r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	Torran_Toi
Comment	To address the actual topic raised: 1. Taxi/PH firms and drivers have been told to reject all non-essential trips. The booking offices are supposed to be screening this on the phones, but even if someone manages to get around that by telling porkies then the driver is supposed to cancel the job once it becomes clear a journey is non-essential. 2. Police are pulling taxis/PHs over to enforce this. Both the driver and the passenger end up with a fine if the journey is found to be non-essential (plus a report fired into the licencing board against the driver). 3. Passenger limits. This is company specific. Some firms are saying one rider only. Some say two. Some have no restrictions. I notice you mentioned the hackneys still taking a full cab and I think Uber are still running without passenger number limits. 4. Seat choices. Again, firm specific. Some have banned sitting in the front. Some have banned sitting directly behind the driver. Most companies will leave this up to the discretion of the driver (as has always been the case forever anyway). For points 4 and 5 you'll need to phone and ask each firm what the rules of the day are. Considering all of the above, how is it out there? Demand for taxis (hacks) has dropped significantly and driver earnings are extremely low. Demand with Uber has dropped, but it's still ticking over. Demand at Network PH and GPH has dropped a little bit on regular cash hires, but contract and courier work has increased. The PH drivers I've been speaking with are still making around £100 per shift (Daytime hours only. The night shifts are pan breed). Meanwhile, the union guys reckon only around half the entire city taxi/PH fleet went into lockdown anyway. If that number is true and the drivers out there are still pulling in a ton per shift, then we can safely estimate that overall demand has only dropped by around 50% while concentrating itself into daylight hours at the same time. Basically, far, far too many people not taking this seriously and still going about here and there without much care. Anyway. To answer the question posed, yes, you can still get a taxi/PH without many issues. Even the first two points I made above are not having a big effect. Drivers need to pay their bills and feed their families, they are NOT rejecting non-essential jobs like they should be doing. I would join everybody in asking you to reconsider your plans. We are in lockdown for a reason. I handed my taxi back on March 23rd, effectively becoming unemployed by doing so. Within 4 to 5 weeks from now I will ran out of savings. Hopefully the HMRC payment due in June (self employed scheme) comes just in time for that happening, but it won't benefit me massively. I need to keep a portion of it to 'buy back in' to get another taxi on the road at some point later. I've tried to give you the information you asked for without resorting to calling you names or telling you to stay at home, but I'll ask again that you reconsider that plan. It's a kick in the balls for me to hear and see people doing these things while I did my bit to try and do it right by walking away from my source of income and a job and lifestyle that I love, and that I continue with it knowing that I could say fuck it right now and go source another car and be on the road earning by this time tomorrow; while I haven't seen my own family, including an 80 something year old gran and a ma with serious health problems.... Mate. Please, just stay at home. It'll be over when it's over.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/gaibau/taxis/fp1r9ws/
Created	Thu 30th Apr 2020 12:15pm
Status	normal ()

To address the actual topic raised:

1. Taxi/PH firms and drivers have been told to reject all non-essential trips. The booking offices are supposed to be screening this on the phones, but even if someone manages to get around that by telling porkies then the driver is supposed to cancel the job once it becomes clear a journey is non-essential.

2. Police are pulling taxis/PHs over to enforce this. Both the driver and the passenger end up with a fine if the journey is found to be non-essential (plus a report fired into the licencing board against the driver).

3. Passenger limits. This is company specific. Some firms are saying one rider only. Some say two. Some have no restrictions. I notice you mentioned the hackneys still taking a full cab and I think Uber are still running without passenger number limits.

4. Seat choices. Again, firm specific. Some have banned sitting in the front. Some have banned sitting directly behind the driver. Most companies will leave this up to the discretion of the driver (as has always been the case forever anyway).

For points 4 and 5 you'll need to phone and ask each firm what the rules of the day are.

Considering all of the above, how is it out there? Demand for taxis (hacks) has dropped significantly and driver earnings are extremely low. Demand with Uber has dropped, but it's still ticking over. Demand at Network PH and GPH has dropped a little bit on regular cash hires, but contract and courier work has increased. The PH drivers I've been speaking with are still making around £100 per shift (Daytime hours only. The night shifts are pan breed). Meanwhile, the union guys reckon only around half the entire city taxi/PH fleet went into lockdown anyway. If that number is true and the drivers out there are still pulling in a ton per shift, then we can safely estimate that overall demand has only dropped by around 50% while concentrating itself into daylight hours at the same time. Basically, far, far too many people not taking this seriously and still going about here and there without much care.

Anyway. To answer the question posed, yes, you can still get a taxi/PH without many issues. Even the first two points I made above are not having a big effect. Drivers need to pay their bills and feed their families, they are NOT rejecting non-essential jobs like they should be doing.

I would join everybody in asking you to reconsider your plans. We are in lockdown for a reason. I handed my taxi back on March 23rd, effectively becoming unemployed by doing so. Within 4 to 5 weeks from now I will ran out of savings. Hopefully the HMRC payment due in June (self employed scheme) comes just in time for that happening, but it won't benefit me massively. I need to keep a portion of it to 'buy back in' to get another taxi on the road at some point later. I've tried to give you the information you asked for without resorting to calling you names or telling you to stay at home, but I'll ask again that you reconsider that plan. It's a kick in the balls for me to hear and see people doing these things while I did my bit to try and do it right by walking away from my source of income and a job and lifestyle that I love, and that I continue with it knowing that I could say fuck it right now and go source another car and be on the road earning by this time tomorrow; while I haven't seen my own family, including an 80 something year old gran and a ma with serious health problems.... Mate. Please, just stay at home. It'll be over when it's over.