New cameras to enforce vital safety restrictions in the Rotherhithe Tunnel

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Taxi drivers are exempt, minicab drivers could be fined up to £130

New cameras are being introduced in the Rotherhithe Tunnel to increase safety and deter vehicles that don’t meet the safety restrictions from using the route. Vehicles that are more than two metres (six foot six inches) wide or two metres high, or goods vehicles weighing more than 2 tonnes, are not safe to travel through the tunnel. From early February, enforcement will be carried out by the new cameras and people driving vehicles through the tunnel that do not comply with the restrictions could be fined up to £130.Taxi drivers remain exempt from the restrictions, however private hire drivers could face the fines if they drive a vehicle outside of the criteria set. The tunnel, which was built in 1908, was not designed to cope with modern levels of traffic. Safety is Transport for London’s (TfL’s) top priority and in September 2018 it carried out detailed analysis of the tunnel’s ventilation system, which would be used to extract smoke and other dangerous fumes in the event of a fire. This showed that new restrictions were vital to ensure road users could continue to use the tunnel safely, whilst TfL works on plans for the tunnel’s future. By not complying with restrictions at the tunnel, drivers are putting themselves and others at risk. Enforcement officers have been present at both approaches to the tunnel since the new restrictions were introduced to assist drivers and prevent vehicles entering the tunnel that do not comply. Officers have turned away an average of 600 vehicles a day since September. Drivers whose vehicles do not meet the restrictions are advised to use nearby Tower Bridge or the Blackwall Tunnel to cross the Thames. The congestion charge does not apply to either crossing. Glynn Barton, TfL’s Director of Network Management, said: “Safety is our top priority and these restrictions are absolutely essential to ensure that people can continue to use the tunnel safely. People driving vehicles through the tunnel that do not meet the restrictions are putting both themselves and others at risk. I would encourage all users of the tunnel to check that their vehicle is below two metres in height and width, and that goods vehicles are less than two tonnes in weight, so that they are compliant when the new cameras are switched on.” Reducing danger on London’s roads is key to the Mayor’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating death and serious injury from the transport network. The bold approach will also include the introduction of lower speed limits on the road network, the transformation of dangerous junctions, tough safety standards for the design of HGVs and a comprehensive bus safety programme, which includes speed-limiting technology and a new innovative training course for all drivers.

January 16, 2019 at 10:50AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Ford Chariot minivan service set to shut just one year after UK launch

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Is there a future for this type of transport in the UK?

Ford is shutting down its Chariot minivan service in the UK just one year after launching. London was Chariots first international venture outside of the United States, where it had already operated in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and New York. The service in the UK will cease on 25th January and wind down across the world before closing finally closing its Transit van doors completely by early March. Dan Grossman, CEO of Chariot said: “In today’s mobility landscape, the wants and needs of customers and cities are changing rapidly, “We are truly grateful to our commuters, enterprise customers, and partners for your support over the past five years. Chariot was built on a commitment to help reduce congestion, ease the commute and improve quality of life in cities, and since our start, we have provided our customers with more than 3 million rides. In addition, we helped Ford build their mobility business, and their experience with Chariot continues to inform their mobility efforts and design decisions for the future.

January 16, 2019 at 08:43AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Mayor launches mobile air quality monitoring network to spot hotspots

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Will none fixed monitoring really provide an accurate gauge?

