As I drove my TX1 into work this morning, I followed a 'B' registration FX4 into Love Lane. This must have been converted to become wheelchair accessible in 1999, no doubt against the wishes of its fleet owner who invested about £1,500 extra in it.
   This 'B' reg was made in 1984 before the Metrocab was even thought of and when Mann & Overton had had no competition for about 17 years. It was before I became deeply involved in the business, but many drivers or their fathers will remember how unpopular 'B' registrations were. Yet here it is 17 years later, still earning its living. No doubt the milometer will not have recorded its actual total mileage, but even the taxman would be surprised if it had not done more than half a million miles. I personally would wish that it did not do any more. I think that the driver should agree with his passengers that he really ought to be driving a new TX1.
   However, we all know that passengers in the rain will get into the first empty taxi which comes along, because they know that the regulations mean the vehicle will be clean, safe and driven by a knowledgeable professional. In the absence of enough empty taxis at night, passengers seem to get into the most appallingly dirty, uninsured, unsafe old saloon cars, driven by ignorant fraudsters.
And yet it is considered by some people that the existing system should be changed to bring in a Peugeot...
   The great thing about fair competition is the ability of a customer to make an informed choice between equals. We do not believe that the unlicensed minicab tout is fair competition to the professional London driver because the minicab cheats on the rules. He may be providing transport from place to place, but it is not really the same because the passenger is not insured.

MPVs
London drivers are lucky because the Peugeot system is being tested in Glasgow and Birmingham. It seems surprising that it was not tested first in Paris, but then we remember something like it was. The Renault Espace entered the Paris taxi market with enormous enthusiasm about eight years ago
 

The Good Things About Our Industry...
Perhaps we should applaud the good things about our industry. Many people believe that this is the best taxi industry in the world. Certainly we have the respect of the passengers and, rare around the world, the taxi industry is regarded with pride by the Government rather than with embarrassment.
Even more importantly, the drivers in our London industry have a standard of living which is the envy of foreign taxi drivers, although of course they thoroughly deserve it for the very hard work they do and the years of training they put into it.
How much of this would be changed if you changed any one part of it? If the Knowledge of London was reduced in quality, the standards of taxi drivers would reduce and the overall standard of the industry would go down.
   Perhaps if the drivers were not driving a distinctive vehicle, the passengers on the street corner would not be able to immediately identify what was a proper taxi and what was a minicab. How could the average passenger detect whether he was hailing a proper licensed London taxi driver or an Addison Lee driver if they were both driving MPVs? Would the situation be even worse if the taxi manufacturers were allowed to sell their taxis to minicab firms?
   Which gets me back to the 'B' registration I saw this morning. It is still earning a living, taking the same amount from the passenger even though his tips might have been better if he had been in a TX1. Can we really believe that an MPV will last this long?

COPYRIGHT (c) Jamie Borwick 2001
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