Many of our Southampton Taxi Driver members and lots of our customers are sure to enjoy this great film made by The Rank Organisation back in the 1950s. It features lots of moving images of our bustling town centres chock full of the cars, lorries, trucks, taxis and buses of the day. Why not click the image below to watch and/or reminisce with this video about the making of the first motorway in Britain - the M6 Preston By-pass. This opened on the 5th December 1958, when an advertising campaign was needed to explain to people how to drive on these large new roads!
Remember - Don't drink and drive, hail a white licensed taxi this Christmas, and make sure you and your friends get to your destination safely.
You can easily spot a licensed taxi in Southampton, as they are all white in colour, and carry a proper ID plate on the rear of the vehicle. The driver will also be displaying his licence badge.
After every journey, it's a very good idea to make sure that you have all of your valuables like wallets, mobiles, handbags, credit cards, items of clothing, wellie boots etc with you. All of the taxis in Southampton are run by individuals and so we do not have a centralised lost property office.
Now all that is left for us to say is "We wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year!"
From the Members and Committee of the Southampton Hackney Association.
The Southampton Hackney Association and Taxi Trade representatives had a very encouraging response from the Southampton Dock Management team last week who said they were pleased with the way that the city's taxi trade had serviced Southampton Port during 2014. All of the taxi trade are looking forward to serving visitors to Southampton next year with the arrival of the new Cruise Liner 'Britannia'.
The city's taxi drivers are remaining cheery and positive depsite the necessary works on the road systems within Southampton, as these are meant to be finishing in the not too distant future.
Logo courtesy of P&O Cruises with thanks
The Southampton Hackney Association and Taxi Trade representatives had a very encouraging response from the Southampton Dock Management team last week who said they were pleased with the way that the city's taxi trade had serviced Southampton Port during 2014. All of the taxi trade are looking forward to serving visitors to Southampton next year with the arrival of the new Cruise Liner 'Britannia'.
The city's taxi drivers are remaining cheery and positive depsite the necessary works on the road systems within Southampton, as these are meant to be finishing in the not too distant future.
Logo courtesy of P&O Cruises wiht thanks
Everyone at the Southampton Hackney Association is thrilled that Southampton Football Club have just beaten Hull away this weekend 0-1! The Saints are now Number 2 in the Premier Division which is really something. The white taxis of Southampton are all cheering on The Saints - yay!
(photo courtesy of http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/)
Above is a great video showing just how vibrant and exciting Southampton is (click to view). The Southampton Hackney Association Taxi Drivers are proud to be one of the established features of our lovely city. When visiting always look out for the Southampton city distinctive white taxi cabs which you can hail at the kerbside, at a taxi rank or pick up at Southampton Docks after a cruise.
Find out more about our licensed taxis here.
Here at the Southampton Hackney Association (SHA) we are thrilled to find that around 1000 people visit our website to find out about our organisation each month. We also have visitors from all over the world (as noted on the map below*).
With many people visiting Southampton each year via the airport and as cruise liner passengers, it's no wonder that the SHA website is one that people seek out.
Visitors to Southampton can pre-book their taxi journeys using our website here. Whether you need a lift from the airport into the city, or you wish to have a tour around the South of England or a trip to London, why not ask one of our member drivers to pick you up? Use our trip enquiry form to receive a quotation, and to arrange a booking.
The Southampton Hackney Association (SHA) is a multilingual organisation, established in 2001 to promote and benefit Southampton Hackney Taxi drivers in the city. All of our members are self-employed Taxi drivers. The SHA is approved by Southampton City Council, and all Southampton Hackney Carriage drivers are licensed and regulated by Southampton City Council.
*source Google Analytics
The Sweet Market at 162 The High Street, Southampton is offering a luggage hold facility, great news for tourists who are passing through the city, as it gives them the chance to take trips in and around the city with ease - especially as the Southampton white taxis can be hailed at the Bargate Taxi Rank nearby!
Simply take your baggage to Kevin and Caroline, owners of The Sweet Market shop, confirm the number of items to store, complete and sign an indemnity form and together with payment, you will be given a token for each item left.
Cost dependant on size. Telephone Kevin or Caroline on (023) 366 313 for details.
The Southampton Daily Echo First have highlighted the dangers that taxi drivers face whilst driving around our city streets. Apparently two drivers have reportedly been attacked within just 2 days.
In one late night incident a driver is reported to have been knocked unconscious in Swathling, and in another a taxi driver was said to have been stabbed outside Southampton Central Railway Station.
Chairman Ian Hall of the Southampton Hackney Association (SHA) says there needs to be more attention paid to the safety of the taxi drivers in the city, saying that 'not enough attention is paid to the difficulties taxi drivers face'.
Ian has been a taxi driver for 33 years and recalls a murder of a taxi driver in the 1980s. Highlighting the dangers of the job and the need for drivers to be extra vigilant he said:
“What concerns me, is that in the last 22 years there have been 65 taxi drivers murdered in this country. It’s a particularly dangerous job at night. The majority of customers are absolutely fine and taxi drivers do a good job at getting people home safely. It’s all sorts of different people we are picking up.... It can be a bit of a volatile job but this is a good city to live and work in. Drivers need to be a bit careful but they are anyway.”
The police are investigating both of the attacks and have interviewed at least one suspect. Anyone with any information on either of the incidents is asked to contact Hampshire Constabulary on 101.
Trustworthy: Southampton's White Taxis
Recently The Daily Echo ran a letter from The Southampton Hackney Association's Chairman Ian Hall in their Soapbox feature. Ian's letter was to quash the misleading comments in the Echo's previous article of 28/7/14 about 'clause 10', and the proposed relaxing of rules surrounding private hire vehicles. Here is the content of the letter featured:
"Some of the Statements within the [Daily Echo] article titled "For Safety's Sake, don't relax taxi driver rules" are extremely misleading and it is disapopointing that yet again taxi drivers come under the microscope for being a risk to customers.
This present Government's Deregulation Bill which was passed through the House of Commons, now on its way to The House of Lords has three proposed reforms connected within our industry.
The contentious one being Clause 10, which would allow persons without a Private Hire Vehicle Licence (PHV) - what is commonly called a mini-cab in London - to drive one when the vehicle is off-duty, threatening to place passengers, in particular women at an increased risk.
Tara Duel from Southampton Rape Crisi stated in the article: "It will no longer be possible to know whether a person driving a cab is licensed to do so." She then goes on to say, "Making people reluctant to use cabs as a trusted form of transport."
We pride ourselves in Southampton that under the 2000 Transport Package we have a corporate colour of white for all 283 taxis, whilst the private hire trade colour scheme is any colour but white.
The Unite Union Southampton taxi branch chairman, Perry McMillan, is pictured in this article with five Southampton white taxis in the background. He knows full well that there has been widespread criticism of Clause 10, which is all to do with private hire vehicles and not taxis".
As the Daily Echo quite rightly states in their Soapbox section, Southampton's White Licensed Taxis are Trustworthy, with only the licensed taxi driver legally allowed to drive the vehicle. Find out more about the safety and training of Southampton Hackney Carriage drivers here.
Below a copy of the SHA chairman's letter as it appeared in the Daily Echo.
