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2nd International Taxi Forum
Opening
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Peter Zander, President, Europäische Taximesse
"We are glad that the IRU relied once again on the Europäische Taximesse in Cologne to hold its second International Taxi Forum. In Cologne, as soon as an event has been organised twice, it belongs to tradition. From the third time on, we consider it a custom. We would be very happy if this International Taxi Forum organised every two years during the Europäische Taximesse in Cologne could be part of our customs."
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Thomas Grätz, Vice President, IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver”
"Let’s be honest for once. Can we expect our passengers to wait for all our taxis mainly at locations next to airports and railway stations? According to our appraisal, the taxi industry cannot reduce the loss of quality on its own; we need support from the legislators."
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1st Interactive Session: Regulated versus deregulated markets in delivering quality: what is the right recipe?
Moderated by Jean-Paul Gallé, Taxi COLUX, Past President, IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver” |
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Do deregulated markets deliver quality? The American experience
Victor Dizengoff, Executive Director, Black Car Assistance Corp, New York City & Vice President, American Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, TLPA, USA
“Since its inception, the taxicab industry has always faced regulatory questions such as what safety requirements are needed, what is the proper fare, how many taxicabs are needed, how many taxicab companies are needed, who are the regulations designed for (the public, fleet owners, drivers), should there be quality of service standards, and the list goes on. The newest question is, what happened to full service taxicab companies that used to give us really good service?”
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Lessons to be learned from the taxi market regulation/deregulation in New Zealand
Tim Reddish, Executive Director, New Zealand Taxi Federation
“Deregulation without standards and compliance is a disaster and leads to poor quality and lack of professionalism. On the other hand, in a free market ensuring an even playing field and standards to comply with, quality and viability go hand in hand. As a result, the small and non-compliant give up; those that can’t operate honestly are caught and leave the industry.”
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The experience of Istanbul in regulating/deregulating the taxi market
Semih Kaçanoğlu, President, Istanbul Taxi Trade Cooperation & Member of the Board of Directors, Turkish Motoring Federation, Turkey
“Despite recent regulations requiring new drivers to obtain a certificate and follow at least 30 hours of training, or giving municipalities the right to determinate fares, the biggest problem in Istanbul remains unreported vehicles and the lack of communication between authorities and drivers.”
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The European experience of deregulation/regulation: The case of Ireland
Kathleen Doyle, Commissioner for Taxi Regulation, Ireland
“Since the entry into force of the Regulation of 2000, which removed all quantitative restrictions for market access, followed by the Taxi Regulation Act of September 2004, the objective of which was to secure the provision and maintenance of service quality and standards in the taxi industry, and through the reforms of 2006/2007, there has been a steady increase of taxi services supply, including a steady, although small, increase in the issue of wheelchair accessible taxi licences.”
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Prospects for taxi markets and regulations in Central and Eastern Europe: the case of Russia
Alexander Vorobiev, Deputy Head of Transport and Communications Department, in charge of passenger transport, Moscow City Government, Russia
"Although a Federal Law exists, the city of Moscow has implemented a voluntary system for private taxi companies. By registering to “Moscow City Taxi”, private companies accept a “Contract of Social Partnership”, by which they benefit from advantages and State support in exchange for additional quality requirements."
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2nd Interactive Session: Industry experience and initiatives to ensure quality of taxi services
Moderated by Jean-Paul Gallé, Taxi COLUX, Past President, IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver” |
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The Finnish taxi quality scheme: lessons to be learned from the first years of implementation
Nina Nizovsky, Vice President, IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver”
“Quality in the taxi trade, as we see it, means a combination of many different components such as: easy access to taxi services, a well organised and efficient system of supply to ensure the availability of taxis, quality fleet, good service on board and customer safety, which includes both reliability of drivers and good road safety. To all this I would like to add broader social responsibilities such as taking into account environmental sustainability.”
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The KNV quality mark scheme in the Netherlands: challenges and opportunities
Cecile Bakermans, President of the TX-keur foundation Keur Mark (Quality Mark).
“Following the opening of the Dutch taxi market in 2000, which resulted in many new companies struggling for customers, thus disturbing public peace in cities and offering low prices and low quality, the Dutch Department of Transport recognised the problem. That is how TX-Keur (Quality Mark) system started in 2004. Since then, it is constantly searching for better rules to improve quality of taxi services.”
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“Taxis Stockholm”: a company quality initiative that pays back
Hans Nyström, Managing Director, Taxi Stockholm
“The Swedish taxi industry was deregulated in 1990. Today competition is strong and you will find many taxi brands when you visit Stockholm. The taxi market has now matured and the brands have different positions and offer different service and quality. In strong competition, the image of your brand has to reflect the qualities required from the customers you want to serve. The image is built up partly by your profile, partly by your identity. To include the required qualities in your profile is fairly easy, but to change the processes that make up your identity is harder.”
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Conclusions
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Hubert Andela, President IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver”
“In the International Road Transport Union (IRU) we, as a taxi industry, work together within the framework of the IRU Group “Taxis and Hire Cars with Driver”. Although there is little international legislation for our industry, it is very important to have this international platform. We exchange views on the market, we obtain information about new legislative developments, including within the EU, and we exchange best practices and develop initiatives to spread these among Members, to help them in their daily work in their own country.”
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Martin Marmy, IRU Secretary General
“I am particularly impressed both by the quality of the exchange of experience and by the professional approach of all the interventions during the debate. As such, despite the fact that this Forum is only in its second edition, it has shown that it deserves its own place in showing the way of progress for the taxi industry. I am convinced that the IRU is the ideal global platform for the taxi industry, regulators and all those with a stake in the taxi business to define common positions and to exchange the various Members’ experience, to allow them to transform into a success story all the new challenges faced by the profession. To do so, we must unite our forces, we need to work together within the IRU Taxi Group.”
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