by News Desk | Jul 30, 2015 | London News
Congratulations to the Save Our Black Taxis Taxi, FaceBook Group who have now hit the 10,000 signature target.
#SaveTaxi 30th Jul 2015
Dear Supporters,
Thank you so much for your support, and for taking the time to sign the petition! What a fantastic achievement, we now have over 10,200+ signatures!
We are aiming to keep growing the number of signatures, and would appreciated your continued support to promote the petition and #SaveTaxi.
Quick Reminder
Just to remind you, the family and supporter’s demonstration will take place tomorrow:
The demonstration will take place on:
31 July at 14:00-16:00
Windsor House (Transport for London)
42 – 50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
United Kingdom
We hope to see you there!
Best wishes,
#SaveTaxi
Photo by Patric McGuinness.
by News Desk | Jul 28, 2015 | London News
Thank you for contacting me regarding Uber. As a former licensed London cab driver myself, I share your concern and anger over the way that Uber has been allowed to circumvent the regulations around taxis. I have already written to the Peter Hendy, the TfL Commissioner, to outline my very serious objections regarding the worrying growth in the use by minicab companies of apps like Uber which run a coach and horses through the legal definitions which underpin London’s taxi regulations.
It is clear to me that both TfL and the government need to look at the regulation and enforcement of the taxi and private hire trade in a much more comprehensive fashion than they are currently doing.
I believe that the Uber App is clearly designed to function as a meter and I am entirely opposed to TfL’s refusal to take against the use of Uber by minicabs. The app is a taxi meter which calculates fares based on distance and time taken. This seems to be clearly against the current regulations.
If Boris Johnson and TfL continue to allow Uber to be used in this way then I believe that we could well see the end of the licensed taxi industry in London as we know it, and see instead a completely deregulated taxi and private hire market. This will lead to the loss of all the safety gains for the travelling public provided by London’s licensed taxis – especially since the 1998 London Private Hire Vehicles Act.
I have told TfL that I have been approached by a number of taxi drivers who are extremely concerned and angry about this situation.
I appreciate that the legality of this app is to be tested in the High Court but I do not believe that this justifies Boris Johnson simply shrugging his shoulders and allowing Uber to continue to operate in this way.
London’s licensed taxi drivers are widely regarded as the world’s finest and the black cab is an icon of this city. Uber must be stopped from leading a race to the bottom which can only in the end undermine existing safeguards for the travelling public. The problem we have though is that the current mayor believes that all of this should be left to the will of the free market – a free market that allows Uber to operate in an unregulated grey market, whilst traditional black cab drivers continue to be bound by the strictest vehicle, knowledge and character requirements in the world. Johnson’s views were best summed up in his recent late-night comments to a London cabbie.
I will continue to do all that I can to ensure that London cabbies are allowed to continue their trade and that action is taken against apps like Uber to ensure that they are not allowed to destroy the regulatory system that has been painstakingly developed over decades to provide a safe and reliable taxi and minicab service for Londoners. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of any further assistance.
Best wishes
Clive
Clive Efford
Member of Parliament for Eltham
Follow Clive on Twitter @CliveEfford
http://www.cliveefford.org.uk
by News Desk | Jul 28, 2015 | London News
- Rickshaw driver Juris Dzjabovic charged tourists £206 for mile-long trip
- He insisted it was fair because he was pedalling uphill along Oxford Street
- Russian claimed he arrived in the UK seven days ago on a tourist visa
- Police officer told driver he was ‘exploiting tourists’ and ‘ripping them off’
A shameless rickshaw driver who charged tourists £206 for a one-mile journey has insisted it was fair because he was pedalling ‘uphill’ – and claimed it should have cost twice as much.
Juris Dzjabovic, 22, spoke to the Daily Mail after video footage emerged of him charging the extortionate fee for a ten-minute trip along Oxford Street in Central London that would have cost about £7 in a black cab.
Moscow-born Mr Dzjabovic, who calls himself a ‘rising star’ in Russian opera and claims to be in Britain on a tourist visa, boasted: ‘I don’t come cheap. I work my legs hard, I look good and I play good music – you have to pay a lot if you want that kind of luxury.
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Rickshaw driver Juris Dzjabovic charged tourists £206 for a mile-long trip, but insisted it was fair because he was pedalling ‘uphill’
‘I charged £206 because there were four people and I was going uphill. I didn’t even charge them the full amount – it should have been £412. Sure, £10 a minute is expensive, but that’s only if I go uphill. For downhill, it’s £10 for ten minutes.
‘Everyone is saying that black cabs are cheaper. Of course they are – it’s just one guy and the engine does everything. The fact is everything is expensive in London. I am not the bad guy, I just do my job like everyone else.’
Mr Dzjabovic said he arrived in the UK just seven days ago and claimed to have immediately begun working as a rickshaw cyclist for Glow Taxis.
Rickshaw rip off! Driver charges tourists over £200 for ride
One of the policemen told the driver that he was blatantly ripping off the tourists because the journey should not cost £10 per minute
A spokesman distanced the company from Mr Dzjabovic, saying he worked semi-independently by hiring a rickshaw from them, and sternly denied sanctioning £10-a-minute fees.
An unrepentant Mr Dzjabovic maintained that his passengers were told about the rate as they boarded, and claimed he ended up accepting just £40 after being challenged by a passer-by, two police officers and taxi driver Richard Long, who filmed the scene on his phone.
It is understood police took no further action despite one officer accusing him of ‘exploiting’ the tourists, who appeared to be two women in headscarves with two children.
