Time to standardise Taxi's in Dublin?

micosoft · 05-05-2013 9:51pm #1

Nissan's new Taxi. Standard in Tokyo, New York and soon London. EV version available soon. Looks very suitable for Dublin... would take a lot of the rubbish of the roads. We could start by forcing all Airport Cabs to be this type before rolling it out.

MagicMarker · 05-05-2013 9:54pm

While I like the idea of 'uniformed' taxis, now probably isn't the best time to force thousands of people to buy new cars at considerable cost. And let's face it, it's not really such an important issue.

foggy_lad · 05-05-2013 10:22pm

MagicMarker wrote: »

While I like the idea of 'uniformed' taxis, now probably isn't the best time to force thousands of people to buy new cars at considerable cost. And let's face it, it's not really such an important issue.

It would of course be phased in so you only need buy the new vehicle when your other car/van is knackered. Also the costs would be less as whoever makes these is going to be guaranteed a yearly number of sales so less hassle for the.

Cookie_Monster · 05-05-2013 10:28pm

should have been done decades ago. standard car in a standard colour.

_Kaiser_ · 05-05-2013 10:30pm

I'd have to agree.. the current free-for-all of taxis of all shapes, sizes and colours is ridiculous - especially given the unsuitability of a lot of these cars (small hatchbacks, jeeps etc)

And what's with this new door logo? Is that supposed to help matters? Nevermind that you can't see it until the car is beside you anyway, it has to be the worst idea for branding I've seen in a long time - who came up with the colour scheme for example?

Make all cars a single colour and preferably a single model, or at least a very short list of approved types.

Terrontress · 05-05-2013 10:31pm

You'd have to prove that one is better than the other. If the staneardised car is a Mondeo, who is to say that a Passat can't do the same job.

The authorities should concentrate on solving the very real issues with Dublin taxis and their drivers instead of creating arbitrary rules to enforce.

LordSutch · 05-05-2013 10:39pm

micosoft wrote: »

Time to standardise Taxi's in Dublin?

Yes indeedee, time to import the London Taxi (with a green paint job of course).

Very versatile vehicle, well designed as a TaXi, plus its built like a tank & it looks good.

_Kaiser_ · 05-05-2013 10:42pm

LordSutch wrote: »

Yes indeedee, time to import the London Taxi (with a green paint job of course).

Very versatile vehicle, well designed as a Taxi, plus its built like a tank & it looks good.

Patriotism aside, I don't think green is a good choice as most "standard" cars have a green option. You either pick a non-standard car like the London Taxi or you go with a "rare" colour (eg: NY yellow) - or both

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 5:27am

And what happens when these vehicles reach the now arbitrary age of retirement at 9 years? For example the taxi in LordSuch's post is 1997 vintage, as it stands now, not suitable for use as a taxi because of age.

The problem is that instead of actually listening to people in the business they invited a concoction of representatives from all walks of life and now we have a horse designed by a committee otherwise known as a camel.

Terrontress · 06-05-2013 6:57am

LordSutch wrote: »

Yes indeedee, time to import the London Taxi (with a green paint job of course).

Very versatile vehicle, well designed as a TaXi, plus its built like a tank & it looks good.

If you make such a vehicle compulsory and its manufacturers go bust, which I believe is imminent with LTI, then there will need to be a hasty rewriting of regs to allow different taxis on the road and those sitting in them might have trouble getting parts. What if in 2000 the standard taxi had been declared a Rover 75?

The TX4 is not the only cab in London. There have been Metrocabs for years, you still see the odd one, and there are lots of new Merc Vitos with rear wheel steering.

I'd argue for a Vito before the TX4 but who then is to say that a vw Trainspotter or Peugeot Partner is not up to the job?

mikemac1 · 06-05-2013 8:34am

During the daytime it's not possible to see if the taxi light is on so you hold out your arm and the taxi with a fare drives by.

Red & Green light in the front would be handy. I've seen some with it.
Until the journal.ie spun it as a racism issue. :rolleyes:
It's not, just something to help people on the street!

It'll help until standardized taxis arrive which is a long, long way off. Maybe a decade

bk · 06-05-2013 9:43am

Actually London doesn't have a single standard taxi. Instead what it has is a set of very strict regulations on what a taxi should be and only two or three vehicles manage to meet that criteria.