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today launched a network of air quality monitors to help City Hall investigate and improve London’s toxic air. Breathe London will use a range of fixed and mobile sensors to build up a real-time, hyperlocal image of London’s air quality. The data these monitors collect from across the capital will provide detail about London’s air quality crisis and deliver new insight into the sources of pollution. To deliver this project, the Mayor has collaborated with the Environmental Defense Fund Europe and Google Earth Outreach, who have equipped two of their Street View cars with air quality sensors. These will take pollution readings approximately every 30 metres at tens of thousands of locations whilst they travel through London’s streets, building up a picture of London’s air quality over the course of a year and identifying areas of toxic air that the network of fixed monitors might miss. Meanwhile, 100 state-of-the-art fixed sensor pods will be mounted on lampposts and buildings close to known air quality hotspots and sensitive locations such as schools and nurseries. The data generated by this new network will be available for the public to view on an interactive online map on the Breathe London website. The map will show Londoners the condition of the air they are currently breathing and allow more accurate pollution forecasting. This project builds on London’s existing air quality monitoring network, operated by the boroughs and King’s College London. With more than 100 fixed monitors in use London’s existing air quality monitoring network. The Breathe London project augments this by providing the ability to identify hotspots all over the city wherever they might be. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “London’s filthy air is a public health crisis that leads to thousands of premature deaths in the capital every year as well as stunting the development of young lungs and increasing cases of respiratory illness. “An issue this large and complex requires bold and innovative action, so I’m proud that we’re leading the world in establishing this new monitoring network – allowing Londoners to see the levels of pollution at a local level. This real-time data will also help us learn more about London’s toxic air and help us to put the right policies in place to continue our clean-up efforts. As a recent Aether report demonstrated, these actions will benefit all Londoners, but particularly those living in the capital’s deprived areas. I hope the success of this scheme will act as a blueprint for cities around the world as they battle their own toxic air emergencies. “The launch of Breathe London is just one part of my campaign to improve London’s air quality, alongside cleaning up the bus fleet, funding a scrappage scheme for micro-businesses to remove the most polluting vans and the launch of the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London in April. But we can't win this battle without more help from the Government, who, as we saw from their hugely disappointing Clean Air Strategy yesterday, are still failing to take this problem seriously and offer the support London needs to tackle this public health crisis.”

January 16, 2019 at 07:13AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Cab driver jailed after being found guilty of driving whilst four times over the legal alcohol limit

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(Image: Suffolk Police)

A cab driver from Bury St Edmunds has been jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of drink driving while on the way to a school run. Promise Mayo, 46, was found to be four-times over the legal alcohol limit when police stopped him after noticing his vehicle swerving in the road. The court heard that he was on his way to a school — something Mayo’s defence team denied. As well as being found four times over the alcohol limit, Mayo also had a glass of alcohol in the front of his vehicle. After taking a breathalyser test, Mayo was found to have 158 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms. Norfolk & Suffolk Roads and Armed Police tweeted:

(Image:Twitter. Norfolk & Suffolk Roads and Armed Police)

As well as having to face an 18-month jail sentence, Mayo has also been banned from driving for three years.

January 15, 2019 at 03:32PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Michael Murphy THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

TfL announce new restructured taxi delicensing scheme to help cabbies move to electric

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Transport for London announced a range of new measures and proposals last month aimed at drivers wanting to make the change from diesel to electric taxis.

Included is an £18m fund that will be used to support taxi drivers who want to delicense their Euro 3, 4 or 5 vehicles and other initiatives to support the uptake of Zero Emission Capable (ZEC) taxis. TfL has restructured the taxi delicensing scheme with top payments of £10,000 are available to the first 250 applicants. Further tiered payment levels are available to subsequent applicants on a first come, first saved basis:

Am I eligible for the scheme?

If you are the owner of a diesel taxi that is less than 15 years old you may be able to surrender your taxi vehicle licence and plate in exchange for a payment from TfL. Once a taxi vehicle licence has been surrendered and the vehicle delicensed it cannot be licensed in London again.Check whether you are eligible for the scheme under these Terms and Conditions and apply for a delicensing payment by visiting here.

January 15, 2019 at 11:31AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Police hunt Burslem cabbie attacker

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Officers from Staffordshire Police have issued CCTV images of a man they want to speak to in connection with an assault in Burslem. The incident happened around 9:45pm on Saturday 1st December on Market Place. The suspect assaulted a taxi driver after a disagreement over a fare. The victim, a 36-year-old man, suffered serious facial injuries, including a broken nose. The man is described as white, of a stocky build, 5ft 8ins tall, with a tribal tattoo on his neck. He was wearing a branded white sweatshirt, jeans and white trainers. Anyone with any information on the above incident, or who recognises the man captured on CCTV, is asked to email: Christopher.Hoole@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk quoting incident number 777 of 1 December. Alternatively, you can contact the independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

January 14, 2019 at 02:45PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Steve Kenton THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

“It’s my turn to drive” says passenger given nine months for kicking cabbie out of his taxi

