Taxi Service In Ireland

Volvoboy

What do you think of the taxi service in Ireland today?

8 Years ago the industry was de-regulated, now in Dublin alone the taxi numbers have gone up from 2,700 to 15,000.


And it has become quantity not quality.


Whats your view on taxis in modern day Ireland?

BroomBurner

Volvoboy wrote: »

And it has become quantity not quality

It was never a quality service. Ever.

Deregulation was the best thing to happen to the taxi servive for the punter, but not for the drivers. As a punter, you can guess which side of the fence I'm on.

anti-venom

BroomBurner wrote: »

It was never a quality service. Ever.

Deregulation was the best thing to happen to the taxi servive for the punter, but not for the drivers. As a punter, you can guess which side of the fence I'm on.

Agreed. There is one route that I frequently take - five or six times a week at least - and the fares can vary in difference anything up to to six euro despite the volume of traffic and speed of journey. I won't say that all taxi drivers are rip off merchants but, as a profession, it seems to be littered with assholes.:mad:

Volvoboy

anti-venom wrote: »

Agreed. There is one route that I frequently take - five or six times a week at least - and the fares can vary in difference anything up to to six euro despite the volume of traffic and speed of journey. I won't say that all taxi drivers are rip off merchants but, as a profession, it seems to be littered with assholes.:mad:

Well its like everything else, assholes you'd get them in every profession.

There is a majority of good hard working honest taxi drivers, but people always remember the bad not the good.

Love2love

I heard something on the radio this morning about Irish taxi drivers putting bumper stickers with 100% Irish on it so people will choose them over foreign drivers. Controversial move??

pseudonym1

Deregulation has destroyed any credibility of the taxi industry.

Max_Damage

It need a major overhaul to drivers and cars.

Love2love wrote: »

I heard something on the radio this morning about Irish taxi drivers putting bumper stickers with 100%

I for one agree with this.

Volvoboy

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055381472
^
Already a conflab about the 100% Irish taxi drivers.

Looking at the whole industry, Cars/drivers.

taidghbaby

Love2love wrote: »

I heard something on the radio this morning about Irish taxi drivers putting bumper stickers with 100% Irish on it so people will choose them over foreign drivers. Controversial move??

in my experience its the oirish ones which are more likely to try and rip you off!!

OPENROAD

Volvoboy wrote: »

.


And it has become quantity not quality.

Actually slightly disagree with you the quality has got SLIGHTLY better from what it was, but such a long way to go, Dublin taxi cars per se don't offer value for money. Cars tend to be cramped. You still get cars pulling up on ranks, you give your destination and they turn round and tell you they are only going the other side of the city. Taxi car in Dublin don't use their taxi lights, ie. if I am in London I know exactly if a car is free or not here it is a lottery, if you are free turn your lights on, if you are not turn them off PLEASE.

Some drivers do make an effort and have clean comfortable cars and won't engage you in conversation unless you want to but really on the whole, a lot of improvement needed.

WindSock

I don't care as long as I don't have to queue up for ages and get me from A - B (or C ) safely and without ripping me off.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I think the quality has suffered, I think confidence in both the customer and drivers has taken a nose dive since the introduction of a taxi regulator who appear's to aimlessly flap about spending tons of tax payers money on stupid radio and TV ads.

I also think security vetting should be tightened up, with a driver having at least a five year residency here in Ireland without criminal conviction - including serious traffic offences before being allowed sit the S.P.S.V. test.

Issuing of licences should be suspended for the moment until a proper government funded study of the industry is made. Most driver's I know are finding it genuinely very difficult to make a living from it, so things like servicing - renewing tyres and the general up keep of the vehicle goes on the long finger until the final days leading up to the NTC test. This is dangerous for the customer, the driver (who at the moment is probably working more than the legal amount of hours driving allowed to make a living) and its dangerous for other road users.

Instead of checking tax discs at checkpoints I think the police should check the driver's ID (both the one on the dash and his credit card sized one) and maybe given asking the customer if they're satisfied with the service/driver/vehicle.

I'll think of more over a few beers this evening.

towel401

Love2love wrote: »

I heard something on the radio this morning about Irish taxi drivers putting bumper stickers with 100% Irish on it so people will choose them over foreign drivers. Controversial move??

great idea! better chance of a good chat. i'd choose one of them over someone who didn't put the sticker on. yes i'm a racist bastard, very un-PC, against progress and I had a deep-fried baby for lunch but I have no shame.

taxis are extremely expensive. I only take them once or twice a year. less even. but they have a lot of costs so the prices are justified. They have a 9-year vehicle age limit. This pisses me off, my '91 Peugeot 405 is better than some of the abused & neglected 5 year old crap you see driving around the place over here.

Karoma

(d) It needs a major overhaul to drivers and cars - de-regulation was a damn good start though.