Call Sign February 2011 - Page 16 - DIAL-A-CAB FLASHBACK

*Every issue of Call Sign takes a look back at ODRTS history through the pages of the magazines of the time with a Flashback…* DIAL-A-CAB FLASHBACK
This month’s Flashback returns to 1970 and just for a change, to a London newspaper. They were interviewing drivers about the Maxwell Stamp Committee report. It also gives a wonderful snapshot of the time… From the Evening News, October 1970 TAXI DRIVERS ON MAXWELL STAMP! With London’s taxi drivers all talking about the forthcoming Maxwell Stamp Report, the Evening News took a closer look at some of their views and went for a ride with some from the ODRTS taxi radio circuit… First Jack Taylor, known among other things as Dan 19. If I were out on a big story and were in a cab, I would wish my cab driver to be Jack Taylor, he is quite the most talkative cabby I have ever met! The first thing that Jack and every other cab driver must do is to learn the Knowledge and that takes about a year. "You have to learn every street in London," says Jack, "and it’s a bastard, I’ll tell you! You have to cotton-up 468 point-to-point runs from a pink book which is called the Blue book and then Scotland Yard test you rigorously on it. Then with your Knowledge and clean bill of health, you look to ‘wangle’. That means you go to a garage with a fleet of cabs and learn to drive one of them. There were five wanglers at my garage and I ended up teaching them! Maddeningly, they all passed their ‘drive’ first time whereas I failed my first two!" Jack remembers his first day well. "From my first trip from Shoreditch to St Pancras right to the end of the day, I was working solidly. They call it butterboy luck because in this game you can’t be	a clever driver, only a lucky one. That’s why when we say goodbye to each other, we say ‘be lucky’ and not cheerio." Jack’s days aren’t typical, because he is Chairman of the Owner Drivers Radio Taxi Service in Maida Vale and spends much of his day at the office. But on a working day, Jack puts his ‘for hire’ light on straightaway. "Mind you, I live in Tottenham and rarely get a job before reaching Manor House where I usually put onto the rank. All ranks are free for all drivers to use, but my favourite is the one at Hanover Square because that’s where I usually eat! The food is cooked by Arthur and is great." When Jack and I walked into the Hanover Square Shelter, everyone calls out "Hello Curly" – rather strange, as Jack doesn’t have a hair on his head! But the food is very good. Over lunch, Jack explains why he enjoys cab journeys to places such as Blackheath and Finchley: "Being on ODRTS, there is always the chance that someone will dial 286 4848 wanting to go into town. And while I have the chance," said Jack, "I find it to be very rude when people keep asking me how much I earn. How would passenger react if I kept asking them the same question! Don’t forget, we only earn when someone is in the cab; So if I do a 12s 6d fare from Shaftsbury Avenue to Highgate and I don’t trap on the way back, that means that after expenses that I probably earned 7s 6d in that hour. I think that there should be a minimum fare of 4 shillings, then we wouldn’t have to spend up to 30 minutes waiting for a 2s 6d ride." Before I could say "Thanks Jack," he had already changed the subject: "And what about those minicabs" he shouted, "we do the Knowledge and then they get away with murder." Jack has recently bought a new black Austin FX4 for Ł1365 and now had to get back to work to help pay for it…! We next spoke to Joe Toff – also known as Black 4. Like Jack,	Joe Toff isn’t shy to pass his opinions. Joe is the Editor of Steering Wheel, the journal of the British taxi industry and until recently also edited ODRTS News Monthly, so he knows a fact or two about the taxi trade. "It’s about time that we had taxi sharing," said Joe, "sometimes you can go into Euston Station and see a huge queue. My job may go to Liverpool Street as may many of the others waiting, yet even if the passenger doesn’t object, I’m not allowed to see if anyone else is going the same way. The queue would shrink and we’d all be happy. But I’m not allowed to! Joe wants to see legislation to permit taxi sharing. Currently, anyone caught doing it faces a Ł10 fine. "All we would need is a retired cabbie controlling the queue and Bob’s your uncle. Cab sharing is in place. It is so simple." The scheme has been recommended to the Maxwell Stamp committee by London’s youngest trade organisation, the Licensed Taxi Driver’s Association. General Secretary Bill D’Arcy, claims that taxi sharing, would mean each of the four passengers would pay half the meter fare on exit, giving the driver a good profit and the passengers a good service. London’s other taxi organisation, the Transport and General Workers Union, are against it fearing that it could lead to abuse. Their spokesman argued that it could lead to accusations from strangers sharing the cab of a male trying to pick upon an innocent girl or a prostitute trying to solicit custom. They also asked how much the driver would charge if only two were sharing. Would they still pay half each or what if four from the same family jumped in, would they end up paying double? Maxwell Stamp may well have his work cut out.

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