wrote in message news
On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 13:48:32 +0000
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:38:16 on Thu, 9 Mar
2017, d remarked:
There are taxi ranks outside Bristol and Nottingham stations with
'London' taxis queuing up at both on Google Streetview. Blue and green
rather than black.

Ironically the first thing I saw on nottingham streetview outside the
station
is a prius taxi.

That's a minicab - no "Taxi" sign on the roof. Duh.

So every city requires a taxi sign on the roof does it?

No, some require a Tacsi sign on the roof :-)

tim

On 2017-03-09 09:58:39 +0000, d said:

If protection from passengers was a primary concern minicab drivers would
buy them too. The fact that they don't tells you all you need to know.

I always sit in the front in minicabs and have never been asked not to,
which I imagine would be the first action of a concerned driver. I'm a
fairly big bloke who if you didn't know me you probably wouldn't want
to meet me in a dark alleyway just in case.

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

On 2017-03-09 13:38:16 +0000, d said:

Ironically the first thing I saw on nottingham streetview outside the station
is a prius taxi. There do seem to be some TXs there, but a quick random
sample around the rest of the city doesn't show any so they can't be that
common. I can't imagine why they use them there.

Priuses are a good choice at the moment - environmental credentials,
decent sized boot, room for 4 passengers plus the driver.

I really don't like TXs, they are a nuisance to get into, you sort of
have to either squat-waddle or kneel on the floor to get to the back
seat if you're tall. I can't even nearly stand up in one. They may be
wheelchair accessible but they are certainly poorly accessible to
anyone else.

Bracknell appear to specify small van based MPVs - Berlingos, Doblos or
Kangoos. Those are quite good as they can be both wheelchair
accessible via a rear ramp and as easy to get into as a car.

TXs are a "London icon" image, but utterly impractical.

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

In message , at 18:56:36 on Thu, 9 Mar
2017, Neil Williams remarked:

Priuses are a good choice at the moment - environmental credentials,
decent sized boot, room for 4 passengers plus the driver.

I really don't like TXs, they are a nuisance to get into, you sort of
have to either squat-waddle or kneel on the floor to get to the back
seat if you're tall. I can't even nearly stand up in one.

You can stand up in a Prius?
--
Roland Perry

On 2017-03-09 19:08:44 +0000, Roland Perry said:

In message , at 18:56:36 on Thu, 9
Mar 2017, Neil Williams remarked:

Priuses are a good choice at the moment - environmental credentials,
decent sized boot, room for 4 passengers plus the driver.

I really don't like TXs, they are a nuisance to get into, you sort of
have to either squat-waddle or kneel on the floor to get to the back
seat if you're tall. I can't even nearly stand up in one.

You can stand up in a Prius?

I don't need to, because I can sit down straight onto the seat from
outside the car then swing my legs in, unlike a TX where I can't
because it's too far back from the door.

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

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On 2017-03-09 19:08:44 +0000, Roland Perry said:

In message , at 18:56:36 on Thu,
9 Mar 2017, Neil Williams remarked:

Priuses are a good choice at the moment - environmental credentials,
decent sized boot, room for 4 passengers plus the driver.

I really don't like TXs, they are a nuisance to get into, you sort of
have to either squat-waddle or kneel on the floor to get to the back
seat if you're tall. I can't even nearly stand up in one.

You can stand up in a Prius?

I don't need to, because I can sit down straight onto the seat from
outside the car then swing my legs in, unlike a TX where I can't
because it's too far back from the door.

One of the problems with one-size-fits-all taxi policies is that some people
can get into saloon cars and some can only get into van-type taxis or TXs.
Cambridge kept a mixed fleet for that reason.

After she gave up driving at age 89, my mother was forced to use minicabs
all the time because the step up into a TX was too much for her.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 2017\03\09 09:58, d wrote:

If protection from passengers was a primary concern minicab drivers would
buy them too.

Minicab drivers in London are expressly forbidden from driving TX taxis.

On 2017\03\09 23:06, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2017-03-09 19:08:44 +0000, Roland Perry said:

In message , at 18:56:36 on Thu, 9
Mar 2017, Neil Williams remarked:

I really don't like TXs, they are a nuisance to get into, you sort of
have to either squat-waddle or kneel on the floor to get to the back
seat if you're tall. I can't even nearly stand up in one.

You can stand up in a Prius?

I don't need to, because I can sit down straight onto the seat from
outside the car then swing my legs in, unlike a TX where I can't because
it's too far back from the door.

One of the tip-up seats facing backwards in a TX can swing out the door
if the driver releases it.

In article , (Basil Jet)
wrote:

On 2017\03\09 09:58, d wrote:

If protection from passengers was a primary concern minicab drivers
would buy them too.

Minicab drivers in London are expressly forbidden from driving TX
taxis.

And in some other parts of the country too, including Cambridge these days.
At one time the only London-type cabs in use here were as hire cars.

Many places ban hire cars from having meters too. Cambridge is an exception
so we don't have a problem with high hire car fares that have happened
elsewhere.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 14:55:37 +0000
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:41:08 on Thu, 9 Mar
Like these ten you mean? https://goo.gl/maps/Uwr3kWQE4hk

And another dozen inside, he https://goo.gl/maps/no195yz2Ze72
to he https://goo.gl/maps/bep6nJZHu6R2

Oh, you mean the ones he'd already pointed out? Yes, saw them. Your point is?

Who he, and when pointed out?

For someones who's been in the technology industry for decades you seem to
have a remarkable inability to check previous usenet posts.

Message-ID:

Go find it.

And I was in that street only the other week and there were precisely
zero cabs of any sort in it.

Crikey, I thought you were joined at the hip to the East End.

?

With a combination of work and leisure I've probably visited more UK towns
and cities than most people.

Give some good reasons they're better than a normal car then.

Five bums, and lots of luggage.

Sure, but how often do you get 5 people in a cab? The ones running around
here that arn't empty (which is most of them) never have more than 2 or 3
people in and I'm only 1/2 mile from Waterloo atm.

--
Spud