Taxis

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Taxis
Saw P295 EHC before in Birkenhead, Do Sefton have a website like Liverpool does?

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
I couldn't find one for Sefton, nor for Wirral or Knowsley. St Helens does have a static PDF of their register available from about a year and a half ago.

All four mention that the number of available licences is limited - Knowsley 220, Wirral 289, Sefton 271, St Helens 63.

I couldn't find any mention of such a limit on Liverpool's site, but I do wonder if they may have one (or be considering introducing one), and whether that might be a possible explanation for the several old taxis that are tested and licensed but not actually used - maybe it's to avoid their proprietor losing slots on the register.

[Mayneway]

RE: Taxis

(28/02/2016 11:51)Quackdave Wrote:  I couldn't find one for Sefton, nor for Wirral or Knowsley. St Helens does have a static PDF of their register available from about a year and a half ago.

All four mention that the number of available licences is limited - Knowsley 220, Wirral 289, Sefton 271, St Helens 63.

I couldn't find any mention of such a limit on Liverpool's site, but I do wonder if they may have one (or be considering introducing one), and whether that might be a possible explanation for the several old taxis that are tested and licensed but not actually used - maybe it's to avoid their proprietor losing slots on the register.

All councils have limits on the number of hackney licenses available. This is something that's reviewed every few years. I don't think there's any cap on private hire plates available but taking it slightly off topic the same licensing departments grant street trading licences to ice cream vans and these are also now capped making a van and licence in one area quite expensive.

Your also right about the older vehiches retaining the licence but not being used. The hackney plate has to remain on a vehicle. So if a cabby wishes to retain a plate for whatever reason it has to remain on a tested vehicle hence why the vehicles you mention have MOT but not tax. When licensing panaks review the number of plates issued they can sometimes reduce the overall number which makes these 'stores' plates shoot up in value.

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
Liverpool Fairway R866 VLW has gone from the register (searching for its former plate number, it looks like it's been replaced by a TX2), leaving just two Fairways active. G965 EHC is definitely still going strong, I saw it a couple of times during the last week. Think I saw N423 CMT a couple of weeks ago.

Three of the five Metrocabs on the Liverpool register are still taxed (white N928 YOC, black R788 FNS and grey SF03 OFL) although I've only seen the N- and 03-reg ones.

The Mercedes Vito is still very much on the up, with twenty new plus two secondhand introduced since 16-reg began, trebling the contingent. By comparison, there has been only one 16-reg Peugeot E7 so far, so it looks like maybe its popularity has peaked. And there are no 16-reg TX4s at all as yet.

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Taxis
R866 VLW must be a very recent Withdrawal as i did see it the other week (Friend of mine points it out every time he sees it) I have to admit i aint seen N423 CMT for a while, having said that it used to park up by the former coach station a lot until it closed so that might be why i not seen it latley

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
A new type of taxi has made its debut in Liverpool - the Ford Tourneo, in the shape of YT17 LHN (LCC Hackney Carriage 840).

Current active licensed taxis according to my records:

FX4s: 2 (G965 EHC and N423 CMT)
Metrocabs: 3 (N928 YOC, W978 ULX and SF03 OFL)
LTI TX: 1225 (188 TX1, 471 TX2, 566 TX4)
Peugeot E7: 130
Mercedes Vito: 55
Renault Trafic: 7
Ford Tourneo: 1

St Helens now also have their up-to-date Hackney Carriage Register online:
https://licensing.sthelens.gov.uk/PAforL.../Search/34

Peugeot E7s, along with the Fiat Scudo and Citroën Dispatch (which are basically the same vehicle), are the norm here, with 50 examples licensed, versus only 10 of the TX series, and one each of the Vauxhall Vivaro and Ford Tourneo.

I've put in a FOI request for Knowsley's list and will report back when I get a response.

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
A second Ford Tourneo Voyager FX8 has been registered in Liverpool - 271 (MK17 VYR).

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
A red FX4 still in service in Trafford is N278 EEM

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
I did say I'd report on Knowsley's taxi fleet when I got a response from the council, which I actually did get some time ago but forgot!

The composition is not dissimilar from Liverpool's, consisting of:

175 LTI TX series - 76% (of which 69 TX1s, 77 TXIIs, 29 TX4s)
38 Peugeot E7 etc. - 16% (includes one each of the Citroen/Fiat badged equivalents)
17 Mercedes Vitos - 7%
1 Metrocab - 0.4%
plus one FX4, but this appears to be merely "plate squatting" rather than in service, as it hasn't been taxed for over 2 years.

The oldest vehicles in use are R-registered TX1s.

Anyone interested in the full list, let me know and I'll forward it.

[Quackdave]

RE: Taxis
Liverpool is now down to two Metrocabs, the 03-reg one having been withdrawn.

The Ford Tourneo is now up to ten licensed examples, overtaking the Renault Trafic into fourth place for popularity.

The register is also now down to having just two (genuine) R-registered taxis and four S-reg, plus of course the two N-reg and the remarkable G-reg. The driver of G965 EHC pulled up alongside my F-reg Nissan Micra at the traffic lights a few weeks ago, and we got into a conversation about our similarly-aged vehicles; apparently his taxi has done over 1 million miles (dwarfing the Micra's meagre 40,000!) I don't think this one is going to be disappearing from the register any time soon - it's good to see a cabbie enthusiastic about keeping this iconic marque alive.