On 2012\04\26 21:13, Neil Williams wrote:
Basil wrote:

Do you also believe that taxis should be permitted to charge whatever
they like, the way most self-employed businessmen do and the way minicabs do?

Minicabs are usually cheaper than black cabs, no?

No, it depends on the extent to which they feel they have any
competition. They are staggeringly cheaper than taxis for runs to and
from the airport or Zone 1 terminus when booked by telephone. They are
quite a bit more expensive than a taxi to the airport when booked
through a hotel concierge, because the concierge gives the job to
whichever minicab company offers him the biggest bung. They tend to be
slightly cheaper than taxis when booked by phone for long journeys
suburb to suburb but more expensive than taxis for short journeys. The
minicabs booked through clipboard johnnies outside nightclubs are likely
to be dearer than taxis. Five Star Car Hire in Kensal Green seem to be
nearly twice taxi fares for any distance if you walk in to the office
late at night, e.g. 35 quid to Ealing Broadway versus 20 in a taxi. The
sign next to the freephone offering minicabs in Charing Cross Hospital
brags about how the price is the same day or night, and warns that taxis
charge more in the night than in the day ... but when you compare the
actual fares, they are more expensive than taxi night fares, and
probably more expensive than taxi day fares (although obviously taxi
fares in the daytime can be a bit unpredictable).

When you consider the cost of the vehicle and the fuel consumption (and
consequent safety) are so much lower than a taxi, only in the case of
telephone booking to the airport does the vehicle/fuel saving get passed
on to the passenger - in all the other cases listed above, the profit
made is higher than in a taxi, and the minicab boss pockets that profit
(not the driver). This is why John Griffin chose to be a minicab boss
instead of a taxi boss, and he has been whining about his unfair lot
ever since he chose it. Competition in the minicab industry largely
doesn't work - if you walk into a minicab office late at night with a
good looking girl on your arm and a bulge in your trousers, they know
that you have to get the girl home before she can change her mind, so
there is no way you will walk around and compare competitors prices, and
they exploit this to the hilt.


Why is a bus charging five people GBP11.50 to travel four miles public
transport, but a taxi which is legally compelled to take the same five
people and legally limited to charging them about a tenner for the same
journey in the daytime not public transport?

Most taxis are not transporting 5 people. Perhaps there is an argument for
allowing any car with more than 3 passengers in the bus lane, then? But
not taxis.

What about when buses only have one passenger, should they be kicked out
of the bus lane? Do they cease to be public transport?

I'd like to hear your definition of public transport... I suspect it goes
along the lines of "I'm a transport enthusiast with a travelcard, and I
spit the dummy whenever I find public transport that won't take my travelcard".

In London? Buses, trains, tubes and scheduled (not tourist) boats, IMO.

I presume you've omitted trams by accident. But you have refused or
failed to give a definition, and supplied a list which arbitrarily
excludes taxis, and your failure to provide a definition is an attempt
to cover that up. Why are aeroplanes not public transport? I don't see a
conceptual difference between a metal box full of people rolling from
Euston to Glasgow Central and a metal box full of people flying from
Heathrow to Paisley... except that AFAIK the train fares are controlled
by government (like taxi fares) and the aeroplane fares are not (like
minicab fares).

Black taxis work as an addition to public transport and may encourage its
use on longer journeys, but are not in themselves efficient use of road
space nor of pollution, though if Boris's talk about moving to electric
vehicles happens they will gain on the latter point.

Public transport existed before the invention of the internal combustion
engine. You're moving goalposts all over the place.


Except for those of limited mobility, a taxi is rarely a public transport
necessity in Central London where this sort of thing is an issue. The Tube
is almost always faster, IMX.

Buses are slower than the tube, but they're still public transport. More
moving goalposts.