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A passenger who kicked a cabbie out of his taxi saying "it's my turn to drive" has been sentenced to nine months in jail. Michael Mallon, 27, attended Belfast Magistrates' Court and was jailed after refusing to pay a fare. District Judge Mark Hamill said: "This man soars over the custody threshold" and handed Mr Mallon the maximum available sentence for common assault, disorderly behaviour, criminal damage, and obtaining services dishonestly. The court heard prosecutors say that the passenger got into the cab and asked to be taken to a destination in the summer of 2018. Mallon then requested a different drop off point to the taxi driver, however he then became abusive when the cost of the fare was discussed. The cabbie then headed to the nearest police station located in the Stewartstown Road area. A Crown lawyer told the court, once the car came to a standstill Mallon then pushed the cabbie out of the vehicle with his foot saying “It's my turn to drive,”. Police then arrived at the scene and removed Mallon from the taxi. The passenger was searched by police where a small bag of herbal cannabis was seized.According to Belfast Telegraph, Judge Mark Hamill highlighted the seriousness of assaulting anyone who was providing a public service saying "This man was trying to do an honest day's work and (Mr Mallon) declined to pay a fare, climbed in the front and kicks him out of his own taxi,". The judge imposed six months imprisonment and ordered Mallon to serve a further three months of a previously suspended term. Mallon was also handed a £75 fine for the possession of cannabis.

January 15, 2019 at 10:17AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Uber rival Ola granted another operator's licence as they plan to offer their service in every city their competitors do

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Indian based ride-hailing app Ola has been granted a licence to operate in one of the UK’s most desired coastal areas Bournemouth. Bournemouth’s licensing committee decided in favour of an operators licence, praising the safety features that the app has in place. Ola, who gives the option for hackney carriage drivers, as well as private hire drivers, to join the platform will now offer its app-based service across Bournemouth, with discussions also taking place to expand into Poole, the Bournemouth Echo reported. The new licence comes with one additional obligation; to improve its wheelchair accessibility options. Committee chairman, Cllr Andrew Morgan, said: “we have decided that we are prepared to grant an operator’s licence for Ola to operate in Bournemouth. “We would, however, condition you to have an option to choose wheelchair accessible vehicles and see their availability.” A spokesperson for Ola has said that the ride-hailing firm has several licence applications across the country which are in hand and the plan is to be in “every place where a competitor is”. Ola is already in use in cities across the UK including Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.

January 14, 2019 at 04:27PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Michael Murphy THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Maureen Lipman’s New Year message to London cabbies; Support UTAG action!

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January 14, 2019 at 03:24PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Jon Cox YouTube THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Provide private hire drivers 4,000 “rest and stop areas” to wait for work and ease congestion says IWGB’s Farrar

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James Farrar, chair of the IWGB's UPHD branch, has suggested that TfL should provide dedicated rest spaces for at least 4,000 minicabs to stop in London's zones one and two.

He goes on to say it will reduce the amount of time private hire drivers spend on the road waiting for passengers thus meaning less congestion on the roads.

Watch the video and give us your opinion.

January 14, 2019 at 03:14PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY YouTube THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Hailing apps used to target older drivers in Dublin

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It has been reported in The Journal that older cabbies in Dublin are being targeted and robbed by criminal gangs by using hailing apps to select their victims.

Unsuspecting cabbies are hailed via an app, the app provides a facial photograph of the driver who will come to collect the person who has made the booking, younger looking drivers are then rejected, the attackers then continue to book and cancel taxis until they find one who looks relatively old. Once the cab arrives, the driver is then attacked and robbed.

There have been several attacks of this nature which have been reported to gardai, including a delivery driver.

Cabbies have been communicating via whatsapp groups to alert each other and then alert gardai.

Many drivers are now avoiding picking up and dropping off in certain areas for fear of becoming a target.

The Minister for Transport has been urged to trial various security aides and to assist taxi drivers with the cost of installing CCTV dashcams and protective screens in their cars.

January 14, 2019 at 02:55PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Steve Kenton THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

London Uber driver cleared of murdering his 8 week old son by violently shaking him during a fit of rage after pointing the finger at 'inexperienced paramedics'

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An Uber driver accused of shaking his eight-week-old son to death after changing the baby's nappy delayed him meeting his lover, has wept in court as he's cleared of murder. Abdoul Boudabes, 39, allegedly attacked baby Tyrone Boudabes as his partner, Henrietta Beugre, took a shower at their flat in Plumstead, southeast London, on 16 September 2016. Jurors heard Boudabes had earlier sent a text to his second girlfriend, Safi Totaud, saying 'Miss u bbz', to which she replied 'Me too love'. He had told Ms Totaud he was on his way to see her as he drove Miss Beugre and Tyrone home to their bedsit in Macoma Road. But Boudabes allegedly lost his temper after his son soiled himself and shook him with 'such force' that he suffered fatal brain damage. Tyrone, who was later found lying naked on a changing mat at the end of the bed, died from his injuries in hospital days later. A post-mortem revealed he had suffered a number of bleeds on the brain, trauma to his spine and retinal haemorrhages, the court heard. Boudabes had claimed that he had accidentally dropped the baby and insisted injuries must have been caused by paramedics and doctors when they tried to revive Tyrone. He said he thought the ambulance staff 'lacked experience' and told the court he felt injections administered to tiny Tyrone 'might have been too much for him'.

