Call Sign August 2009 - Page 15 - JUST WHAT IS "OUR" WORK???

On 14 July there was a full-page article in The Independent about taxis in London covering many of the familiar arguments between private hire and licensed taxis, with particular attention given to the proposal to allow Addison Lee and One Transport to run a booking system at Heathrow. There were views from an LTDA representative and from the other side, and many of the criticisms of the traditional taxis and drivers had some substance. Yes, it is true that too many taxi drivers look scruffy whilst lots of private hire drivers always wear suits and have clean vehicles. And the comments about our trade being reluctant to change over the years have more than a grain of truth. Sometimes the fault has been with the PCO, as with their refusal in the past to allow drivers to install radios and rear view mirrors in taxis, but too often resistance has come from taxi drivers whenever there are proposals for change. I remember grumbles when the Piccadilly line was extended to Heathrow and drivers said it wasn’t fair and that we would lose "our work." Exactly the same was said when the Heathrow Express was built. If a passenger wants to travel by tube, train, taxi, book a private hire car or get a friend to convey him or her, then they should be free to choose whatever	DaC’s Laurence Kelvin (W88) looks at the taxi driver’s age-old question of… JUST WHAT IS "OUR" WORK???
	*What counts as “our work?”* they wish. Claiming that it is "our work" just makes us look foolish, monopolistic and totally out of date. Imagine the situation where you call in a handyman to fix some plastic pipes under the kitchen sink and then there are protests from the Ancient Guild of Master Plumbers who learnt their trade in 1956, saying that these handymen had no skill or training in soldering lead pipes and should not be allowed to take "their work" - especially as they were not Fellows of the Livery Company of Qualified Plumbers. In almost every taxi trade magazine, there are articles about "The Good Old Days" and reminiscences by drivers. I cannot remember many features addressing the changes that must take place, improvements we should make or new technological advances that we can make use of. And then there were protests from drivers when charges for taxis were introduced to use the feeder rank at Heathrow. But why should it be free? All other outlets such	as WHSmith, Starbucks and Boots pay for the space they use, so why not us? When we protest at every turn about everything, then we will be dismissed as being unable to accept any change and never listened to, even when there is a valid case. I still meet Londoners who are not aware that it is possible to phone for a taxi, so clearly the radio circuits have failed to get the message across, whilst private hire has succeeded. We need to improve on what we do well, offering the best service with drivers who are smart, polite and even friendly, with clean vehicles turning up quickly and with less than Ł4 on the meter. Instead of protesting about private hire or the Heathrow Express getting some of "our work," we should direct our efforts at TfL and the PCO to stop the touts at the dozens of clubs, stations and restaurants around London. And of course continue to resist any ‘rank’ for private hire at Leicester Square or any other place. The newspaper article had a reasonable analysis from the private hire representative and that makes uncomfortable reading for us. It ends by pointing out that Woolworth was stuck in the past and neglected to change and the same could well happen to the London taxi trade. The article is at: HERE. Laurence Kelvin (W88)

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