Quote Originally Posted by les_taxi View Post
Well it's a difficult one as I'm not a London Taxi Driver!

In many parts of the country private hire vehicles are already fitted with a meter.

The difference in a Taxi (hackney carriage) and a PHP (private hire vehicle) is simple.

I can pick anyone up freely within my licensed area,or out of that area if booked over the phone.

A PHP can only get jobs rang in to the office and sent to him.
They need a meter so as to charge the correct price so no problem with that.

My advantage is 3 fold - I can sit on the rank and get work, be 'flagged' down and also receive work off my phone, of which is about 60% of my work

So we have had the meter in PHP for years and I have no objection to it.

What DOES drive me nuts is PVH illigally picking up on street which they do. I have caught a few and reported them

Remember if you jump in a PHP he is not insured to take you.
Spot on bro! I see Uber to be the biggest threat to taxi trade in years. Basically this system will allow you to work in not only your own city but other places as well. I can see it being abused in the long run, now that sat navs are here you don,t even need to know the city anymore. Taking 20 percent of each fare is rather a lot, that will make it more expensive than paying for a radio circuit.