 Remi Kemperman and his wife, both from Holland, in the only Dutch TX1 One of the interesting people Call Sign spoke to at this year's Taxi
Driver of the Year show at Olympia was Remi Kemperman who had come from
Holland to compete in the All Comers section. |
"I Drive the only Licensed TX1 in Holland" |
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and it is without a doubt the best taxi ever made anywhere. Even Checker
of America could never beat this vehicle when they were still producing
cabs." London drivers complain about the cost of new cabs in general, so how much did Remi have to pay to have one exported? "Well, the importer is based in Germany and there were import taxes to pay in addition to Dutch taxes and the added cost of converting the TX1 to a left-hand drive. So I estimate that this taxi cost me around £50,000!" And does Remi charge extra high fares in order to recuperate some of the cost? "I belong to Taxi Central Amsterdam and I charge the same rate as everybody else although I am also in demand |
as a wedding car. Since last January, all Dutch taxi companies can set
their own rates. Some have a flag fall of over 4 Euros (aprox £2.80) while
our company charges around half that amount. We do not have any extra
charges, even for Christmas Day, but when a distance of 25 Km has been
reached, the meter slows down to a cheaper rate. " Amazingly, Dutch law prohibits Remi from using the wheelchair access as the door entrance is 5 centimetres too small even though his cab has the integrated ramps and wheelchairs fit in easily. While even stranger, Remi's passengers were not allowed to use the two jump seats as they were one centimetre too close to the back. He had to have 1 cm taken off! And the All Comers Cup? Remi came in an honourable third place... |
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