ans Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I like how Lonan3 is trying to gain our sympathy and sway us towards his plight by giving out the appearance of being a complete tosser. Very smart that. Bravo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I can see both sides of this - it's a difficult one. On one hand I hate the closed 'old boy network' and barrier of entry of up to £40K to buy a plate, keeping out many a potential young hard working entrepeneur, but on the other I can understand that in winter business can be dire if there are too many taxi drivers especially with the smoking ban about to take real effect next winter. Personally, on their past analysis, I think the govt should marginally increase the number of plates available, simply to lower the value of them and increase the number of taxis, as £30-£40K a plate clearly shows the government is not talking bollocks in terms of demand. A going rate of £5K to £10K for a plate would be farer! IMO keeping out the riff raff no-hopers, whilst discouraging profiteer trading in plates, though allowing someone serious about giving it a go for a living. However, maybe they should also perhaps consider putting restrictions on the plates designed to more fully share out the work e.g. time slots, and perhaps make sure people trading in plates are actual working drivers themselves. Perhaps they could also issue a number of temporary plates valid for shorter periods e.g. 2 years, the number of which are issued each year being down to analysis and negotiation - through an agreed formula. All that said, with the smoking ban, my preferred option would be to put off all these 'negotiations' and keep to the status quo and reassess things a year or two from now. A 10% drop in any industry is likely to have a major affect - some pubs are already down £5K a week (that's first hand knowledge) and it's only summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 A going rate of £5K to £10K for a plate would be farer! Please tell me that's not deliberate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 So, for example, you could open a new Post Office next door to an existing one? You could open a private business offering postal/courier services next to an existing one, yes, nothing at all to stop you. Which is certainly not a 'post office.' I'm amazed that no one can make the connection - an 'open skies' policy has meant that any company (such as Euromanx)trying to offer a genuine service to the public doesn't last very long and, in the long term, you find yourself left with an agressive and uncaring one that doesn't give a stuff about the paying customer. Make no mistake, if the taxis are DELIMITED (I've put that in capitals because people keep talking about them being DEREGULATED, which is entirely different and not being proposed!), it will be those who are prepared to make the effort to provide a proper service who will be the first to fall. In this respect, I'm not talking about those who simply work on Friday and Saturday nights, but those who also work at times when the rewards are a great deal smaller - simply because they are aware of the need to provide a service to those who are not drunken revellers. DELIMITATION (there - I've done it again!) may possibly help those who refuse to leave the pub until ten-to-one and complain bitterly because they can't find a taxi to get them to a nightclub before 1 o'clock - but even that is doubtful since most surveys have concluded that DELIMITATION has led to increased waiting times, poorer standards of service and a lower quality of vehicles when it has taken place in other places (In fact, a number of areas have tried to reintroduce limits but have found that, once the genie's out of the bottle, you can't force it back in!) I have to leave the debate as the school's just rung to say my daughter's been taken to hospital - sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 You'd probably better not read THIS REPORT - it will only supply incontrovertible proof of what a complete and utter dick you are. Have read that guff before. Just scanned it again and I can't find any reference to me being a dick. Maybe you're confusing it with other publications full of dicks you might like to read. Even if the only purpose was to piss you off, they should crack on and de-regulate / de-restrict the issuing of plates. If you offer a good service, your customers will return time and time again. As opposed to them having no choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Only Albert could manage to drag smoking into a topic about taxis. It's like groundhog day crossed with a broken record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 £40K to buy a plate Actually you buy a "business" worth £40k which actually has fuck all real assets as the cars and premises don't often seem to change hands. The plate comes free with the "business". Lonan was very careful to point out that the taxi operators don't buy and sell plates. In a similar way I knew a guy at university who didn't sell weed. He sold Rizlas for an extortionate price but chucked in a free henry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immortalpuppet Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Yay another drunken walk home for me then, lets hope the yoofs up nobles park are ready for another good kicking. I agree with what was said before about this not making a difference other that pissing off the drinkers and people who dont want to get the bus from the airport. Maybe a different approach like a mass 5mph protest along a main road where some support might be gained along the way (where traffic is allowed to overtake ofc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Only Albert could manage to drag smoking into a topic about taxis. It's like groundhog day crossed with a broken record Like it or not it is a factor. If pubs drop £5K (the equivalent of a pretty busy night's takings) a week, that means less punters which will affect taxi demand. Where do you think most taxi punters get dropped off between 6:30pm and 1am - fecking Tesco's? A going rate of £5K to £10K for a plate would be farer! Please tell me that's not deliberate Sorry couldn't help it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Maybe a different approach like a mass 5mph protest along a main road where some support might be gained along the way (where traffic is allowed to overtake ofc.) That would be a good way of making themselves even less popular. It would also be dangerous and stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 As in independent taxi driver who wasn't stupid enough to pay £40k for the right to work for a living I am looking forward to seeing how all this pans out, whatever happens in the long run it can only benefit me. Survival of the fittest is the way ahead, looks like this could be the meteorite that wipes out the dinosaurs. All the Douglas drivers who illegally bought a plate in the last 4 years (And yes, I have seriously considered it more than once) have been made fully aware that this was highly likely to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b4mbi Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 So will I be able to get a taxi tonight from Mount Murray to town at about midnight tonight then? If not, would anyone be willing to generously give me a free lift to my house, and then happen to mysteriously find a tenner on their back seat the next morning? I'll wear my holiest trousers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Energy just reported that they have had calls from a few taxi drivers who say they will not be taking part in the strike, so there will be a few taxis to be had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Energy just reported that they have had calls from a few taxi drivers who say they will not be taking part in the strike, so there will be a few taxis to be had. Unfortunately I doubt that they will be Douglas drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 If only they were allowed to work in Douglas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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