Permit requirements for taxi drivers at railway stations

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

First Great Western said the ^375 permit was needed because the front of the station was congested and charging was normal at other stations.

Previously a NTAB spokesman said the cab drivers had not paid fees at Temple Meads since 1974 and "firmly believed" the move was just a "money revenue-raising exercise".

I find it hard to understand the economics of the Temple Meads taxi rank; it seems to me that a lot of drivers must spend hours waiting for a fare, and supply seems to far exceed demand. Maybe this scheme will make things a bit less frenetic?

I suspect there's a degree of truth (and a degree of selective comment) on both sides.

Just because charging is "normal" at other stations doesn't mean that it has to be applied at every station.  I could apply FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s argument back to them and say that it's normal to provide peak hour trains and services throughout the day to and from large towns they serve, and so they should provide such services to my home town in the interest of normallity ... which they don't do.

But on the other hand, it's more that just a money-raising exercise ... it's an exercise that raises money while looking to address an issue that probably does need addressing ...

Who pays the 375 pounds in the end?   Is there a supplement on station pickup fares for taxis?   

Side question:  Is a fee payable to use the rank at Chippenham?

I suppose it is a question as to what FGW provide for the ^375 pa.

[Red Squirrel]

I suppose it is a question as to what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) provide for the ^375 pa.

I think they're selling the same thing you buy when you pay the London Congestion Charge...

[ellendune]

I suppose it is a question as to what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) provide for the ^375 pa.

I think they're selling the same thing you buy when you pay the London Congestion Charge...

A taxi rank, some signs anything else?

[TonyK]

In recent months, it has got chaotic at times. I often drop or pick up Mrs FTN Sunday evenings or midweek at lunch time, and it can be pandemonium. Crossing the road from the short-stay car park is at times a daunting prospect. I think the reason is not that Temple Meads is a goldmine for the Hackney Carriage guys, but probably that everywhere else has quietened down, and this is now the best place to eke out a living. At least the cabbie knows he will get a fare, even if it means hanging around for a while. If he takes a fare to College Green, he won't get a lot of cash to show for it, and he'll be at the back of a very long queue when he returns, 15 minutes later. The normal way to regulate anything these days is by charging for it, and I cannot see this leading to a boycott.

Of course, the cabbie will say that by picking Mrs FTN up, I am part of the problem, not the answer. Except that if I can't, she gets the bus. My normal route to Temple Meads from home is by a 25 minute walk. I'm not poor. Not only does the exercise do me good, but I am a bit tight-fisted. Mrs FTN is worse.

[Red Squirrel]

I can't believe the taxis drivers are making very much - if they have to wait an hour to get an ^8 fare, then allowing for the journey time and their expenses they must be making rather less than the minimum wage. It's almost like it's more of a social gathering for taxi drivers.

I went down on my bicycle the other week to collect some tickets, thinking I'd have no problems parking it. Hah! All the railings have signs warning you not to leave a bike there (lest they spirit it away to Lost Property and charge you a fat fee to release it); the bicycle park to the front of the station (once you've got to it through the whirling maelstrom of taxis) is full to overflowing, in large part with abandoned vandalised bicycles. And then there are signs advising you to park on Platform 3 - fat lot of good if you aren't actually travelling and don't have a ticket!

[thetrout]

There is an exception to this charging rule I understand.

Say I take a train to Bristol Temple Meads and call my usual Taxi firm in Frome and ask them to collect me from the station. As I understand, they would not need this ^375 permit, because it was a prearranged booking.

More to the point. A Frome Taxi would be licensed by Mendip District Council and not Bristol City Council. So could not pick up passengers as their license wouldn't allow it. A Mendip Licensed Taxi is almost certainly not going to be in Bristol without a prearranged booking anyway.

It's exactly the same at Bath Spa. Indeed when my usual driver happened to be dropping off another customer. Ladyfriend Trout and I caught sight of them and had a brief chat in the Car Park outside the station. Ironically enough we were about to take a train back to Frome. So instead of getting into their Taxi as if it was a Hackney Pickup where they could have got into big trouble, I asked them to pick us up from the back of McDonalds in 10 minutes... Sneaky. Yes. But a booking is a booking at the end of the day and Mendip Licensed Taxis doing drop off/pickup at McDonalds is almost certainly not an uncommon sight

[JayMac]

I've spoken with a few cabbies and to say they are not happy with this charge is an understatement.

That said, cabbies are rather in the habit of complaining about anything when it comes to their chosen profession. Having to paint their vehicles.... bus lanes they can't use... city council refusing fares increase... traffic light sequences... cyclists... other cabbies...

Also they are losing my late night custom as well thanks to the night buses introduce by Mayor Ferguson and First. ^2.90 bus fare versus ^16.00 cab fare from Bristol TM^‡(resolve) to Lawrence Weston? No contest.

