Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters to buses
and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the speed limit.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...nderbonnet.htm

The consequences seem fairly obvious to me.

1) Taxis will become significantly slower than minicabs, and so will become
a distress purchase for people who can't get a minicab. People will prefer
any minicab, even an illegal one, to a taxi.

2) Car drivers will do everything they can to prevent taxis pulling out in
front of them, so that they won't be held up. This will make taxis even
slower with respect to minicabs.

3) Taxi drivers will earn less money, because there will be less demand for
them, and they will take longer to do the jobs that they get but won't get
any extra money for them. Minicab drivers will earn more money, because
there will be more demand for minicabs.

4) Although taxis will probably survive in Central London, they will cease
to exist in the suburbs, because there will be no point in spending a year
or more doing the suburban knowledge and buying or hiring an expensive
wheelchair-accessible vehicle if you can earn more money as a minicab
driver.

5) The decimation of the suburban taxi trade and growth of the minicab trade
will mean that the disabled won't be able to get around at all.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters to buses
and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the speed limit.

Only when we are permitted to fit politicians with bull**** detectors.
;-))

"John Rowland" wrote the
following in:

Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters
to buses and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the
speed limit.

Obviously he never rides night buses then.

--
message by the incredible Robin May.
"The British don't like successful people" - said by British failures

Who is Abi Titmuss? What is she? Why is she famous?
http://robinmay.fotopic.net

5) The decimation of the suburban taxi trade and growth of the minicab trade
will mean that the disabled won't be able to get around at all.

Whatever happened to the small sky blue box cars that disabled people used to
drive about in? Often used to see loads of them parked near to the terraces at
Highfield Road and Ibrox on the TV. Maybe they should be bought back to help
disabled people get about?

Burkey

On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 23:00:30 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters to buses
and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the speed limit.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...nderbonnet.htm

The consequences seem fairly obvious to me.

snip

Eh? If cab drivers have to obey the law they'll become economically unviable?
If that's the case, then they DESERVE TO LOSE THEIR JOBS. Why should society
tolerate people who make their living by breaking the law?

JWBA68 wrote:
5) The decimation of the suburban taxi trade and growth of the
minicab trade will mean that the disabled won't be able to get
around at all.

Whatever happened to the small sky blue box cars that disabled people
used to drive about in? Often used to see loads of them parked near
to the terraces at Highfield Road and Ibrox on the TV. Maybe they
should be bought back to help disabled people get about?


(sigh) The world has moved on. Those "sky blue box cars" were considered to
be unsafe and anti-social (in that they were single seat, no room for a
family) so they were done away with (although I understand that a few are
still in use). Ordinary cars are now available through the Motability scheme
with adaptations if necessary.

My thoughts...

1) Taxis will become significantly slower than minicabs, and so will become
a distress purchase for people who can't get a minicab. People will prefer
any minicab, even an illegal one, to a taxi.

I think the general trend is to fit these things to all cars in London,
or at least that's what I read.

2) Car drivers will do everything they can to prevent taxis pulling out in
front of them, so that they won't be held up. This will make taxis even
slower with respect to minicabs.

"Car drivers" shouldn't be driving in London, and even if they
absolutely have to, they shouldn't be driving fast in London. If they
have a problem with it, I suggest they get on a sensible form of
transport. If they intend to drive dangerously, I suggest they are
stopped from driving.

3) Taxi drivers will earn less money, because there will be less demand for
them, and they will take longer to do the jobs that they get but won't get
any extra money for them. Minicab drivers will earn more money, because
there will be more demand for minicabs.

That's capitalism for you. But then as I said above, the trend is to fit
them to all cars, so this competitive advantage is unlikely to continue.

4) Although taxis will probably survive in Central London, they will cease
to exist in the suburbs, because there will be no point in spending a year
or more doing the suburban knowledge and buying or hiring an expensive
wheelchair-accessible vehicle if you can earn more money as a minicab
driver.

As far as I am concerned no taxi drivers want to take me home anyway, so
why should I care for their demise? Minicab drivers have always treated
me with far more respect. I cannot afford to live in Central London
although would love to, so I have to live in the suburbs and commute in.

5) The decimation of the suburban taxi trade and growth of the minicab trade
will mean that the disabled won't be able to get around at all.

This is a fair concern.

Dan

"John Rowland" wrote in message ...
Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters to buses
and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the speed limit.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...nderbonnet.htm

The consequences seem fairly obvious to me.

How does he expect this to work? Any tall buildings or tunnels will disrupt
the satellite signal plus , though I expect bus & taxi companies wouldn't
break the law , there would be nothing to prevent an owner-operator taxi driver
disconnecting or shielding the aerial of the unit wherever it may be in the
vehicle so it can't pick up any satellite signals. And if these things ever
have to be fitted to private cars thats exactly what I'll do.

B2003

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled speed limiters to buses
and taxis which will prevent them from ever breaking the speed limit.


http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...nderbonnet.htm

The consequences seem fairly obvious to me.

1) Taxis will become significantly slower than minicabs, and so will
become
a distress purchase for people who can't get a minicab. People will prefer
any minicab, even an illegal one, to a taxi.

2) Car drivers will do everything they can to prevent taxis pulling out in
front of them, so that they won't be held up. This will make taxis even
slower with respect to minicabs.

3) Taxi drivers will earn less money, because there will be less demand
for
them, and they will take longer to do the jobs that they get but won't get
any extra money for them. Minicab drivers will earn more money, because
there will be more demand for minicabs.

4) Although taxis will probably survive in Central London, they will cease
to exist in the suburbs, because there will be no point in spending a year
or more doing the suburban knowledge and buying or hiring an expensive
wheelchair-accessible vehicle if you can earn more money as a minicab
driver.

5) The decimation of the suburban taxi trade and growth of the minicab
trade
will mean that the disabled won't be able to get around at all.


This rather hysterical scenario is all based on a false premise.

People don't choose to use a black cab because they think the driver will
break the speed limit to get them home quicker. The black cab's advantages
are all to do with safety, reliability, solidity, legality, etc. So they
have nothing to fear from this measure. It could even become a selling
point.

If I wanted a driver to speed, I'd avoid black cabs and offer a minicab
driver an extra fiver. I very rarely see black cabs speeding.

Jim

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Apparently Livingstone wants to fit GPS-controlled
speed limiters to buses and taxis which will prevent
them from ever breaking the speed limit.


http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...nderbonnet.htm

The consequences seem fairly obvious to me.

How does he expect this to work? Any tall buildings
or tunnels will disrupt the satellite signal plus ,
though I expect bus & taxi companies wouldn't
break the law , there would be nothing to prevent
an owner-operator taxi driver disconnecting or
shielding the aerial of the unit wherever it may
be in the vehicle so it can't pick up any satellite signals.

The PCO is legally entitled to visit a taxi-driver's house at any time of
the day or night and inspect his taxi there and then, waking him if
necessary. Any taxi driver who did the above would lose his badge. Anyway,
since the only places where a GPS unit would lose the signal for a
significant period of time are all 30mph limit anyway, the unit would
probably default to 30 unless it has reason to believe that it is on a road
where the speed limit is higher.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes