I didn’t pay any attention to what plate the driver was on, and I didn’t grill him about his charging structure, starting price or cost-per-metre or minute or mile, or whatever it is.
Because all I cared about was getting home – and safely.
And herein lies the real reason that Jersey’s taxi drivers are never going to ‘win’ in the public’s eyes when it comes to industrial action or protests, or even making a political point.
Speaking to the head of the Jersey Taxi Drivers Association this past week about why drivers had chosen to strike last week, I once again asked him to clarify the difference between taxis and cabs.
As he explained, it’s really not that hard to understand.
According to the association, public rank taxis operate mainly from taxi ranks, individual drivers can take bookings and JTDA members are radio-linked so they can liaise with other drivers to see if someone is available to take a booking.
The fares are controlled by the States, making them, the association says, the cheapest in the Island.
Cab drivers, however, work for private companies that run depots and employ operators, often meaning they are more expensive as they have bigger overheads. They take telephone bookings and provide door-to-door services. A rule-change means that in Jersey they can now pick up hailed fares off the street, but not within 100 yards of a taxi rank, and when they do so they are meant to charge public rank taxi fares.
Both clearly have their uses in Jersey. And it is no secret that regardless of whether you use a taxi or a cab, there is widespread agreement among the public that both are pretty expensive.
However, the reason the public may appear unable or unwilling to take on board this difference is that they don’t actually care.
So long as we can call for a car when we want one, or pick one up from a rank when we need to, then no one is bothered about what kind it is.
This is also the reason why the drivers’ concerns about changes to the industry being proposed by Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel fall on deaf ears.
The public use taxis to make their lives easier, to get to places more quickly, to get home after unwinding and having a drink, to go on holiday, to avoid parking charges, and for general convenience.
There’s nothing easy, quick, convenient or relaxing about comparing tariffs, licences, rules and regulations.
Don’t mistake our nonchalance with a lack of sympathy, however. When you look at the figures put out by the JTDA to emphasise their point that the 4.6 per cent fare increase proposed by the minister will actually lead to a decrease in wages once other measures are taken into account, I get why drivers are annoyed.
And there’s certainly no reason for Chief Minister Ian Gorst to have ignored their requests for help entirely, as the association claim. At the very least he could have acknowledged their approach.
But, for the sake of our Island as we plough on through tourist season, bank holiday weekends, school holidays and summer evenings, some agreement needs to be reached.
It should never have been allowed to get to this situation in the first place, of course, and it is likely there are problems on both the States and the drivers’ sides.
But, I suppose, what can you expect when you mix taxi drivers – notoriously some of the most opinionated people on the planet – with politics?
Sorry, but the public cannot be relied upon to push for action in this case, as they might with nurses or teachers, for example.
And the decision of some rank taxis to withdraw services in the early hours of Saturday, despite the association saying there would be no more action over the bank holiday weekend, does the cause no favours at all.
In truth, however, I can personally vouch that had it not been for my driver – a cab, it turned out – telling us about the taxi strike that night, we’d have been none the wiser.
The taxi queue was the same as any other night, the journey was uneventful and we paid exactly what we normally would.
It therefore begs the question, what was the point?
And if the answer is, as I fear, there wasn’t much point, then drivers have two options – give up or get tougher. It seems they have opted for the latter, saying they will strike this week, starting today, until talks resume with the minister.
Unfortunately for them, neither option, however, will lead to what they really want and need – the support of the public.
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