Boudabes denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter - and was acquitted by the jury of both charges.

He was discharged by the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks, QC. The Daily Mail confirmed that after being discharged, he could be seen weeping outside of the courtroom.

January 14, 2019 at 09:54AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Michael Murphy THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Hundreds of minicab drivers to “park up” outside TfL in protest against “tax on the poor”

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Hundreds of minicab drivers are expected to “park up” on Blackfriars Road outside Transport for London's (TfL) headquarters today in protest to the introduction last month of regressive congestion charges for minicabs.

The protest, called by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain's (IWGB) United Private Hire Drivers branch (UPHD), will kick off at 10am today at TfL's Palestra House on Backfriars Road.

Drivers are angry with the policy introduced by the Mayor of London and TfL, which amounts to a “tax on the poor” and will do little to reduce congestion. The charge could see drivers, already on poverty wages, have their take home pay slashed by as much as 25%, according to an analysis by the IWGB's UPHD branch.

TfL's own impact analysis showed a disproportionate impact on poor and BME workers with 71% of TfL licensed minicab drivers hailing from designated deprived areas and 94% identifying as BME. Black cabs drivers, which are 80% white British, continue to be exempt from paying congestion charge.

The IWGB proposes an alternative policy that would effectively deal with the problem of congestion, including:

A cap on the total number of minicab vehicle licenses.Instead of a congestion charge, place a licensing cost levy on private hire operators, based on the frequency of private hire vehicles from their fleet appearing on the congestion zone.To reduce the amount of time drivers spend on the road waiting for passengers (50% of time drivers spend on the road is without a passenger) TfL should provide dedicated rest spaces for at least 4,000 minicabs to stop in London's zones one and two.The Mayor of London should use his existing powers to enforce worker rights. Minimum wage enforcement would provide the necessary incentive for operators to reduce the number of cars on the road.

Abdurazk Hadi, Uber driver and chair of the London committee of the IWGB's UPHD branch said: “Drivers like myself, already suffering from Uber's poverty wages, are now being hit by this ill thought out congestion charge. Instead of targetting the pockets of multinational corporations, Sadiq Khan has chosen to introduce this tax on the poor., leaving us no option but to protest. Unless this charge is scrapped many of us don't know how we will continue feeding our families and paying for a roof over our heads.”

James Farrar, chair of the IWGB's UPHD branch said: “If the mayor and TfL really want to reduce congestion they should immediately use their powers to enforce minimum wage legislation and other worker rights. Instead of introducing this and other common sense policies like rest stops for drivers and a levy on operators, Sadiq Khan is choosing to target some of the city's most vulnerable workers. These workers have had enough of policies that ignore their concerns and are going to fight back until they get the fair deal they deserve.” The IWGB's UPHD branch has been campaigning since July against the Mayor of London's and TfL's failure to tackle driver exploitation and their refusal to allow equal representation for minicab drivers in the stakeholder process.

January 13, 2019 at 11:58PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Long kipper shift? Take a break and react to the signs of fatigue

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Even as professional drivers we’ve all been there and felt tired whilst driving at one point or another. What makes us professional though is how you act upon those first initial signs. First thing, stop working. Fatigue is a major contributor to far to many crashes in the UK. Too little sleep radically affects driver attention, awareness, reaction time and their abilities to control the vehicle. One in six serious accidents in the UK are thought to be caused by tiredness at the wheel. Don’t put yourself, your passengers or other road users at risk. There’s always tomorrow to chase that allusive pound note. According to road safety charity brake.org.uk there are many influences when it comes to tiredness and fatigue. They include:

Lack of sleep or disturbed sleep: This could be due to disruptions in life such as a new baby, busy schedules or stress, or could be due to sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, insomnia or sleep apnoea.

Time of day: The most common times for drivers with normal sleep patterns to fall asleep at the wheel are early morning (2am-6am) and early afternoon (2pm-4pm). These times are when the body clock reaches a natural dip, causing drowsiness and reduced concentration.

