What a Great Leeds Taxi Service Should Provide

Here we discuss the different areas by which a taxi provider can and should excel in. 

● Keep the  Leeds Airport Taxi  or minicab in excellent working condition, and periodically review the parts involved in the safety of passengers, pedestrians, and make routine maintenance of rigour. 

● Keep the vehicle clean for all rides and  airport transfers. Wash the car at least once a week and make a daily valet of the car to remove dust, dirt and avoid bad odours. 

● Give good treatment to passengers using the Leeds Airport Taxi, as well as pedestrians and colleagues at all times, including moderating the volume of the radio. 

● Taxis in Leeds must have a good personal presentation during the working day and not consume drinks or food during the routes. 

● Provide the rental services  in basic conditions of equality without discrimination of any kind, nor by route, destination or physical condition. 

● Help to enter or leave the  private and licensed  vehicle to passengers who require it, also with the upload and download of their suitcases or luggage. 

● Taxis in Leeds must establish the fastest route for the user making use of personal knowledge, experience or navigation equipment. 

● Driving under parameters of safety, respect for traffic and an airport  rules and commitment to coexistence with all the others on the road. 

● Collect what is marked by the taximeter and avoid surcharges not stipulated by law. 

● Act diligently in cases of emergency or accident by calling the appropriate authorities or assisting the victims. 

The Problem with Uber

In recent years a taxi rental service by phone app known as Uber has developed. Although there are many similar services, Uber is the most renowned so far and differs from the usual taxi services in Leeds.

This service can be hired from an app through a mobile phone with internet access. Once you have an account in this service, a private driver is contracted to pick you up at the location you mark your map, and take you to the destination (such as an airport) you previously indicated.

All drivers rely on a GPS system to choose the route that will take them to the destination, and receive their payment from the app, avoiding passengers having to carry enough money to make the trip.

Although these are great advantages that do not come with common street taxis in Leeds, Uber has been involved in recent scandals that could dethrone it as the ideal option to replace regular taxis.

-Are you safer?

Not only is it a situation of who drives worse or better, or who usually has more traffic accidents, the problem has reached drivers who have assaulted, and even raped passengers. This is because Uber, as a company, does not directly hire employees, like regular taxis in Leeds. They simply ask that they have a valid license and a car of their own to do so, without requesting further evidence of their criminal records or taking the trouble to perform psychiatric examinations to see if they are qualified for the job.

Being "independent", drivers can commit many grievances without being judged for it, or without the authorities being notified.

- Aggression committed

In the year 2015 alone, there is a record of 13 sexual harassment and a violation by Uber drivers, 6 in the Lyft service, and 5 in street taxis.

The website "Who’s driving you? "Contains statistics and reports of accidents happened in Uber taxis, as they look for services like this to be regulated by the government to avoid similar grievances. When regulating these rental services, the drivers must enter their fingerprints to the system before being hired, since this information will be able to inform if it is a person with criminal antecedents.

Among the offenses committed by these drivers are:

• Assassinations or reckless killing (by traffic accident)

• Beating or verbal offenses

• Sexual harassment

• Abductions

• Crimes

• False documents

• Drunk drivers

While anyone is at risk of being subjected to such an injury by any licensed public transport driver, it is best to make sure that they have the data of the driver, as well as to provide the type of vehicle and the license plate number. This is so that just in case anyone wanted to notify that a person is traveling as a passenger of that person in case of any eventuality.