I don’t know what’s happened this year, but the student work is nowhere near as good as the two previous years I’ve been a taxi driver.
I’ve had another rubbish week, with the vast majority of my jobs being tiny little ones; I’m not alone either, some of the other drivers have had a poor two weeks too and they say it’s down to UCLAN having all the Halls of Residence so close to the town centre.
I don’t suppose you can blame them for that, but it would be nice to have a bit more city centre living options available to other people other than students. The council’s planning board obviously have a hand in this. If the ‘lucrative’ student footfall was spread further afield from the city centre then that would benefit more small businesses in and around the suburbs. But as we have it now, it’s the centrally located businesses that are seeing the benefit of a tight nucleus of a student community.
Some of the senior cabbies tell me once upon a time, when most of the students lived out in the Plungington, Ashton, Broadgate areas etc, that the majority caught cabs home. Now, they stumble out of kebab shops on Friargate and find themselves within a stone’s throw from their Halls of Residence.
My name is Daniel and I am a student currently studying at UCLAN, while your comments on the locale of the halls are valid, I feel that the increase in student fees/costs aswell as the general cost of living combined with the fact that lending and saving benefits are diminished has had a more significant effect on services such as yours, the businesses which thrive in this ‘market’ are those that can offer a student a service at a price which is percieved to uot weigh the value of the service. Many students would see the benefit on spending £3.00 on a takeaway than a sadwich from the local supermarket or shock horror! £3.00 on something to cook, its also very easy to convinve yourself to go out for one or two drinks at the cost of £1-£2 per drink, even if it does turn out to be more. Were as the justification of a £5-£6 taxi or a 10 minute walk seems a less inviting prospect after all thats the same as two takeaways or 4 drinks.
I’d be worried if EMA got scrapped also; its only going to mean less money to students in Preston, I suppose on the plus side it’ll mean you don’t get as many tiny little jobs.