Such regulations for Irish Taxis would certainly be very welcome and would help remove a lot of the unsuitable and frankly embarrassing rubbish out there.

micosoft · 06-05-2013 12:16pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

And what happens when these vehicles reach the now arbitrary age of retirement at 9 years? For example the taxi in LordSuch's post is 1997 vintage, as it stands now, not suitable for use as a taxi because of age.

The problem is that instead of actually listening to people in the business they invited a concoction of representatives from all walks of life and now we have a horse designed by a committee otherwise known as a camel.

Did any of you read the actual post? This is a new standard taxi that after enormous time and investment has been selected as a standard Taxi in Tokyo, New York and London. It's much cheaper then the London TX taxi or Merc, very economical and an electric one is due out. It is designed from the ground up as a commercial taxi and is built to suit the customer. Do you really think it's just some random vehicle? If it's good enough for NT, TY & LDN it's good enough for us.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/nissan/59576/nissan-nv200-taxi

Nissan is not going anywhere and the reason for "arbitrary" retirement age is that Irish Taxi drivers use non-commercial vehicles - i.e. regular passenger cars which were NEVER designed for use as Taxis. If a commercial class vehicle was brought in such as the Nissan then it's about maintaining a commercial vehicle much like a bus and we can do away with that reg within reason.

Last but not least we need to listen to the customers which is what happens in every other business and pretty much ignore the people "in the business" as time and time again they have shown they don't care about the customer. In fact even when it's obvious it would benefit full time taxi drivers (hard to afford a custom taxi when you only work part time) you are still against. Is there anything the majority of taxi drivers are for??? (aside from changing the regs to suit themselves - e.g. clapped out bangers - and yes, any non-commercial passenger car is clapped out for taxi work after 9 years).

I also support requiring Taxi Drivers in Dublin doing "the knowledge" as part of a package to professionalise our Taxi fleet.

micosoft · 06-05-2013 12:17pm

bk wrote: »

Actually London doesn't have a single standard taxi. Instead what it has is a set of very strict regulations on what a taxi should be and only two or three vehicles manage to meet that criteria.

Such regulations for Irish Taxis would certainly be very welcome and would help remove a lot of the unsuitable and frankly embarrassing rubbish out there.

Indeed - Nissan had to change the front steering and widen the track a lot on their Taxi to make it turn as per regs.

Peugeot 206 anyone!

micosoft · 06-05-2013 12:21pm

Terrontress wrote: »

If you make such a vehicle compulsory and its manufacturers go bust, which I believe is imminent with LTI, then there will need to be a hasty rewriting of regs to allow different taxis on the road and those sitting in them might have trouble getting parts. What if in 2000 the standard taxi had been declared a Rover 75?

The TX4 is not the only cab in London. There have been Metrocabs for years, you still see the odd one, and there are lots of new Merc Vitos with rear wheel steering.

I'd argue for a Vito before the TX4 but who then is to say that a vw Trainspotter or Peugeot Partner is not up to the job?

It's called the Peugeot E7

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 3:24pm

The time to standardise taxis was 10 years ago, when there was money around to do it, in the current climate to spend upwards of 30000-40000 euro on a vehicle for 9 years is akin to business suicide

murphaph · 06-05-2013 5:36pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

The time to standardise taxis was 10 years ago, when there was money around to do it, in the current climate to spend upwards of 30000-40000 euro on a vehicle for 9 years is akin to business suicide

If it was compulsory it would reduce the number of taxis in total, leaving more customers for those who survived. Irish taxis can be extremely hit and miss. Whilst I don't advocate a single model I do advocate strict rules that would stop people using crap cars that you see now.

Uriel. · 06-05-2013 5:42pm

murphaph wrote: »

If it was compulsory it would reduce the number of taxis in total, leaving more customers for those who survived. Irish taxis can be extremely hit and miss. Whilst I don't advocate a single model I do advocate strict rules that would stop people using crap cars that you see now.

I love the odd "words" I've had to have at ranks for not using the next car in the queue. Yeah if I am paying €30 or more for a trip I'm gonna take that trip in the nicest car available no matter how much of a moan there is

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 5:49pm

murphaph wrote: »

If it was compulsory it would reduce the number of taxis in total, leaving more customers for those who survived. Irish taxis can be extremely hit and miss. Whilst I don't advocate a single model I do advocate strict rules that would stop people using crap cars that you see now.

If it were compulsary 10 years ago I could have thrown my hat in the ring with the best of them, the fact that only people who are working their taxis part time would be able to afford it now is a strange anomaly.

