On 2015-10-03 12:14:41 +0000, Roland Perry said:

That's no help if all I know is the name of a place, and can't locate
it on a map. If in a strange City it can be very difficult to correlate
random destinations with "points on a map".

You've used Google Maps' search facility before, I'm assuming?

Neil
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Neil Williams
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On 2015-10-04 13:17:54 +0000, JNugent said:

Because they could be at risk from fellow "passengers".

Are you unable to understand that?

They could when riding a bus or train, as well. Many people choose
daily to do that without incident.

Nobody is suggesting making this compulsory, simply making it a legal option.

Neil
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Neil Williams
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On 2015-10-04 13:14:08 +0000, JNugent said:

Buses are still available, if not always convenient. A taxi is not a bus.

The hybrid matatu/jitney model works reasonably well in many countries.

Your preferences are not a reason to abolish protection for taxi-passengers.

Who's proposing to abolish your ability to hire a taxi to yourself?
What is being proposed is allowing people who wish to to take a shared
taxi. Those who do not wish to can continue to take one to themselves,
obviously at a fare commensurate to that.

Neil
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On 2015-10-04 09:36:06 +0000, tim..... said:

And one issue here is the problem of disability access. If all "ply
for hire" cabs have to conform with the disability act and provide
equal access, then all "contract hire" cabs should as well. This is
one area where Uber is deficient that he should be MADE to comply with.

I still don't agree with this - it causes larger, more polluting
vehicles to be driven around with one person and a small bag in them
much of the time. There must be a better, more effective way of
providing roughly the same level of service to those requiring it
without having *all* cars, whether plying for hire or pre-bookable,
needing to be wasteful massive behemoths when a Daewoo Matiz, Suzuki
Wagon etc would be perfectly adequate.

Actually, having said that, I noticed on a few recent trips to
Bracknell that their hackney carriage fleet consists largely of Citroen
Berlingos, Renault Kangoos, Fiat Doblos etc - cars derived from small
light vans which are wheelchair accessible while remaining of a
manageable size. Perhaps those would make more sense than the massive
behemoths?

Neil
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Neil Williams
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On 2015-10-04 10:20:19 +0000, Roland Perry said:

It's not necessarily important for every private hire vehicle to offer
disability access, because the are pre-booked. As long as each firm has
some minimum number of such vehicles available if requested, that
should be sufficient.

Indeed. The principle should be that the accessible vehicles are
available on the same terms as the non-accessible ones (e.g. they are
kept available for such bookings such that the bookings are satisfied
within the same sort of time period as for a non-accesible vehicle) not
that every vehicle has to be accessible.

Neil
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Neil Williams
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On 2015-10-04 13:13:13 +0000, JNugent said:

In order to protect the passenger and preserve his/her right to privacy.

Which they could still choose by requesting sole use of the taxi, just
as they do now. The point is not to ban single-user taxis, it is to
allow another method of operation.

What would you think if a minicab driver picked up your daughter in the
West End late at night, then airily informed her that she had to share
the vehicle from Marble Arch to Ealing with his brother-in-law the
convicted rapist and the Southall Strangler?

She wouldn't have requested a shared taxi when booking so the situation
would not arise. She would have requested a sole-use taxi.

It would seem
to provide an effective half-bus half-taxi means of transport in smaller
towns where proper bus operation is increasingly unaffordable.

Safety first.

Why do you seek to deny the option of a money saving shared taxi to
those who want it? This would not prevent those who don't want a
shared taxi from having one to themselves by paying the fare, as at
present, for the whole vehicle.

Neil
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Neil Williams
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In message , at 14:47:31 on Sun, 4 Oct
2015, Neil Williams remarked:

That's no help if all I know is the name of a place, and can't locate
it on a map. If in a strange City it can be very difficult to
correlate random destinations with "points on a map".

You've used Google Maps' search facility before, I'm assuming?

Yes, and the results in strange overseas cities can often be very
patchy.
--
Roland Perry

On 2015-10-04, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2015-10-03 12:14:41 +0000, Roland Perry said:

That's no help if all I know is the name of a place, and can't locate
it on a map. If in a strange City it can be very difficult to correlate
random destinations with "points on a map".

You've used Google Maps' search facility before, I'm assuming?

It has been known to get addresses wrong or fail to find them entirely.
There are also ambiguous addresses where even if it gives you a list
choosing the right one may not be easy. It doesn't show every business
(even bars and restaurants - and I'm not talking about keeping up with
changes) and it gets the type of business wrong. Quickly now, what type
of business is "Herbal Inn"?

Eric
--
ms fnd in a lbry

In message
-septe
mber.org, at 14:41:13 on Sun, 4 Oct 2015, Recliner
remarked:

Why makes Uber cabs "pirate cars"?

Unlicensed plying-for-hire, of course.

But they don't. They can only come when a registered customer books one. So
they're not pirate cars.

One of the main complaints in London is that they lurk around places
where people might want a cab, and then presumably get the customer to
book them on the spot. That's the reason for the 5-minute timeout
proposed in the consultation.
--
Roland Perry

On 2015-10-04 14:10:10 +0000, Roland Perry said:

Yes, and the results in strange overseas cities can often be very patchy.

True, though London, the city in question, has extremely good coverage,
and I have never had issues finding anywhere I wanted to go on it.
Indeed, it is my primary tool for finding places in London whatever
mode of transport I happen to be using.

Neil
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Neil Williams
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