Stress: Tiredness and difficulty concentrating are typical symptoms of stress.

Irregular sleep patterns: This can be a problem caused by irregular work shifts and switching from day to night shifts without having sufficient time off in between for your body clock to adjust. Research has found shift workers are particularly high risk for sleep-related crashes.

Driving for long periods: Research has found driving deteriorates after two hours of continuous driving, as you become less able to concentrate, and slower to react to hazards. The longer you drive, the more rest you need to recover driving performance. Breaks are therefore recommended every two hours.

Vehicle engineering: Modern vehicles are usually quiet and comfortable for the driver, meaning a more relaxed drive. This can lull drivers, particularly in vehicles fitted with comfort-enhancing features such as cruise control.

Medication: Some prescription and over-the-counter drugs can cause drowsiness and impaired alertness. Medications may carry warnings that are not clear they impair driving, for example small print that only advises not to operate heavy machinery.

According to brake.org.uk research shows normal sleep does not occur without warning, and most people recognise symptoms but underestimate the dangers of continuing to drive. Any driver, especially professional cabbies, should responsibly react to the first signs of tiredness or fatigue. Warning signs include: increased difficulty concentrating; yawning; heavy eyelids; eyes starting to ‘roll’; and neck muscles relaxing, making the head droop.

A ‘microsleep’ occurs when someone nods off for between two and 30 seconds without realising or remembering it, often known as head-nodding. This occurs when people are tired but trying to stay awake, most common in monotonous situations, like motorway driving at night. A Brake and Direct Line survey found one in three (31%) UK drivers surveyed admit having experienced a microsleep at the wheel. After a microsleep the driver may feel like they’ve just briefly nodded their head, but they have actually been asleep. During this time they will have been completely unaware. In six seconds, a vehicle being driven at 70mph travels about 200 metres, which is enough time to veer across three lanes of traffic or into the central reservation. Simulator studies have shown a clear relationship between microsleeps and crashes. At-work drivers are particularly at risk from tiredness, because they typically spend longer hours at the wheel, with four in ten tiredness-related crashes involved someone driving a commercial vehicle. Male drivers are more involved in sleep-related crashes than females. Drivers under 30 are at higher risk than older drivers, and are most likely to crash due to tiredness in the early morning after little or no sleep. Many drivers continue to take the risk of driving while tired, probably linked to lack of awareness of the risks. A Brake and Direct Line survey in 2014 found almost half of UK drivers surveyed admit driving after less than five hours’ sleep; this is not enough sleep to prevent fatigue.

January 13, 2019 at 11:47PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Air Pollution on the London Underground Worse Than Above Ground Suggests Report

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The latest report from COMEAP (the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants) shows that travelling on the London Underground may be dangerous to your health.

The air in the London Underground infrastructure is high in PM (particulates, i.e. fine dust). This is because of the generation of dust caused by the friction action of train brakes on wheels and wheels on rails, combined with dust generated by the clothes, hair and skin of the millions of people, in close proximity to each other, using the system. One hour on the underground, a typical exposure time for commuters, is equivalent to standing on one of the busiest London roads for the whole day. The deepest underground lines such as the Northern Line are apparently a particular problem. This problem has been known about for many years – for example the Institute of Occupational Health reported on the problem in 2003 but very little has been done about it since. Cleaning of some stations and tunnels was tried in 2017 but it was shown that cleaning stations alone had little effect and the exercise seems not to have been repeated. Little research seems to have been done on the impact of underground workers such as train drivers, although there are filters in drivers cabs which might assist. Another issue is that the composition of underground dust is somewhat different with high levels of metals such as iron compounds and it is not known if that makes it better or worse in terms of health impacts. The COMEAP paper reports conflicting evidence on that issue. As a result although they conclude there is likely to be some health risk they are unable to quantify it. They encourage TfL to undertake more measurements and more studies on this problem. Roger Lawson from the Alliance of British Drivers commented by saying “I suggest the Mayor of London imposes a new tax on underground trains to tackle this problem as he has done on road vehicles. Indeed he should probably tax underground passengers to encourage them to walk and cycle instead – you know it will be good for you! “But as the Mayor and TfL run the underground and would have to suffer the taxes, don’t expect this to happen anytime soon.”

