Taxis and Private Hire vehicles are reported to have 21% of people in the UK using them at least once a month according to The National Travel Survey – quite staggering, with about 6% of the population using the services weekly. No wonder big business has its hand in the market trying to influence whats going on.
Local can out-smart big business
Big business influence Members of Parliament in a number of ways, they often shape policy, legislation and public opinion, more so than we would like to believe at times. Social Media has become a powerful tool in UK political campaigns, influencing everything from public perception to voter mobilisation and sectors like the Private Hire & Taxi industry are left a little in the dark. As local operators and sole-traders working as sub-contractor owner-drivers no wonder the policy is being shaped by big business, rather than by the sector.
There are some extremely good trade associations and trade magazines that represent the industry and they do an amazing job for their size and scope. They cover every issue and currently there is a lot of new things coming in to the sector, but all this is a distraction away from where all the work is going. It is going to the 1 in 5 of all licensed drivers who are now flooding towns and cities that are licensed and regulated by Wolverhampton.
Like for like
So how do we shape policy? Well, we do the same back. We do our own media campaign. Social Media isn’t limited to big business and trade associations, in fact the social media landscape is about user generated content – that’s the stuff that you choose to do, on the platforms you choose to do it on. This blog site would like to be one of those.
Blogs play an important role in the social media landscape. By writing on a blog platform, you offer in-depth content and personal expression. The articles and blogs are seen as deeper engagement, comprehensive content and they create unique opportunities for anyone to interact. Something written by you in your unique way will help shape the views of others. So why do we allow this to be a one way communication, leaving only the political class and big business to write articles, expression and musings. Do we just let them set policy and lie down and take it? Or is it a case of stand-up, say something and promote something.
Leveraging social media
Social media is all the digital technology that allows sharing of ideas and information – the text, the visuals, through networks and communities, with user generated content with likes and shares. We all know what it is and blogs are a foundation of that in a written form.
Large corporations have huge media influence, they lobby MPs, they give campaign contributions, they are involved in think tanks and research reports and the revolving doors of politics means people move out of one role to their next corporate role. The big corps also host events and do sponsorship and guess what, they directly do outreaching campaigns to target the public that can indirectly pressure MPs, so no wonder Deregulation Act 2015 has missing components.
Local mini-media campaigns
Reaching politicians is fairly straight forward, but the question is whether they take up the mantel. Politicians have mixed priorities and are influenced in how they vote by a number of factors. We would like to think that all MPs truly represent their constituents, but the reality is the MPs represent their party and a lot depends on the party and its needs so many give way to the party line. Pressure, raising awareness and taking the campaign to their door step puts the ball in the right side of the court and makes people stand up and take notice.
A media campaign is there to communicate a specific message to a very specific audience. In the case of driversontheblog.co.uk our it only has one campaign #SayNoToWolverhampton – give an amplified voice to the cause. The campaign is to inform people of the cause we are fighting and gain public support to avoid more unintended consequences of the Deregulation Act 2015 that effects Taxi drivers and Private Hire drivers.
This campaign is here to raise awareness, change attitudes and influence public opinion, gather support to take to MPs. Nobody understands the issues and problems being created other than the long standing licensed drivers who serve the public. Drivers know both the good and the bad the tricks of the trade and can see with their own eyes drivers coming in with foreign plates applying the detestable bad tricks of the trade. Who would ever think you would see a Private Hire vehicle from 100miles away coming parking in a Taxi Rank or plying for hire? We know what’s going on as we see it.
An engaging title
One of the aims of #SayNoToWolverhampton should perhaps support changing behaviour a) discourage operators from using out-of-town licensed vehicles b) make the public aware of instances that effect their safety c) let the public know they have a choice and support the Local Authorities who have no power to change the law, who are left speechless and penniless.
The Taxi & Private Hire regulation has always been hard to understand for the public, reverting to “if it has a bubble light on top, it’s a taxi, if not its a pre-book only”, which never seems to have stopped a late night party goer directly trying to embark a Private Hire vehicle that they haven’t booked. Now, it is even more complicated. Private Hire cars have no signage and this is apparently “best practice”.
Talking it up and sharing
The more we talk about something, interact, the more we amplify a joint message. People hear the conversation. Public sentiment counts for a lot. It is the public that drivers serve. If the public want an unknown quantity from out of town, fair enough, but none of us believe the public want this.
For example, did that lady know the guy who stopped and asked if she needed a Taxi was not insured to take her home? Probably not.
Did that fella know that none of the 200 extra “taxi drivers” operating in the town have done a local knowledge test – they don’t even know where they are going and the tom tom won’t get you there, it’s down a track…! They are literally migrating like flocks of birds and they probably don’t know their arm from their elbow.
Your 400 words is only 15mins
If you blog, a few things will happen.
- You shape the narrative.
- You can write what you please.
- The content gets shared and the word gets read.
- You drive the narrative and create the conversation.
- You join a broad reach and get the message out
- You get the content on to Google Search for people to find.
- You join a group of others writing about the same subject and we bang the drum together.
- You help reach a wider audience because only you have your perspective
By blogging as a community, readers are more likely to find it interesting because it becomes diverse and an attractive read. Someone may come in to read one thing and get hooked on another topic, share it and then discuss it on another platform. This is the under current of shaping public opinion. If we want the public onboard, the message needs to be heard.
Amplifying a diverse voice on one subject
Driversontheblog.co.uk is here to amplify your voice, opinion and thought to engage a wider audience to support the campaign.
This is your calling card. It may not be for you, but if you are independent enough and if you want to help shape public sentiment away from out of town taxis get onboard with the campaign – take a blog spot here.
It is your spot
Let’s add to the industry voice, help the public understand how this effect them, support our Local Authorities in ridding the nuisance from the industry by telling the stories only we know.