On 2016\10\22 20:08, D A Stocks wrote:
"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On 2016-10-18 14:38:42 +0000, said:

Hackney carriage drivers have meters to keep them honest of course. One
reason why licensed hire cars in Cambridge have meters.

The habit of refusing to use them seems particularly popular late at
night in MK. And they *all* refuse, so you can't just get in the one
behind. And the Council has no interest in removing their licences for
doing so.


If they refuse to use the meter is the passenger able to refuse to pay
the fare?

Fixed fares are generally paid up front.

In message , at 20:14:34 on Sat, 22 Oct
2016, Basil Jet remarked:
Hackney carriage drivers have meters to keep them honest of course. One
reason why licensed hire cars in Cambridge have meters.

The habit of refusing to use them seems particularly popular late at
night in MK. And they *all* refuse, so you can't just get in the one
behind. And the Council has no interest in removing their licences for
doing so.

If they refuse to use the meter is the passenger able to refuse to pay
the fare?

Fixed fares are generally paid up front.

Is that a Milton Keynes thing? I've never paid any sort of taxi/minicab
fare up front.

Only had one dispute, too (a classic failure of 'the knowledge') where a
driver added the cost of short-term parking at Birmingham Airport to the
fare, despite me having been given a fixed quote by the minicab firm. As
it was about the same as the tip I'd have given him anyway, we parted
company with him getting the parking fee and no tip.
--
Roland Perry

On 23.10.16 8:44, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 20:14:34 on Sat, 22 Oct
2016, Basil Jet remarked:
Hackney carriage drivers have meters to keep them honest of course.
One
reason why licensed hire cars in Cambridge have meters.

The habit of refusing to use them seems particularly popular late at
night in MK. And they *all* refuse, so you can't just get in the one
behind. And the Council has no interest in removing their licences for
doing so.

If they refuse to use the meter is the passenger able to refuse to pay
the fare?

Fixed fares are generally paid up front.

Is that a Milton Keynes thing? I've never paid any sort of taxi/minicab
fare up front.

Speaking of Milton Keynes, what is the deal with the PRT project there
these days?

On 2016-10-23 14:38:20 +0000, said:

Speaking of Milton Keynes, what is the deal with the PRT project there
these days?

Progressing, but still an utter waste of money. And I still don't want
vehicles of any kind operating on footways, as they are proposed to do,
whether self-driven or not.

The "Transport Systems Catapult" (based just over from the station) is
an interesting organisation - some of what it does makes sense, but it
also seems to back some very odd ideas at times.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 2016-10-23 07:44:00 +0000, Roland Perry said:

Is that a Milton Keynes thing? I've never paid any sort of taxi/minicab
fare up front.

If you negotiate a fare, that usually happens up front. Perhaps that
kind of misbehaviour is confined to the disreputable MK Hackney
carriages.

Only had one dispute, too (a classic failure of 'the knowledge') where
a driver added the cost of short-term parking at Birmingham Airport to
the fare, despite me having been given a fixed quote by the minicab
firm. As it was about the same as the tip I'd have given him anyway, we
parted company with him getting the parking fee and no tip.

Could well be a failure of the company who should have added it onto
the quote. But if it was an issue, for future reference, just get him
to drop/collect you at the railway station instead, where there are no
such nonsensical fees.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On 2016-10-23 07:44:00 +0000, Roland Perry said:

Is that a Milton Keynes thing? I've never paid any sort of
taxi/minicab fare up front.

If you negotiate a fare, that usually happens up front. Perhaps that
kind of misbehaviour is confined to the disreputable MK Hackney
carriages.

Only had one dispute, too (a classic failure of 'the knowledge')
where a driver added the cost of short-term parking at Birmingham
Airport to the fare, despite me having been given a fixed quote by
the minicab firm. As it was about the same as the tip I'd have
given him anyway, we parted company with him getting the parking
fee and no tip.

Could well be a failure of the company who should have added it onto
the quote. But if it was an issue, for future reference, just get
him to drop/collect you at the railway station instead, where there
are no such nonsensical fees.

I live within the city centre in Cambridge so have always used the meter in
taxis and hire cars but from cases that came before me as a councillor I can
see that the usual arrangement with out boundary fares, which have to be
agreed before travel and aren't metered, is payment at the end of the hire.
However, from the problems brought before us, I can see why drivers might
want up-front payment.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 2016-10-23 22:48:00 +0000, said:

I live within the city centre in Cambridge so have always used the meter in
taxis and hire cars but from cases that came before me as a councillor I can
see that the usual arrangement with out boundary fares, which have to be
agreed before travel and aren't metered, is payment at the end of the hire.
However, from the problems brought before us, I can see why drivers might
want up-front payment.

I do see that, but it's no excuse not to use the meter. The drivers
will have a good idea of what the metered fare is for most common
destinations, so have no practical need to overcharge.

To be honest, I'd rather see the system move to a zonal one in large
cities, then payment could validly be up front.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On 2016-10-23 22:48:00 +0000, said:

I live within the city centre in Cambridge so have always used the meter
in taxis and hire cars but from cases that came before me as a
councillor I can see that the usual arrangement with out boundary fares,
which have to be agreed before travel and aren't metered, is payment at
the end of the hire. However, from the problems brought before us, I can
see why drivers might want up-front payment.

I do see that, but it's no excuse not to use the meter. The drivers
will have a good idea of what the metered fare is for most common
destinations, so have no practical need to overcharge.

To be honest, I'd rather see the system move to a zonal one in large
cities, then payment could validly be up front.

The, as far as I can see, main reason for not using the meter is to make
costs of long journeys outside the city cheaper than they would be on the
meter and predictable at the outset. Imagine the meter rate for a trip from
Cambridge to Heathrow for example!

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 2016-10-24 08:58:55 +0000, said:

The, as far as I can see, main reason for not using the meter is to make
costs of long journeys outside the city cheaper than they would be on the
meter and predictable at the outset. Imagine the meter rate for a trip from
Cambridge to Heathrow for example!

No, the main reason for not using the meter, in Milton Keynes, is to
defraud drunk passengers by overcharging them.

That's the same reason it is often not used in other countries, too.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In message , at 19:32:48 on Sun, 23
Oct 2016, Neil Williams remarked:
Only had one dispute, too (a classic failure of 'the knowledge')
where a driver added the cost of short-term parking at Birmingham
Airport to the fare, despite me having been given a fixed quote by
the minicab firm. As it was about the same as the tip I'd have given
him anyway, we parted company with him getting the parking fee and no tip.

Could well be a failure of the company who should have added it onto
the quote.

Yes, the failure of the cab company's "knowledge" that the pickup at
Birmingham airport has a fee.

--
Roland Perry