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Bath to Ban SatNavs

 
 
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rob90
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Joined: 11 Feb 2004
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 12:49 pm    Post subject: Bath to Ban SatNavs Reply with quote

Listening to the radio today there is a story being discussed that Bath Council are considering banning the use of SatNavs by taxi drivers.

Bath encompasses both city and rural areas and I can understand the use of satnavs for more remote areas but should all taxi drivers need to pass the equivalent version of the "knowledge" for their town.

Do you expect a professional taxi driver to know the area ?

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cynic-al
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Someone who works part time where I work is also a taxi driver, he has his own car and is hackney and private hire. He passed just before they made a knowledge test compulsory here.

He doesn't see the point of a knowledge here as it's a fairly rural area and he mostly knows the area, he always uses a satnav as it gives him the distance and time when people phone for a price. He doesn't know all the streets by name but once he's seen it on the satnav screen he knows the general area so knows a few different routes to avoid traffic.

I'm not sure what their angle is for banning them. Safety by reducing things to distract the taxi driver? If that's their angle are their any working time restrictions for taxi drivers like bus drivers? Surely that would have a bigger impact?

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dxmedia
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought that they were built into the call assigning hardware that sits on the dash?

The satnav relays the location of the taxi back to the office, and they choose who's going to be closest for the incoming call.

So, sounds like pish to me.
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jojo
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wish the local "taxi" drivers where I live would use satnavs so that I wouldn't have to give them directions. Mind you, I doubt if half of them even have driving licences!

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cynic-al
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah the pictures on the ID cards often dont match the drivers face Laughing

The larger companies in cities seem to have the job computers on board, some with and some without the satnav. A lot of firms are too small for such technologies or don't actually employ the drivers directly, they just act as a call centre and farm the jobs out to pretty much anyone, which is great for passenger safety!

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jojo
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cynic-al wrote:
Yeah the pictures on the ID cards often dont match the drivers face Laughing




You're right. I reported a "driver" to the local licencing authority after he bumped up a kerb and ran a red light. It seems that the vehicle and the ID belonged to his brother who was off on a pilgrimmage to some far off land and had lent his taxi, ID and all, to his brother!
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Buddha
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Bath to Ban SatNavs Reply with quote

rob90 wrote:

Do you expect a professional taxi driver to know the area ?


Absolutely, as a student I worked the radio in my local office (this was pre sat nav, I'm 41 now). I needed to know the local area just to do that - when work was given out over the radio drivers would call for the job, I needed to decide who was closest. That cannot work if, when calling the job, the drivers don't know the area. Everyone will call for every job.
Aside from that, most jobs were related to local businesses - pubs, clubs, restaurants etc. Even if a job despatch system can replace the knowledge required of the radio operator, it can't help when a fare hails a cab and asks for their destination by the something other than the street address.

The pay was shocking, but I really had a sense of pride doing that job. Knowing that the (self-employed) drivers thought I was fair and knowledgable in giving out the radio work was very satisfying. (It also meant I got free cab rides home after a night out - very useful as a student!)
All the time that work is called over the radio, I cannot see how you run an efficient cab circuit without local knowledge.

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'Believe nothing no matter where you read it or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.' - Buddha
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