The rickshaw driver asked one of the officers how much he should charge for the service but appeared to refuse to hand back any of the money
Moscow-born Mr Dzjabovic, who calls himself a ‘rising star’ in Russian opera, claims to be in Britain on a tourist visa
London’s rickshaws, also know as pedicabs, are popular with tourists but lack of regulation is said to give drivers free rein to charge inflated fees.
The Mail spoke to Mr Dzjabovic as he was due to start another shift. Asked if he would still charge £200 or more for a one-mile journey, he said: ‘Of course. Why not? That is good business.’
Tourist visas – or Standard Visitor visas – are valid for up to six months. Visitors are not supposed to work, but may apply for a ‘permitted paid engagement’ extension if the work relates to their ‘main area of expertise’.
A spokesman for London mayor Boris Johnson said: ‘The mayor has serious concerns about the pedicab trade.’
The rickshaw driver attempted to charge the tourists £206 for a mile-long journey from Oxford Circus to Marble Arch
Source: Mail Online
by News Desk | Jul 28, 2015 | London News
[Image: the cab driver’s injuries]
Detectives from Kensington and Chelsea are appealing for help to identify two witnesses six months after a black cab driver was seriously assaulted.
On Monday, 26 January, at approximately 02:20 hrs, a 62-year-old black cab driver was working when he was hailed by a man and a woman in their early 20s in the vicinity of Brompton Square near Harrods.
The cab driver, who does not wish to be named, stopped and agreed to take the couple to Addison Gardens in Kensington.
Following the journey of three or four miles, the man paid the fare of £20 and the pair then left the cab in Lower Addison Gardens. As they left the cab, the driver noticed that the woman had been sick in the back of his cab at some stage during the journey. He suggested to the man that they should clear up the mess or give him an extra £45 to pay for the cleaning of the cab.
The cab driver has no recollection of what happened next but when he regained consciousness he was badly injured and his clothing was covered in blood. He managed to drive home where his son took him to hospital for treatment. He had sustained multiple fractures around his eye socket.
Officers were called to the hospital where they began an investigation.
Detective Constable Simon Jewell, from Kensington and Chelsea CID, said: “The victim’s injuries are consistent with having been repeatedly kicked or punched in the head. This would appear to be a vicious attack on a 62-year-old man who has only recently been able to return to work.
“We have released a photo of the cab driver in hospital taken from a Body Worn Camera in the hope that this will encourage people to come forward with information to help the investigation.
“We are appealing for anyone who can help us to identify the couple, a white man and woman in their early 20s, who caught the cab in the early hours on Monday, 26 January from the vicinity of Brompton Square to Lower Addison Gardens.
“We’d particularly like to speak to the residents of Lower Addison Gardens and Addison Gardens who may have heard noise at approximately 02:30 hrs on Monday, 26 January or may even have witnessed the assault.”
If you have any information about this incident please call police on 020 8246 0217 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
by News Desk | Jul 24, 2015 | London News
Problems: many Routemasters have had to run on diesel after battery failure (Picture: Nigel Howard/File image)
Faulty Routemasters are belching out more harmful particles than the buses they replaced, it was claimed today.
About 80 of Boris Johnson’s hybrid buses have been running on diesel after suffering battery malfunctions.
An investigation by LBC radio measured the most harmful of the PM10s and PM5s toxic particulates from a faulty new Routemaster and an older bus model, the Alexander ALX400.
Tests using the latest equipment were undertaken at the same bus stop at the same time on the advice of experts.
They found that more ultra-fine particulates — which are so small they can penetrate the lining of the lungs and get into the bloodstream, potentially causing damage to the heart and brain — were evident in the newer bus when it was running on diesel.
The Routemaster, which is said to be the most environmentally friendly of its kind, emitted 52,648 ultra-fine particulates per cubic centimetre, 74 per cent higher than the older bus which emitted 30,212 particles.
Last week, research revealed that air pollution was responsible for up to 10,000 deaths a year in the capital —thousands more then previously thought. Researchers blamed the high toll on nitrogen dioxide, which is largely linked to diesel fumes.
Ken Davidson, TfL’s head of bus operations, said: “It is simply not credible to try to test the emissions of buses in this way. This experiment is flawed. Overall, the new Routemaster fleet is delivering significant reductions in emissions compared to the buses they replaced.”
The tests came after it emerged that several of the 800-strong London fleet had suffered battery malfunctions. The vehicles have hybrid engines and are only supposed to use diesel when the battery runs out. TfL has confirmed that the power supplies of up to 80 buses had been mended or replaced, meaning that the £354,000 vehicles were pumping out more pollutants.
Labour mayoral candidate Christian Wolmar, who first revealed the problems with the new Routemasters, said: “This is further evidence that this project was misconceived from the start. I have been told that drivers have been complaining about the failed batteries since August last year and yet nothing has been done.
“It is no surprise the emissions are higher than those on conventional buses as the New Bus for London is not operating as designed. It is supposed to be powered by an electric motor, but instead is using its inefficient diesel engine that should, in normal conditions, be running at constant speed.”
Lib-Dem Assembly member Stephen Knight said: “It is appalling that so many new Routemasters have faulty hybrid systems and are therefore emitting more diesel pollution than they should. The Mayor and TfL must now publish the full details of the actual pollution being emitted by the buses.”
Editors Comment
Leon Daniels stated on TV that the faulty buses still emitted less pollutants than other buses, so once again Leon Daniels has been proved to be a liar!
Source: London Evening Standard
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