Maybe thats the way people want it to go, the taxis in corporate ownership and being driven by whoever is in need of a bit of pocket money, like asylum seekers/students/social welfare claimers etc.

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 5:51pm

Uriel. wrote: »

I love the odd "words" I've had to have at ranks for not using the next car in the queue. Yeah if I am paying €30 or more for a trip I'm gonna take that trip in the nicest car available no matter how much of a moan there is

Woukd certainly be interesting to see which taxis in the Q you took if they were all identical except for the age and the driver?

belcampprisoner · 06-05-2013 5:57pm

Nissan don't do many miles per gallon

taxis need to be electric or hybred

I don't think you should be forced to use just one company

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/i-left-my-hybrid-taxi-in-san-francisco

Uriel. · 06-05-2013 6:00pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

Woukd certainly be interesting to see which taxis in the Q you took if they were all identical except for the age and the driver?

The first most likely.
Thankfully the power to exercise choice still exists to some degree

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 6:45pm

Uriel. wrote: »

The first most likely.
Thankfully the power to exercise choice still exists to some degree

Why the caveat "Most kikely" surely the idea of stanardisation would be to relieve the stigma of choice (assuming that the SGS weren't passing out dilapedated heaps with torn seats etc. which they aren't supposed to be doing now anyway! )

Uriel. · 06-05-2013 9:24pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

Why the caveat "Most kikely" surely the idea of stanardisation would be to relieve the stigma of choice (assuming that the SGS weren't passing out dilapedated heaps with torn seats etc. which they aren't supposed to be doing now anyway! )

Not because of the car but if the driver had a swastika tattooed on his face or had some sort of agenda advertisement on his dashboard I might be less inclined. Might. Thankfully we don't usually see such thngs

But i will also add that having a standardised car still doesn't lead to full uniformity of standards. I see a huge difference in the way some drivers maintain their car compared to others.

Doom · 06-05-2013 9:29pm

I kid you not, I seen a 1984 Lada taxi in Limerick last year!!

Spook_ie · 06-05-2013 9:58pm

Uriel. wrote: »

Not because of the car but if the driver had a swastika tattooed on his face or had some sort of agenda advertisement on his dashboard I might be less inclined. Might. Thankfully we don't usually see such thngs

But i will also add that having a standardised car still doesn't lead to full uniformity of standards. I see a huge difference in the way some drivers maintain their car compared to others.

So (to the op) why would anyone bother with standardising then?

Ben D Bus · 06-05-2013 10:09pm

Uriel. wrote: »

I see a huge difference in the way some drivers maintain their car compared to others.

And in how they maintain themselves sometimes

But I do think that tighter standards for taxi vehicles would be good for the industry as well as the consumer. We could take the regulations off-the-shelf from a similarly sized city with a well functioning system and adjust to taste.

But certainly not a single vehicle - that's an invitation to price gouging.

Uriel. · 06-05-2013 11:24pm

Spook_ie wrote: »

So (to the op) why would anyone bother with standardising then?

For many reasons. Just cos we can't get you guys (generally) to act 100% for the customer doesn't mean we shouldn't try to move things in the right direction. But i am sure you'll die hard defend practices within the industry that aren't in the best interest of the customer (save where that interest mutually benefits you)

macsauce · 06-05-2013 11:30pm

What a stupid, wasteful endeavour it would be to force standardisation. Who cares what cities have it. The issue with Dublin taxis is maintenance not appearance. Standardisation will do nothing in the long run to improve this.

Spook_ie · 07-05-2013 2:44am

Uriel. wrote: »

For many reasons. Just cos we can't get you guys (generally) to act 100% for the customer doesn't mean we shouldn't try to move things in the right direction. But i am sure you'll die hard defend practices within the industry that aren't in the best interest of the customer (save where that interest mutually benefits you)

But is standardisation what you want? Do you want to travel in vehicle with high step if you are infirm, do you want to travel in an 8 seater taxi if you're on your own, do you want to travel in an interior that's related to Ryan Air

kingofslaves · 07-05-2013 3:19am

Spook_ie wrote: »

driven by whoever is in need of a bit of pocket money, like asylum seekers/students/social welfare claimers etc.

So you have proof students and social welfare claimers drive taxis then ? I'd imagine most of them couldn't afford the car, tax, insurance, licence, fuel etc. Asylum seekers would probably have a hard job getting even a driving licence tbh.

Edit: If you sought asylum after 26 July 1999, you are not entitled to work - from the citizen's information website.

Time to standardise Taxi's in Dublin?

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