SPSV test

Taxipete29

Didnt want to start a new thread as its quite relevant to this one.

Frank Fahy( Chairman of the Oireachtas commitee on Transport) was on George Hook earlier. They are making their recommendations to the Minister on the Taxi industry. These are all-party recommendations so will carry more weight.

They include:

3 year moratorium on licences( except wheelchair accesible ones)
No more renting of plates except where driver is off the road and needs replacement vehicle.
Gardai to be put in charge of enforcement in the industry
County of licence to be displayed on signs.
Licensed operators for making roof signs
Regulator to buy back plates at purchase price to control who get a plate.
Interviews to be conducted with perspective drivers.
Drivers must speak fluent English.

Ham'nd'egger

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Didnt want to start a new thread as its quite relevant to this one.

Frank Fahy( Chairman of the Oireachtas commitee on Transport) was on George Hook earlier. They are making their recommendations to the Minister on the Taxi industry. These are all-party recommendations so will carry more weight.

From http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=12573

Legislation which would establish a three year moratorium on issuing of taxi licenses should be introduced urgently, while any new applicants for taxi licenses must prove their proficiency in English the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport has said today (23rd).

These proposals are among the eleven recommendations1 issued by the Committee today following the conclusion of its lengthy examination of the taxi industry. During the course of its inquiry the Committee met with the Taxi Regulator, Taxi Driver Unions and the authors of a review of the Taxi industry.

The recommendations have been sent to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD for his consideration.

The Committee also suggests that extra ranks be provided to replace the current inadequate ones; that the practice of renting or leasing licences be discontinued; insurances certificates be checked in “real time” to reduce the number of fraudulent certificates and that new applicants undergo a test equal to or exceeding the standard needed to acquire an Irish driving licence.

Committee Chairman Frank Fahey TD said "Over the course of the last few months we have held a series of meetings with the various players in the Irish taxi industry. We have found an industry, which the Committee feels needs change and better regulation.

We feel standards must be improved within the sector to ensure that consumers are provided with a higher quality, more efficient and superior service. The Committee believes that the introduction of a three year freeze in licenses is the best way to do this.

Such a move would enable the Taxi Regulator and the Gardaí to better regulate the industry, reduce the instances of fraud, improve the quality of vehicles and ensure all drivers are suitably qualified. At present, it seems that no proper system of control or supervision of the industry exists, meaning that the service to the public is not what it should be.

A moratorium would also address the strong body of evidence which indicates that there is a surplus of taxis in some areas.

The Committee hopes the Minister will carefully consider the proposals with a view to implementing them as quickly as possible."

steph1

Just reading David John Drum's posts there and I can agree with a lot of what he says.
I drive a taxi in Ballina Co. Mayo. Now most of my custom is like yourself local. I would get runs to small towns like Foxford and Kilalla and Crossmolina and of course we get runs to Castlebar to the hospital and Knock Airport (if we are very lucky).
Now Mayo is a big county and other towns like Westport, Claremorris, Ballinrobe etc are all a good hour's drive away. I have been to a lot of these towns as I play golf so know the county quite well but would I hell know all the names of the streets in say Claremorris or even Castlebar. Why would I know them? I very rarely get fares to there and if I do they are usually prebooked and the person is sober (not like at night) and knows where they are going.
Its very unfair to expect drivers to know all of this. Naturally we 'acquire' knowledge each day we do this job. Even here in Ballina when I go out to some of the country areas people ask me do I know such and such a place or such and such a person's house :eek:.
Whatever about Dublin (and I am a Dub) and Cork and Waterford etc where there are more hotels, guesthouses, and whatever other facilities and establishments I find here that I am constantly going on the same journeys every night. I will worry about the streets in Westport when I am lucky enough to get a fare to it and in fairness most people we would be bringing to a town like Westport are usually going to hotels or weddings or parties so its easy enough to find the places. Its when you have to bring someone who is a bit under the weather or falls asleep in the taxi and they live out in the middle of nowhere - thats when the problems start.

mikemac

David John Drum wrote: »

Thanks very much I printed your list. Other questions..Excel cinema Tipp. town...Mitchel St.. Which town Sean Treacy Park...Tipperary.Council offices Nenagh..Banba Sq.( hard to find on map ).Nearest town to Glen of Aherlow..Tipperary .Trouble is they will change questions everytime.If I can think of anymore I will let you know.
P.S. I read your list and I thought Minella Hotel is Colville Rd. not Old Spa.