January 13, 2019 at 01:06PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Roger Lawson - ABD THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Edinburgh looks to embrace electric taxis

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Edinburgh has taken a step closer to converting its taxi fleet from diesel to electric as the City Council’s regulatory committee look to discuss ways of encouraging both cab firms, and cabbies to switch across to cleaner technology. One company, City Cabs, has already taken steps to switch across, by purchasing five electric vehicles and ordering another five, as well as installing two rapid chargers at their headquarters, in the Scottish capital. It is believed that the five electric vehicles, which the company has on the road already, are saving drivers between £5 and £7 per day. October 2018, saw a £3.3m initiative approved to install over 200 charging points across the city by 2023, which will, according to a report, in the Edinburgh Evening Newssave 1,061 tonnes of CO2 per-annum. In 2015, Edinburgh cabbies received approval to use electric vehicles, it is believed that there could be in excess of 600 electric taxis operating in the area by 2023. Concerns have been raised by Regulatory Services Manager, Andrew Mitchell, who has urged councillors to ensure that a viable infrastructure is in place before electric conversion is forced upon companies and drivers. Other concerns which have been raised are the current range of vehicles available to the industry, as well as the speed of the roll-out, which some has said needs to be measured and sustainable. Some of the incentives which have been discussed, to encourage switching across to electric vehicles are, the removal of license fees for electric vehicles, the introduction of electric-only taxi ranks, and allowing saloon hackney carriage licenses for electric vehicles.

January 13, 2019 at 12:13PM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Steve Kenton THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT

Age limit cuts is unacceptable says LTDA’s McNamara

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Happy New Year to all TAXI readers! I hope you’ve all had good Christmases, despite Mayor Sadiq Khan’s shock announcement the week before on reducing taxi age limits. We were appalled that the trade wasn’t even consulted prior to the announcement and even now details are still scarce on how it would be implemented and nowhere have we seen a cost impact assessment! The initial press releases refer to a “phased reduction” from 15 years to 12 years starting in 2022 but give no information beyond that. Our initial enquiries received a blanket response of “the detail will be in the consultation.” This is simply not good enough. As a result of the announcement there has been a significant fall in the second-hand price of virtually all cabs. Initial estimates suggest around £150 million has been wiped off the value of London taxis at the expense of their owners. Almost overnight the pre-owned market stagnated as potential buyers hesitated at buying a cab that will almost certainly be worth less if the proposals go ahead. What happens now will depend on what actually appears in the consultation, the number and shape of the responses and the mayor’s final decision. Ahead of this, the LTDA has already submitted a plethora of Freedom of Information (FOIs) requests to try and discover what information was used to support the creation of the proposal. I have also managed to get a meeting scheduled with the Deputy Mayor for Air Quality, Shirley Rodrigues, and have requested meetings with the Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, and the mayor himself. Once we receive the data on pollution figures that TfL will be relying on to support their proposals, we will once again instruct specialist scientists to review the information and prepare their own evaluations. This is exactly what we did in 2012, when we successfully defeated the previous mayor’s plans to reduce the age limit to 10 years. The press release also failed to mention that the mayor has drastically cut the £42 million he announced last year to help cabbies switch to the new electric taxi. We have been saying that this pot of money isn’t enough to achieve his objective of 9,000 electric cabs on the roads, but it has now dropped mysteriously to just £18 million. We’ll be asking City Hall some difficult questions around why they’re doing next to nothing to help drivers buy new electric cabs. The trade knows more than any other group how important it is to improve London’s air quality. We’re the ones sit in fumes all day! But it’s completely unacceptable to ban us from using older vehicles, the ones they forced us to buy, when it’s not affordable to buy newer, cleaner ones and when we still don’t have enough rapid charging points to allow us to charge up new electric cabs. Minicab Congestion Charge In better news, the mayor also announced that PHVs will now have to pay the Congestion Charge, while taxis will remain exempt. This is something the LTDA has long campaigned for. This charge should help to stem the huge increase in PHVs clogging London’s roads, while ensuring that black cabs can continue to provide fully-accessible public transport at an affordable rate for Londoners who rely on us. Sexual Assault Statistics Finally, just before Christmas TfL slipped out its latest statistics on sexual offences relating to taxi and PHV journeys. In 2017, there were 24 sexual offences where a driver has been charged, and you won’t be surprised to read that all those charged were PHV drivers. We pride ourselves in getting our passengers home safely, and this year we’ll keep up the pressure on TfL to do more to protect Londoners.

January 13, 2019 at 09:48AM http://bit.ly/2UVulRY Steve McNamara - LTDA THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT