Taxi Drivers

suirfire

Feel free to delete this thread but I have to say what gives the taxi drivers the right to block up the whole town and cause a traffic jam like the did today. yes I know we are all finding it difficult to make a living these days and I ask the question how long have you waited for a taxi some days ?? I think we can do with some more at key times I am not try to take anything away from the taxi drivers and I will support anyone's cause but when it takes you 25 mins to get from city square to ballybricken :mad: because the taxi drivers have the whole place blocked up and I am sure the rest of the town ground to a halt as well but lads could you do something else rather than bring a city to a stand still at lunch hour ?????

Baby4

This post has been deleted.

ziedth

I must admit I wasn't in town myself yesterday but I heard it was chaos.
I'm all for striking when you feel hard done by and TBF to Taxi drivers the situation with parking and how they just give out licences to anyone is a bit mad.

BUT, I would never support disrupting local people/business. The city centre is in enough **** without people being forced out of town or stuck in town saying they will never go in again. IMO its being very single minded on their part.

Cabaal

Nobody is forcing the Taxci's to all hang around the same area there are plenty of taxi ranks around the city that the taxi's never hang around

ziedth

Cabaal wrote: »

Nobody is forcing the Taxci's to all hang around the same area there are plenty of taxi ranks around the city that the taxi's never hang around

Well said.

robtri

I think its a disgrace, especially at the weekend night, it has taken over an hour to get a taxi at a rank.....
you don't see me protesting there isn't enough taxis.....

KingLoser

How about we do a citizen's protest and like... stand around and loiter in their Taxi spaces.

Cabaal

KingLoser wrote: »

How about we do a citizen's protest and like... stand around and loiter in their Taxi spaces.

sounds like a plan, could do it flash mob style

baronflyguy

personally I think they will lose public support by disrupting other people by doing what they did. If their dispute is with the city council then they should be standing outside the city council offices with picket signs. Causing traffic jams and peeving off people is a stupid strategy.

It would be interesting to do a poll and see what people thought of the taxi protest the other day, would they support them after doing it or be peeved off that they interrupted other peoples lives and businesses.

Just my 2 cents.

Cabaal

Just thinking if you did a protest with people the Gardai could move you off the road if you were walking, what we need are bikes and people cycling very very slowly infront of taxi's as they try get out of the middle of town

meldrew

Maybe I'm picking it up wrong but they're protesting against themselves basically because theres too many of them , I still cant get me head around that !

merlante

meldrew wrote: »

Maybe I'm picking it up wrong but they're protesting against themselves basically because theres too many of them , I still cant get me head around that !

The city council doles out Taxi licences. Prior to deregulation, these licences were restricted and there weren't enough taxis on the road, so the situation was changed. Now it's the opposite problem, the city council are giving out licences left, right and centre and people are flooding into the industry from places that have laid people off. Since fare prices are fixed, the more taxis the less fares, the longer the hours worked. Taxis who got a good wage working 39 hrs a few years ago are now struggling whilst working longer hours.

There are too many of them and they are destroying each other. Think one loaf of bread, 20 starving people. A solution would be to put a temporary moratorium on the granting of taxi licences -- since people coming in will be no better off anyway, and panic levels might die down.

To be honest, I'm surprised people are talking about empty ranks. Any night I'm around town (where I live) you might find 20 or 30 taxis in the apple market alone with no sign of a fare in sight. I'm thinking we might emerge from this recession with a unique taxi driver breed that has survived a darwinian selection process!

ziedth

merlante wrote: »

To be honest, I'm surprised people are talking about empty ranks. Any night I'm around town (where I live) you might find 20 or 30 taxis in the apple market alone with no sign of a fare in sight. I'm thinking we might emerge from this recession with a unique taxi driver breed that has survived a darwinian selection process!

That is an epic way of putting it but I disagree in regard to empty ranks, Come the time the Teenies and Old wans ooze out of rubys and they het their kebab its chaos looking for a cab.

I live out in Kilmacthomas, Now I know this is going off topic a little but we have had no end of hassle from cabbies who we ask to bring us out there becasue they will loose fairs. The ones who don't b!tch we give a tip too. I do understand but IIRC they have to take a fair within 20 miles or there abouts.

baronflyguy

how about the taxi people reinvent themselves, such as offer loyality cards or something and give discounts to customers. Be open minded and think outside the box.



I have heard numerous times on the radio from the taxi regulator that taxi drivers and customers CAN haggle a price. If you want to win business you build up a loyal customer base. They will then always use you, business comes to you.

This has been discussed before on askaboutmoney
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=100285

chrism2007

the question is did it achieve anything.

well if there aim was to turn the public against them, maybe they did.

snuggles09

I was raging..was late picking up child from school..they kept coming through the traffic lights when they were red so no one could move and there were approx 30+ of them in a row all going through red light...guard was standing accross road staring at them and did nothing..i was fuming..people were beeping horns but they thought it was in support.it was so they'd get out of the bloody way!!:mad::mad:

JohnC.

Despite all the talk of too many taxis, I'd bet none of them want to be the first ones to leave.

freebird23

those guys picked the worst time to do there feet stamping. kids needing to be picked up from school and all the rest. there have been many times i have travled the same distance at the same time at night and the fare is diffrent taxi drivers (not all but some) need to wake up to the fact that its the public that pay there wage and what they done is not good pr for them, another case of trowing there toys out of there prams

Psychedelic

merlante wrote: »

The city council doles out Taxi licences. Prior to deregulation, these licences were restricted and there weren't enough taxis on the road, so the situation was changed. Now it's the opposite problem, the city council are giving out licences left, right and centre and people are flooding into the industry from places that have laid people off.

No you're wrong, it's not the City Council who give out the licenses, it's the regulator. It used to be the City Council, and they showed restraint with the amount of licenses they issued, but since deregulation it's the regulator issuing licenses to anyone who can afford them.

merlante

Psychedelic wrote: »

No you're wrong, it's not the City Council who give out the licenses, it's the regulator. It used to be the City Council, and they showed restraint with the amount of licenses they issued, but since deregulation it's the regulator issuing licenses to anyone who can afford them.

I thought the city council still have input in to the process. They set an exam too, don't they? To determine Waterford city knowledge. The test doesn't change very often, allegedly, and the taxi drivers were sore because non-nationals were given the answers for the test. They, again allegedly, got the test changed, and on the day the test was changed all the non-nationals apparently got up and walked out as soon as they say the test.

Accusations of racism aside, this sort of thing only making things worse.

merlante

baronflyguy wrote: »

how about the taxi people reinvent themselves, such as offer loyality cards or something and give discounts to customers. Be open minded and think outside the box.

Oh believe me, they are. They do loyalty schemes of a sort. If you get their card and use them frequently, they will give you a discount. If you asked them for a further discount, they would probably give it to you. I was getting taxis every day for a few months before Christmas so I saw what was going on.

I had one taxi that charged me about 2+ euros below the rate and promised he'd always switch off the meter a mile or so before the destination, if I'd use him again. I had the whole sob story about the job being lost and having the wife and kids to look after, etc., and he wasn't joking either. There is real desperation out there.

Another taxi driver I used frequently was working 60 hours a week to make the same money he was before. I know times are hard for everyone, but 60 hours in a car every week, that's tough.

One thing I cannot and will not forgive taxi drivers for though, and will oppose them to the last, is giving them a rank in JR square. It makes me mad just thinking about it.

Psychedelic

merlante wrote: »

I thought the city council still have input in to the process. They set an exam too, don't they? To determine Waterford city knowledge. The test doesn't change very often, allegedly, and the taxi drivers were sore because non-nationals were given the answers for the test. They, again allegedly, got the test changed, and on the day the test was changed all the non-nationals apparently got up and walked out as soon as they say the test.

Accusations of racism aside, this sort of thing only making things worse.

I'm not sure about the test to be honest, but I assume the City Council do have an input in the test, but it's definitely the regulator who actually issues the licenses. Well that's what someone working in City Council explained to me last year anyway, when the first protests over car spaces were taking place.

I never heard about the issue with non nationals and the test. If that is true that the Council were giving out answers then that is bad form.

merlante

Psychedelic wrote: »

I'm not sure about the test to be honest, but I assume the City Council do have an input in the test, but it's definitely the regulator who actually issues the licenses. Well that's what someone working in City Council explained to me last year anyway, when the first protests over car spaces were taking place.

I never heard about the issue with non nationals and the test. If that is true that the Council were giving out answers then that is bad form.

Well I have no idea who was supposed to be giving out the answers...