Main council offices in Nenagh are on the Limerick Road, not Banba Sq.:)
Hard to miss, they only cost 27 million! Look great though, a pic here:
http://www.tipperarynorth.ie/

Besides, I suprised Tipp North and Tipp South are on the same test, I would have though it'd be two separate counties for administrative purposes as they do with many other offical stuff

David John Drum

Is there any difference between the town hall and the council offices ?

kajo

Is the swapping of the test questions defeating the purpose?
How long will it be before all questions and answers are found out and put on paper re the psv training scam all over again?
We all know you could buy the questions and answers to the old test in Evening Herald under the heading psv training.
Would it not be wise for the taxi regulator to have say 12 possible sets of tests and that change each month and are totally discarded after year 1 then add another 12.

Do we want to go back down the same old road again?
Do we want a quality efficient service worth investing our money into or do we want more of what we have now?

I want to say driving a truck is not the same as driving a taxi you have time on your hands to find the place you want on the other hand we have seconds to plan a route.

Not to take anything away from the skill of driving a truck but it is different.
The years driving a taxi should stand to you.. any reason why you did not renew your licence?

To be honest i dont think there is a limit to applying for the psv test and that is something that needs to be fixed quick.

Even the worse driver in the world can have a good day and pass a test.... we need to make sure the public are safe and stop people making more than 3 applications to do the psv test.

David John Drum

The taxi reg says that if your licence is Tipperary you can ply for hire anywhere in the county and therefore require area knowledge.My side of the story is everything revolves around taxi. In our office we are all hackney and most work is done within a 5 mile radius. If I was to to ply for hire with a taxi I would not drive 50 miles to do it.This requirement for a dispatch operators licence is over the top and I understand is being challenged by some Limerick offices.The taxi reg is being challenged anyway, see yesterday's paper and about 3 threads back about Dept.of Transport etc.They have made a complete mess of things and no doubt employed expensive consultants to do it.

David John Drum

mikemac wrote: »

Main council offices in Nenagh are on the Limerick Road, not Banba Sq.:)
Hard to miss, they only cost 27 million! Look great though, a pic here:
http://www.tipperarynorth.ie/

Besides, I suprised Tipp North and Tipp South are on the same test, I would have though it'd be two separate counties for administrative purposes as they do with many other offical stuff

Mikemac..could you please clarify a point for me ?...Page 88 in the new manual for the spsv industry quotes sample questions.."Where is Nenagh Town Hall located?" the selected answers are..McDonagh St.,Banba Sq.,Sarsfield St. or Kenyon St.? Are you saying it is none of these and in fact Limerick Rd. ?

smithy1981

David John Drum wrote: »

Mikemac..could you please clarify a point for me ?...Page 88 in the new manual for the spsv industry quotes sample questions.."Where is Nenagh Town Hall located?" the selected answers are..McDonagh St.,Banba Sq.,Sarsfield St. or Kenyon St.? Are you saying it is none of these and in fact Limerick Rd. ?

Town hall is in banba st, council is on limerick road. Council moved from banba street to limerick road in 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nenagh#Town_Hall

geraid

hi i'm doing the spsv test tomorrow and i've only started revising the manual and dvd tonight am i on a hiding to nothing i'm presuming its not too easy if the pass rate is 1 per 100 tests does anyone have any tips at this late stage

mark2000ie

geraid wrote: »

hi i'm doing the spsv test tomorrow and i've only started revising the manual and dvd tonight am i on a hiding to nothing i'm presuming its not too easy if the pass rate is 1 per 100 tests does anyone have any tips at this late stage

What area are you doing it for?

Howyadoing

irisheyes12 wrote: »

due to sit my 2nd exam thursday but am a bit worried as pass rate only 1 in 100 anybody bother complaining to the regulator dont know how people are getting past it living in dublin all my life and studied hard for first test 95% first part but only 66% 2nd thought done much better no way of checking your answers not very transperent????????????????????:mad::mad::mad:

i have just found out that the regulator is coverd under the freedom of information act, and have sent them a couple of emails about getting the full breakdown of test results including all questions and awnsers right and wrong ones. i have had no reply as of yet but would encouarge all others to make contact with them about this point and it might get a response out of them. please let me know if anyone gets any joy on this.:rolleyes:

Ham'nd'egger

Howyadoing wrote: »

i have just found out that the regulator is coverd under the freedom of information act, and have sent them a couple of emails about getting the full breakdown of test results including all questions and awnsers right and wrong ones. i have had no reply as of yet but would encouarge all others to make contact with them about this point and it might get a response out of them. please let me know if anyone gets any joy on this.:rolleyes:

As the tests are farmed out, the private company won't be covered by FOI though they would be covered under Data Protection Laws. They will doubtless hide behind "Commercial Sensitivity" as a reason not to divulge info made available to bidders for the testing operations but a visit to the Ombudsman would sort that out easy enough

mark2000ie

Howyadoing wrote: »

i have just found out that the regulator is coverd under the freedom of information act, and have sent them a couple of emails about getting the full breakdown of test results including all questions and awnsers right and wrong ones. i have had no reply as of yet but would encouarge all others to make contact with them about this point and it might get a response out of them. please let me know if anyone gets any joy on this.:rolleyes:

Whats bugging me is these extra 4 questions that are not taking into consideration for the markings but we never find out what four they were !! Needs to be more transparent!

Geraid, How did you get on yesterday?

David John Drum

HAS ANYONE PASSED THE AREA KNOWLEDGE TEST ?

David John Drum

I do not see any answer, am I to assume that no one has passed it or even knows of anyone who has passed it ? New question; who has failed it ? Lets get some figures .

smithy1981

<

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Failed

robbie111

<

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Failed

Howyadoing

<....................failed x3:mad:

goodimpra

<

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failed once so far

c14

As a taxi driver for 11 years im delighted so many are having trouble passing the test.:)

David John Drum

Tell me ,do you work through an office ? To all of you working through offices, will the office still be open after 1 Dec.? I spoke to an office in Limerick and they have had 2 staff fail the exam. In addition I just counted back through this thread and count 8 people failing ( some more than once ). I have not seen one passing.The full exam has to be passed to obtain a Dispatch Operators Licence to keep the office open after 1 Dec. Before you get too cocky remember, if offices close it will throw a lot of cars onto the streets operating as owner drivers. A good few hackneys will go taxi.You think there are not enough rank spaces now, wait until December then you will see competition. There will be no co-ordination with shifts, drivers will be cherrypicking their hours to scratch a living.
For the record, current drivers are ok.regarding the Skills Dev.test. To renew their licence after 2012 they will have to take the first part of the exam only ( which we all seem to have passed ). But it is anticipated some time afterwards they will have to take the 2nd. part ( area knowledge ). :eek:

c14

A staff member in our office passed first time no problem.:pac::pac::pac:

mark2000ie

goodimpra wrote: »

<

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failed once so far

Did you do it for Dublin area goodimpra?

c14

No Meath

goodimpra

mark2000ie wrote: »

Did you do it for Dublin area goodimpra?

Yes , i did.

David John Drum

c14 wrote: »

A staff member in our office passed first time no problem.:pac::pac::pac:

Congratulations C.14, your dispatch operator is the exception rather than the rule. Should be in a very good situation at the next round of pay-talks.I still stand by my predictions ,but we will have to wait until xmas for the result. Here is another one, if An Bord Snip has its way and the rural transport scheme is knocked on the head and combined with the fact that the authorities prefer to chase the easy mark when it comes to enforcement (that is they will chase the man making some effort to be legal for minor infringements and not the pirates who are 100% illegal who appear to operate with impunity) , combined with the economic clime there will be an increase in the number of pirates on the road.People will use them, they think they are cheaper and it fulfills the need to be a rebel. As we all know, there is nothing so dear as that which comes so cheap.I think I have said enough and will end my contributions on the subject, hope I have given you food for thought, the number of hits shows that an interest has been created, look forward to xmas.

nedthered

What a scam, I did the test three times already and past the first part every time. The second part on local knowledge is set-up wrong. Talking to some local cabbies about it and the general view seems to be that it’s set up to keep a particular section of the new arrivals to this country out of the business.

Canarygold

Doing the test to-morrow dublin area, anyone anymore tips, cheers

Howyadoing

Howyadoing wrote: »

<....................failed x3:mad:

Pass :):):)