London taxis are going off a cliff
Whilst this may appear somewhat Londo-centric, I am increasingly coming to recognise the London taxi cab as a credible “economic indicator”. Most times I am observing astride by bicycle, but on occasion I am in one, sometimes even with the said conveyance.
Outside my office in the Grays Inn Road there is a cab rank with room for two. In boom times the rank is normally empty. Of late there have been regularly three, sometimes four cabs waiting – two on the stand, two waiting on the yellow line behind.
In the past two weeks this has become the norm. Worse, upon seeing the state of the rank I now look towards Kings Cross and regularly see between three and five further cabs with their telltale yellow “for hire” sign well alight.
Four times in the past week I have been inside a cab making journeys that were either too long (over five miles) or too late (toward midnight, after an event, at the end of a day which normally starts for me at 6am).
All four cabbies, in a business well known for the occasional whinge, have given me coherent accounts of how the recession is affecting them.
Wheels off the economy: taxis outside the ITN building
They all told me that business had “gone off a cliff” in the past two weeks. Specifically, as the weather has improved, so customers have chosen NOT to take a cab where once they would have taken one.
One driver told me he has to clear £90 on cab rent, fuel and insurance before he makes a profit. When I got into his cab at 1pm he told me he had made £39 profit/income since setting out at 6am. I calculated correctly that he had been hired for short journeys a total of 10 times in seven hours.
Others told me they are now “staying out” three hours beyond their normal trading time.
If any of you drivers are on your Blackberries, twiddling your thumbs and fingers on Snowbog, I’d be delighted to have you join my new economic index.
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Oh what a journalistic cliché it is for a hack to use hacks as his first and often only source of local colour in some foreign capital.
This is the first time I’ve seen it done on home soil.
I agree
Cliche maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less true. You only have to be in Central London for 5 minutes to see the amount of cabs driving around with their lights on. And as Jon says, despite what people think about us a breed, we are more then capable of delivering a coherent & intelligent assessment of what is going in London right now.
Enjoy daily Snowmail and M4. Similar barometer to your taxis. I drive articulated trucks part time – was on M6 recently – between Preston and Penrith – two hours drive – only six big trucks. Likewise busy M62 Man to Leeds – every day is more like a weekend.
ALL driving agencies NWest indicate business is very, very quiet. Also talked with taxis drivers weekend – report business dead. NW is in terrible condition.
Happy St Patrick’s Day. Kind regards.
David Carne\Bolton FM
Talking of the recession, wouldn’t it be a good idea if stamp duty was suspended until 2012? 1,850 people agree so far, and if you do to, then sign up at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SuspendStampDuty.
Jon – many thanks for the link to my site.
Whilst many may be deeply unsympathetic to the plight of cabbies (what with our Tuscan villas etc…) I can give you plenty of examples of how the current economic climate has affected us.
Account work used to make up around 60-70% of my income, now I’m lucky if that figure is 20%. Not surprising when you look at a client list that contained so many big banks. Many other accounts have told their employees just to hail a taxi on the street as it is so easy now, and means they avoid waiting time and the 10% gratuity.
One account customer told me that his firm had cut their taxi bill in half just by doing this. Some of this loss of income may, once we get to the summer, be replaced by more European visitors to London due to the pound/euro rate. I’ve had a couple of punters in the hotel business tell me that occupation rates are better than average for the time of year and bookings for the summer look good. Tourists aren’t the greatest users of cabs but it’s one ray of sunshine amongst the gloom.
Richard – http://thecabbiescapital.co.uk
Jon
Thanks for the link to my blog.
In early February Jon was in my cab returning from a trip to Madrid, after collecting his “famous” bike, I dropped him off at his home, this comment is by way of reciprocating.
“Be Lucky” is the famous saying of London Cabbies and never has the phrase had more relevance than today with street hailings down by 20-25 per cent. You need the luck of the Irish out there, turn left and you trap a good job, turn right and you could go for up to an hour without work.
The busiest rank by far is Paddington Station and sometimes it can be ¾ miles long stretching as far as the Hilton Metropole in Edgware Road.
As for conversation on the journey it nearly always turns to the economy, and yes, we do hear some bizarre theories.
Curiously tipping has also declined by about 10 per cent – Jon being the exception.
But the greatest decline in percentage terms has been revenue received for adverts on the side of cabs. Contractual agreements have been torn up, so that a regular £80 per month received for having adverts has declined to £37.74.
So unless you have a preference on what colour cab you prefer, you won’t have to wait long. Whinge over, I had better get back to work.
Hi Jon
I don’t find this recession as bad as the one in the 90′s but then I didn’t have a mortgage to contend with then.
It’s all hit and miss, you could do half a dozen trips in a row under a fiver or two or three at 20 or 30 quid.
Things are not good out there but if it stays as it is I will just survive.
John,
I have always been an optimist although reading thru my blog you would think the opposite.
I believe this recession has done wonders for the London Taxi trade. Over the past ten years we had grown into separate little trading units oblivious to the threats to our lively hood being concocted by our adversaries.
Over the past few weeks there has been a new companionship prevalent in the trade that can be observed at night outside clubs and bars in the west end and city.
Our work had been stolen from under our noses for many years and in times of financial stability we became apathetic, there was always another job down the road and passengers were under the mistaken belief that it was quite legal for mini cabs to approach customers leavening clubs and restaurants.
Because of the lack of incidental work available at night, drivers have united into little pockets of activists and taken back the work from the touts.
Plus no ride is turned away. Outside most bars and night venues you will easily find a taxi willing to take you home. No more the cry, “Sorry Gov, I’m going the other way.”
I do hope this trend towards unity continues when the work finally picks up.
I agree with most of what has been said but we need to take a step back and try to be creative. Instead of whinging why not look for new opportunities explore new avenues. It’s time to think outside the box. Just like any industry change in inevitbable.
Those who can adapt and constantly evolve will always prosper. Don’t forget we have more tools and advancements in technology then ever before, I refuse to be downbeat and am looking for innovative solutions.