Don’t deregulate (York)

Don’t deregulate
By Reader's letter
Comment | http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/news/readersletters/display.var.1581251.0.dont_deregulate.php

I OBTAINED my hackney licence in 1956. Between 1956 and 1962, York hackney carriages were deregulated.

Rowntree, Terry's and Holgate carriageworks car parks were full of taxis parked up while the drivers were doing a shift.

After work, the drivers came out on to the streets and worked the taxis. You couldn't earn a living driving a taxi.


The police informed the council that too many accidents were occurring which involved taxis driven by drivers too tired to drive as they had been on shift at Rowntrees or wherever.

A council meeting was held and the members decided to limit the number of taxis to 100, and to be a York taxi driver you had to do the job full time.

The 100 limit was attained very quickly as those with jobs at Rowntree and so forth handed their taxi plates in.

The factory pay was better, the 100 taxi drivers left could make a living wage and passengers arrived safely in taxis driven by drivers who had not done a day's work before they started.

Don't deregulate York taxis or history will repeat itself and public safety will again be at risk.

M E Lancaster, Acomb Road, York.




REGARDING the deregulation of taxis, not one person has so far addressed the problem of horse excrement.

By deregulating hackney carriages we would be opening up the whole of York to more horse and carriages because they too would be entitled to the rulings.

Are we not all fed up with horse excrement just dumped around our inner city streets?

Can you just imagine how much more there would be if it was a free for all? That would be a really great image for tourists visiting the city.

How many times in the past have we read articles in The Press complaining about this matter?

I know we want to make York a greener city, but encouraging more horse and carriages is not the way forward.

Don't deregulate.

M Nixon, Beckitt Drive, York.