[TonyK]

No contest indeed, BNM. I have to be very drunk before I would hail a cab home rather than walk, but only rather drunk to choose a bus.

That said, I don't get out much these days. Last time I went clubbing was for seal pups.

[thetrout]

Taxis in Bristol are also not unknown to bend the rules and even overcharge customers. Especially if said passenger is under the influence.

I had an argument with a Cabbie in Bristol which I did report to the Council Licensing Office because the Meter came to ^17.90 IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) and the driver said they didn't take anything less than ^20.00 It was with a group of friends who had perhaps a little too much Vodka shots and I rather thought the driver was thinking we'd accept the price. thetrout being teetotal was having none of it. Needless to say it backfired on him... big time...

I'm not saying all the cabbies in Bristol overcharge by the way... It's as usual a small minority that ruin it for others...


Probably for the Pedant thread, but I recall seeing a sign in a Bristol Taxi a few weeks back that said: "If you're drunk and you're sick it's ^60!" What if I'm sick but my alcohol levels are ZERO?? I'm not drunk so therefore does the charge apply??

[JayMac]

No contest indeed, BNM. I have to be very drunk before I would hail a cab home rather than walk, but only rather drunk to choose a bus.

Drunk or sober I ain't bleddy walking the 7 miles from Temple Meads to El Dub!

Skint, then maybe....

[Red Squirrel]

No contest indeed, BNM. I have to be very drunk before I would hail a cab home rather than walk, but only rather drunk to choose a bus.

Drunk or sober I ain't bleddy walking the 7 miles from Temple Meads to El Dub!

Skint, then maybe....

Well now here's a thought (apologies if someone's already thought of this): if they re-opened the line to Henbury, maybe you could get a TRAIN home! And maybe some of these taxi drivers could get jobs as train drivers?

Woss fink? Plan?

[JayMac]

Later trains to Shirehampton will do. Don't mind the walk from there to my gaff. 

[TonyK]

Later trains to Shirehampton will do. Don't mind the walk from there to my gaff. 

The Romans helped by building that road through El Dub.

[JayMac]

A surprising amount of history around these parts. You got yer Roman (what have they ever done for us?) villas in Sea Mills* and Lawrence Weston. Preceding them, the Iron Age settlement on King's Weston Hill. There were monastic estates in the early middle ages. Into the post Restoration period the estate of King's Weston and the Tudor house therein became the property of a Bristol merchant and then the diplomat and politician Sir Robert Southwell. His son Edward rebuilt King's Weston House to a design by architect Sir John Vanburgh - he of Blenheim Palace fame.

Preceding them all there's a strong possibility that a very early hominid, Homo heidelbergensis settled on the banks of the River Avon around Shirehampton and Sea Mills over 250,000 years ago. I think some of their knuckle dragging descendants still live in Lawrence Weston.


*Clever folk those Romans. Building the villa right next to the A4 and a stones throw from Sea Mills Station. On a bus route as well. 

[TonyK]

Don't forget Philip Napier Miles, the man who brought opera to Shirehampton!

I am just returned from taking Mrs FTN to Temple Meads, for the 1900 Paddington service. It may have been Sunday night, but the place was in absolute chaos, and getting into the short-term car park proved a little tricky, although not because it was full of cars. The problem was getting through the melee of blue cabs, airport bus, other private cars driven by people apparently behind the wheel for the very first time, and pedestrians Horns were blaring as the cabs jostled for position. Crossing from the little car park to the station reminded me of a Friday afternoon in Paris, trying to get across the six lanes of Place de la Madeleine before the lights changed, or of the biggest station in the capital city of some African dictatorship, although with fewer goats and chickens. I expected to see Michael Palin emerge from the throng.

The good news for the cabbies was that there was no shortage of customers, who had formed an impromptu queue, this being Britain, across all of the doors out of the station. The good news for the passengers was that there was no shortage of cabs, these being wound around the short term car park like wagons in a spaghetti western, so that the nose of cab on pole was immediately behind the backside of the most newly arrived. The bad news for both groups was the anarchy that was the "system" that would hope to bring cab and fare into close enough contact to enable boarding. It was as efficient as a British Leyland assembly line during a winter of discount tents. The would be passengers had that same crazed nervous expression worn by shipwrecked passengers mustered on deck who can see rescue boats, but aren't sure they will get there befor ethe ship sinks.

The whole place is due to be rejigged, so there is no point in offering a solution. So here it is.

Move the bus stops across the approach, to by the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) place, and enforce a bus-only policy with seal (and / or machine guns)
Have a line of taxis waiting from the exit from the covered car park all the way around the pavement to a point just before the new bus stops. Additional waiting cabs will queue at the bottom of the short-term car park and behind it opposite BTP.

Other traffic will circulate around or through the car park, and there will be a formal dropping-off area where some of the disabled spaces are currently.

I know, I've fallen into the sin of hyperbole, but it does need sorting, in the interests of safety and efficiency.