nights going into the early hours of Sat & Sun mornings.

The council now has to form a decision on the survey report after Cabinet has first met and made its own recommendations. I cannot pre-empt what Cabinet may recommend to council, but one consideration is to re-impose a limitation on the number of taxi badges that can be issued. Other cities, for excample, have lifted their limitations and then re-imposed them at a later date. It avoids saturation of taxis driving around contributing to air pollution for example.

In respect of taxi charges, there are, as another poster has already explained, two rates currently in operation, a day-time and a night-time charge (plus a differential charge on certain bank holidays, e.g., Christmas and New Year). It is being suggested that a new charging band be implemented, possibly after midnight, as an encouragement to get more taxi drivers to work late at night - when, as the survey has shown, there is a shortfall in available taxi drivers to meet demand. This aspect of the survey report will be considered at a Licensing Board policy meeting.

The survey shows that 23% of taxi drivers have concerns about working late at night, due to a perceived increased risk of attack, assault, verbal abuse and other problems. I am personally promoting that the recent, and very successfull, piloting of cctv cameras in cabs should now be considered as a mandatory licensing condition. Since I mentioned this on another thread recently, I have received a PM informing me of the potentially high costs involved.

So, there are a number of matters that arise from the survey report, including the central question of reimposing a limitation on the number of taxi badges issued, air quality, driver safety, and potential financial inducement to encouragement to get more drivers to work at unsocial hours.

SF is a great source to glean views on these issues, so please keep posting your opinions folks - and I shall continue reading them.[/QUOTE]

I've followed redrobbo's posts and thought , well this guy knows what he's talking about. Now I found out why from that Hailrape thread on SF and this fare increase thingy. Fare increase is to a minimum like that is going to hurt you guys more. The papers make a big deal out of it but do we know what the actual propsals are?