Showing posts with label Taxi Leaks Editorial http://taxileaks.blogspot.com/ April 12. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taxi Leaks Editorial http://taxileaks.blogspot.com/ April 12. Show all posts

Thursday 12 April 2018

City Of London To Try To Fool Commonwealth Heads ...Will You Answer The Call And Seize The Days?


London Taxi drivers are up in arms as the City of London Fathers admit the closure of the bank junction to traffic other than bus and cycles, could potentially put the heads of the Commonwealth gathering in London for the government forum in grave danger !

Because of the fear that the Commonwealth heads could be in danger, stuck in the utter gridlock and pollution of the surrounding areas....in their wisdom, they (the city fathers), have decided to re-open the Bank Junction to all traffic....but only while the Commonwealth heads are gathered here in London for their forum. 

They obviously want to give the false impression that all is well in the City..... But, we know that's far from the truth. 

As soon as they leave, the CoL will resume the Bank Junction scheme again and the pollution causing gridlock will be reimposed on the citizens of this once great city. 

Seize the day, 
Will the Taxi trade unite and take this opportunity to demonstrate against the unfair, unjust Bank a Junction scheme?
The ball, as they say, is in your court !




First Trade Org to come forward with support for the ITA's proposals for protests in the City of London is the London Cab a Drivers Club (LCDC)

Chairman Grant Davis had this to say earlier today:
"So the issue over “Public Safety” is ignored for the 3 days?
What hypocrisy, I am sure our members will be supporting any action that is called By the ITA."






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Looney Toons Council Plan Pedestrianisation Of Upper Street

Or "how to kill off local businesses in one foul swoop".


An artist's impression of what a pedestrianised Upper Street may look like. Picture: Zaha Hadid Architects

One of the world’s leading architects has tabled a radical plan to pedestrianise Upper Street.

Zaha Hadid Architects said removing traffic from Islington’s signature shopping street would help make it a cleaner and less dangerous place.

It’s part of the Clerkenwell firm’s “Walkable London” project, a more ambitious take on mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s pledge to pedestrianise Oxford Street.

Instead of just one street, Zaha Hadid has called for entire pedestrian networks of major roads in the capital. And that involves a pedestrianised Upper Street, including Islington High Street and Goswell Road towards the City.

Melodie Leung, senior associate at the architects, told the Gazette: “If Upper Street people want to get behind this, we should talk.”

Speaking of Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid’s director, Ms Leung said: “His proposal is to think grand: really long, continuous avenues that would allow walking to be a viable form of transport across the city. Upper Street means a lot to him, as he used to walk that route a lot.

“It would be fruitful for the shops and restaurants in the area. Pedestrianisation would be a natural opportunity for them.

“Upper Street is also so congested with vehicles and buses. If pedestrianised, it would be a really efficient link between the north and south of the city.

“Islington is a very residential community. If Upper Street was used for walking to school and walking to work, it would be a safer and healthier place.”

The 182-page Walkable London plan is in its early stages, but Ms Leung added: “It’s a provocative proposal and there would obviously be a lot of community engagement.” She suggested one way forward would be to do temporary closures of Upper Street, in order for the “community to test the outcomes”.

Steph Palmer, from Islington Living Streets, which campaigns for pedestrian safety, said: “It’s a lovely idea. In theory, I’m all for it. But in practice, what would happen to the streets either side that would take all the traffic?

“I’ve been in Upper Street when there’s no traffic and it’s so much nicer for shopping and seeing people. So it’s certainly something to look at



Source : Loony Toon's Islington Gazzette 


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Uber's chief admits the company failed to support drivers and favoured investment in growth of the business globally

Uber's chief executive has admitted that the ride-sharing company failed to support its drivers, favouring instead to invest in growing the business globally.

"We focused too much on growth but not enough on drivers," he said during a press conference. 

The app, which refers to the drivers it relies on to offer its service as "partners", has been criticised for treating them unfairly and refusing to offer basic employment rights. 

But Dara Khosrowshahi today said he hoped a brand new app for drivers would prove the San Francisco giant was committed to meeting their needs "at every moment of their journey". 

This includes improved ways for drivers to see how much money they are making through trips and how close they are to the goal they have set, as well as an improved profile section. 

Dara Khosrowshahi pictured during his time as Expedia chief executive before taking over from Travis Kalanick, who founded Uber.

The announcement followed a crushing defeat for Uber's in the European Courts of Justice, which on Tuesday morning upheld France's ban of the app, claiming that it was a criminal offence for the company to operate there. 

The decision will likely have ramifications across the EU for the under-fire ride-hailing company and set a precedent across the bloc as the EU’s top court said member states could use criminal law to “prohibit and punish” illegal transport activities without telling the European Commission first.

Uber France argued that it should be classified as an “information society service” rather than a taxi company, which judges rejected.

The brand new Uber app for drivers Credit: Uber

Such services qualify for EU protection designed to boost innovation, which require national governments to notify the commission before taking action against tech companies. The law was written before Brussels’ attitude towards US tech giants hardened over data protection and concerns over how little tax the companies pay.

The French government banned the UberPop service because it broke a 2014 law prohibiting taxi platforms from using unlicensed drivers carrying fewer than 10 passengers. Uber’s lawyers argued the failure to notify the commission should cancel the French ban and appealed the decision.

French judges referred the mater to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, which said Uber did not qualify as an information society service.

In December 2017, EU judges said that Uber was a transport company and not an information platform in a similar case involving Uber Spain.

A Uber spokeswoman said: "This case is about whether a French law from 2014 should have been pre-notified to the European Commission and related to peer-to-peer services, which we stopped in 2015. As our new CEO has said, it is appropriate to regulate services such as Uber and so we will continue the dialogue with cities across Europe.”

"HMRC has been waiting to see which way the ECJ went on this test case to determine whether it should also consider Uber as a VAT supplier of transport services. The likely VAT liability for Uber in the UK could be over £40 million in back taxes, and a 20% VAT rise in rides going forward. Action by HMRC is now highly likely," said Richard Asquith, global indirect tax expert at Avalara. 

Damien Geradin, a partner at Brussels law firm Euclid Law, said the decision was a missed opportunity. "The pre-notification procedure aims to protect players active in the digital sector against discriminatory or disproportionate rules," he said.

Tuesday’s ruling is the latest setback for the controversial US company, which is appealing Transport for London’s decision to strip it of its operating licence.

The capital’s transport authority plans to introduce regulations limiting the hours ride-hailing app employees can drive.

Uber has been controversial in other EU countries, such as Belgium, where the UberPop service is banned but protests against the firm continue. The company now only works with professional drivers in a majority of EU countries. 

In March, the company reached a settlement with the family of a woman killed by an Uber Technologies self-driving vehicle in Arizona.

Despite the controversies, the service remains popular. 


TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT

The decline and fall of the Taxi trade trade continues. 


The following figures are for week ending 08-04-18


Private hire driver licences

113,596 down 49

117 are new


Private hire vehicle licences

87,702 down 219 

332 are new


Taxi driver licences 

23,800 

down 26 

0 are new


Taxi vehicle licences 

20,974 

down 52

9 are new.



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