“the problem with taxi numbers is that there are too many oaps that dont want or dont know when to retire you also have ppl who own their own businesses and do taxi work as a sideline (just for pure greed )or ppl who do taxi work as a second job THAT is why there are too many taxis sat around waiting for work if it was left to us full time taxi drivers who TRY REALLY HARD just to scratch a living then we would all be happy as the lack of work makes taxi drivers less likely to want to smile (min at the bus stop ) so as well as capping the amount of drivers we should have a capping of the age and work status of the ppl who drive taxis too”

“Indeed arthur please forgive my spelling and indeed lack of punctuation, as both are difficult when using a mobile phone. But in answer to your question whether they are allowed to trade plates or not, They do and many, including mr atkinson were less than impressed when the plate they had which was worth 20 thousand prior to de regulation was suddenly only worth the 60 quid the council charges. So while this was partly about income being affected by numbers and lack of parking control and proper regulation it was as much about people getting their retirement nest egg back”

“To defend taxi drivers, it has to be said they rarely race away at green traffic lights, though they equally rarely stop for red traffic ones.
In the interest of economy (and to reduce carbon emissions), they don't often drive above 56mph. They do, of course, infrequently travel below 56mph, either, having achieved 'cruising speed'. It's probably for this reason they have little time for road signs, other road users, pedestrian, dogs (small or large), horses or good manners.”

“Goddit ! How do you differentiate between the teams if they are all wearing an England shirt?”

“They could even wear different football shirts. You could cheer on the team you support. I am sure there is a flaw in this argument somewhere....”

“"Rouge taxi drivers",Arthur? I think I have the answer. Do they do a "Le Mans" type start,running from the opposite side of the taxi rank? First there takes the client to their destination,etc,etc....”

“Putting caps on taxi drivers!
Are they England caps ?
We haven't sorted out the football shirts issue yet.”

“Andrew, Stallingrad.
1/ Is it true they are permitted to trade these plates? If true, that is surely an abbrogation of responsibilty by somebody.
2/ Rouge? Rouge taxi drivers?”

“While I agree there should be a cap, measures must be put in place which do not allow people who currently have hackney plates to sell them on, usually for vastly more than it cost them to get one from the council in the first place. This effectifely creates a closed shop, with the option to become a hackney driver only being available to the highest bidder.
The plate remains the property of the council, and transfer for profit must not be allowed. Any plates becoming available must be distributed on a first come first served basis.
Also, existing private hire drivers should be given the option to change their vehicles, especially those which fall under the new 10 year rule, for proper disabled access hackney carriages.
The council should also now push through the ruling which was meant to ensure all hackney carriages were disabled access by 2010.
In addition, as a matter of public safety, uniform door signs should be compulsory for hackney carriage as it is for private hire.
This will allow the easier identification of rouge hackney drivers.
Uniform door signs for both are the norm in other authorities NELC benchmarks against, so I fail to understand why they have only gone part way in this instance.”

“Warrior old bean, that's how taxi drivers are expected to park - maximum inconvenience for everybody else, minimum effort for self.”