Cambridge local area information

Travel Information

Taxi Services

Statement from the Taxi Licensing Office, Cambridge City Council, regarding the licensing of taxis and drivers for public safety (January 2005).

There are two types of taxi: a hackney carriage and a private hire vehicle.

Hackney carriages

Hackney carriages are licensed to either ply for hire within the City boundary which means that they can be flagged down (hailed) by the public on the street or stop at various ranks provided within the City to enable the public to use them for journeys either within or out of the City boundary.

At the present time we licence 295 hackney carriages and all of these carry various identifications to show the public that they are licensed hackney carriages. Various makes and models of vehicles are allowed to be hackney carriages within the City and vehicles do not have to be a purpose built taxi. (i.e. the London black cab type of vehicle)

The City has at this time 50% of the hackney fleet saloon type vehicles and the remainder various types of wheelchair accessible vehicles, which have either been purpose, built as a hackney carriage or have been converted.

All licensed hackney carriages within the City must display the Cambridge Crest with the words "Cambridge Hackney Carriage" on both the front nearside and offside door panels.

They will also display on the rear of their vehicle a hackney carriage plate which is blue in colour and shows the make and model of vehicle, Licence number and the number of passengers they can lawfully carry, and the date of expiry of the licence.

All of the saloon type of hackney carriages also must have on the roof of their vehicles when working a Hackney Carriage roof sign which has the words "Cambridge Hackney Carriage" on the back of the sign. These are coloured yellow to the front and red at the back.

The multi seated wheelchair accessible hackney carriages will either have in built "Taxi" sign on the roof of the vehicle or a sign as described above. These vehicles have to be wheelchair accessible at all times for customers requiring that facility.

All hackney carriages will display a fare chart in the vehicle and this shows the maximum fares that can be charged when hired within the Cambridge City area and all of these vehicles will have fitted a calendar controlled sealed meter to determine the fare to be charged.

Private hire vehicles

The private hire fleet of 176 vehicles at present licensed by Cambridge City Council consists of mainly saloon type vehicles with only a small number of multi-seated vehicles licensed.

These have to carry signs on the front nearside and offside doors, which show the name of the Licensed Operator they are working for and the words "pre booked only".

These vehicles can only work as private hire vehicles and all journeys in them have to be booked through a licensed private hire operator. They are not allowed to ply for hire nor wait at ranks and if they are used illegally then additional offences concerning insurance are involved.

All private hire vehicles licensed by Cambridge City have to display a private hire vehicle plate to both the front and rear of the vehicle and these are green in colour and show the make and model of the vehicle, the licence number and expiry date and the number of passengers the vehicle can legally carry.

Local Authorities do not regulate private hire fares however in those that have approved meters fitted all journeys unless previously quoted by the operator and accepted by the customer have to be charged at the meter rate displayed on the fare chart displayed within the vehicle.

The main requirement for private hire working is that the vehicle, driver and operator have to be licensed by the same local Authority to make the journey legal.

Licensed hackney carriages are allowed to work as private hire vehicles within the City but licensed private hire vehicles cannot work as hackney carriages.

All licensed vehicles whether they are hackney carriages or private hire vehicles are tested at 6 monthly intervals to ensure that they are safe and roadworthy and they are issued with a certificate of compliance following a successful test procedure, which is higher than a normal Ministry of Transport Vehicle Test.

The City also has an age policy in respect of both licensed vehicles. They have to be less than 4 years of age on initial licensing and once the vehicles have reached 8 years of age then they can no longer be used.

Hackney Carriage and Private hire drivers

All drivers licensed by Cambridge City Council have to provide an enhanced criminal record bureau check on initial application, which is re submitted every three years. They then have to pass a knowledge test based on the Cambridge City Area and Acts of Parliament and byelaws affecting the workings of a licensed vehicle. Having successfully completed that then all drivers unless they hold a Heavy Goods Vehicle licence or a Public Service Vehicle licence have to take a driving test and a medical examination to Group 2 standards before they are allowed a licence.

An initial Medical examination is required and then at the age of 45 are required then every 5 years until the age of 65 and if a driver wishes to continue being a licensed private hire or hackney carriage driver after that age medicals have to be taken yearly.

A disciplinary procedure is in being and any driver that is found to be disobeying the rules and procedures may have to appear before a Taxi Licensing Disciplinary Committee where their licences could be suspended or revoked by the members of that Committee.

Complaints against "taxi" drivers can be made to the Taxi Licensing Office on 01223 457888 and all will be fully investigated.

Taxi Ranks

Taxi ranks can be used by hackney carriages and they are the responsibility of the Cambridgeshire County Council and at this present time daytime ranks are provided at St Andrews Street, Drummer Street, Regent Street and Station Road and these have signs erected for the information of the taxi users.

An additional daytime rank is in the process of being made available to service the Grafton Centre.

More nighttime ranks are provided for use by the hackney carriages from 7p.m. to 7a.m. and these are situated in Sidney Street outside Boots, Market Hill and Bridge Street and as from the spring of 2005 three more night time ranks are in the process of being provided in Sidney Street from the junction of Market Street to Sainsbury's, Emanuel Street facing towards Drummer Street and the lay by in Corn Exchange Street near the Coco club.

The title of this document is: Cambridge Local Information: Taxi Hire Regulations
URL: http://www.cam.ac.uk/local/travel/taxis2.html

Last updated: 19/10/2009