Blue Light Cabs

Taxi drivers who have returned to work in recent weeks have found themselves earning less than the minimum wage, less than they were getting on the covid 19 pandemic unemployment payment. There has been no advice on this coming from the NTA, the taxi regulator, and no mention of financial assistance for taxi drivers returning to work. Nor has there been any advice as to what requirements there are when returning to work.   Is a dividing screen effective?  How many passengers should be carried?  How to keep the taxi covid free.  Advice should be given on disinfecting etc.   And is there a grant available to purchase a dividing screen and disinfectant, gloves and masks? Issues taxi drivers have regarding the NTA are far to numerous to mention. Within this blog, issues that constantly arise will be discussed, but the immediate issue now is the lack of advice surrounding the covid 19 pandemic and getting back to work.  It seems taxis are not considere...

By now all taxi drivers on the Freenow app will be aware of the new "rule"......Only 2 passengers should be carried, with the front passenger seat kept free. In March they offered essential workers a 50% discount on taxi rides. Now they are promoting taxis with covid protection screens, while there is absolutely no proof  these screens are effective, that they had farmed out to another business, no doubt receiving a financial kick back. When are taxi drivers going to make a stand against this monster? As an Irish cabbie you are self employed ,  essentially running a small business. You make decisions that best serve YOUR needs in order to keep YOUR business afloat.  Freenow are there to serve taxi's, not the other way round. It should not be within their remit to give discounts on behalf of YOUR business, accepting these fares meant you were at a 50% loss but Freenow got the kudos, or to decide how many passengers you should carry, or whether or not you should fit an u...

Hailo launched in Dublin 10 years ago to the delight of both taxi drivers and customers. A simpler, quicker way to order a taxi had customers downloading the app in their droves. Drivers,  who had for decades been working with radio companys or working the streets signed up to Hailo in their thousands. The promise of no base fees, the ability to accept jobs from anywhere and only being charged a percentage of each job done was revolutionary. Hailo delivered on their promises and became the friend of taxi drivers and the taxi hailing public. Unfortunately this excellent company sold out to Europe's My taxi and things became a bit sinister. Customers and drivers complained about the new app. It wasn't as efficient as the Hailo app which had during it's time tweaked the model to suit all. A very sinister turn of events came about when My taxi sold out to Daimler and BMW. These motor giants invested heavily into a taxi app!!! The company had been reporting losses and still does...

The obvious threat to the taxi industry in Ireland at present is covid 19. The business, along with many others,  has been decimated. Driving a taxi for a living may never be the same as it was pre covid. Pubs and night clubs probably won't reopen til the end of the summer. Air travel has been reduced by 95%. Tourism for this season is non existent. Sporting events and concerts all cancelled for now. Without all of this, there is no taxi business.  It will probably be Christmas time before things start looking like they did pre covid, and that's a hopeful anticipation.  In recent times there have been a number of threats to the taxi industry: 1. Freenow, formerly Mytaxi, formerly Hailo. And to a certain extent, Uber. 2. The N.T.A., National transport authority. 3. The current minister for transport,  Shane Ross. 4. Illegal taxi's, including social media ads re. airport pickups and drop offs. 5. Rickshaws. 6. 24 hour buses. 7. Violence, robbery and high jackings. 2016...

                    Covid 19 advice for taxi drivers