Prospero

Apologies in advance but I desperately need to get this out of my system.

I was informed by an Edinburgh cabbie this evening that the City licensing authority has approved those wretched delivery van conversion Euro Taxis for use as taxi cabs. They are due to hit the streets in a couple of weeks. For those that don't know what I'm talking about, heres a brief comparison:

Passenger friendly, spin it on a sixpence cab
Evil, dark interloper

And now some welcome news to those arriving at Edinburgh airport: BAA is now permitting licensed cabs to pick up arriving passengers at the airport. Just to complicate matters, BAA has designated a separate rank for these taxis, separating them from the airport Skodas that previously had exclusive pick-up rights at the airport.

McCoy

Presumably it's so they can carry more people - those EuroTaxis can take 7..

Incidentally, when I get a taxi from EDI, I always turn left through that tunnel, and get a taxi there.. am I taking a more expensive option?

SLF

Me too. And there's a guy who always wants to know how many in the party, and gives you a receipt for some reason. Odd.

Jimmie76

There were suggestions in the Standard that they were trying to put those on the streets in LON, which I nearly lost my lunch when I saw them for the first time. That is not a taxi, some of the black cabs in London have tvs in them now.

matthewuk

Cost is about the same but if you head straight on for 'City Taxis' you will always get one that can use Greenways (bus lanes) and they are far far more friendly.

The airport taxis you get turning left are just not as friendly imho - only worthwhile if going further afield or if you need an estate.

McCoy

Fair enough.. ta.

Oh, and I was in a black cab in Edinburgh yesterday, and there was a TV screen - behind the driver's head. Mainly adverts and promos.

Prospero

That'll be the Cab"ti*vate system. The businessman behind this venture appeared in front of the dragons in BBC's Dragon's Den last year. Despite walking away without any investors, he's still in business.

Infact, if I hadn't had seen this on TV, I would have never have realised that there's a small control panel next to the offside door to adjust the volume (or mute) of the audio track It does get a little annoying.

aristoph

I think it's called Cabvision. But yep, first thing to do when you get one is turn it off.

Jimmie76

I hate to say it but I agree and turn it off as well. I did once start to watch a prog on there about the system and how the guy had started off, just as I did the cabbie asked if he had found the correct place and I never saw the rest.

Gaza

The Airport cars operate under a "Private Hire" license and not a full Hackney. Legally a Private Hire driver cannot pick up a fare off the street and must be prebooked or ordered by telephone. BAA get round this by "booking" you a cab and giving you a booking slip.

Until a few years ago Edinburgh had three classes of taxi license: Hackney, Airport and Private Hire. Hackneys could pick up anywhere except within the confines of Edinburgh Airport (unless prebooked). Airport Taxis (saloon cars) could only pick-up at Edinburgh Aiport although they could be prebooked to pick up in the City. Their rates were more expensive than hackneys as it was argied they had greater costs as they had to run empty back to the Airport. Private Hire operated as stated above.

The Council then decided to do anyway with the Aiport license over a period of about 18 months. All Aiport Taxi license holders were given a Hackney license when they changed their cars to either a TX1 or Metrocab.

At the same time BAA introduced the Private Hire taxi rank. They charged a substantial annual fee to those Private Hire car owners who wanted to pick-up at the airport.

As there is a waiting list for Hackney Licenses in Edinburgh they can change hands for up to £20k. Technically they cannot be traded but there is a simple way of doing it. Most of the ex-Airport Taxi license holders then decided to take advantage of this and sell their hackney licenses and take out a Private Hire license (on which there are no restrictions on numbers). These guys are now complaining that they have been shafted by Hackneys now being allowed to pick-up.

I used to upset them quite a bit when there was a mix of Hackney (mostly ex-Airport Taxi license owners) and Private Hire cars using the rank. I exercised my right to take a Hackney although there may have been 5 or 6 Private Hire cars in front of the Hackney. The Taxi marshall used to try to stop me but as soon as I threatened to report then to the Council they backed off immediatley.

aristoph

OK, now I am really confused about Edinburgh taxis (it always seemed simple when I lived there!) So, ahead of my trip to the Festival this August, can anyone tell me what do we need to do to get a black (hackney) cab into town? Is there a separate queue for these - and is it signed differently? Or is there one queue and you have to follow Gaza and skip the private hires to get the black cab?

Gaza

Since the recent changes to the layout I can't comment. I'm sure our EDI regulars will be able to provide full details.

SLF

Thanks for this! I'll be sure to head for "city taxis" next time!

ajax

I was walking past Cannon St station about 18 months back and was approached by a market researcher who whisked me into a cab (parked, sadly ) and proceeded to ask me all sorts of questions about my views on the (then-prototype) "Cabtivate" system. I was honest and told her I thought it was annoying and not useful - but looks like I was in the minority, as they released it shortly afterwards!

Oh well - at least I got a £2 HMV voucher for my troubles. Bought me 1/4 of a DVD, it did...

edi-traveller

It changes every time I go.

Until recently pre-booked Black or other cabs - come into the short stay car park and pick up from the side of the multi-storey - the cabs are pissed off because they have to pay a £1 fee to enter the short stay in order to pick up.

Not I think that Black cabs pick up in part of the new drop off point.

So as you exit Domestic Arrivals you turn left for the Airport Cabs, and sort of straight on to the right to get the Black cabs.

This was last Monday.