by News Desk | Sep 13, 2016 | London News
Mayor of London press release
- Far-reaching measures announced to protect the capital’s iconic black cab trade and drive up standards across the private hire industry
- New Action Plan will deliver greenest taxi fleet in the world
- Mayor Sadiq Khan says new plans will help deliver a ‘truly world-class service for Londoners’
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today heralded a new era for the capital’s taxi and private hire markets as he set out a programme of far-reaching improvements that will drive up standards, boost the quality of service for Londoners and protect the future of London’s iconic black cabs.
The Mayor is determined to create a vibrant taxi and private hire market, with space for all providers to flourish. The Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan, launched today by the Mayor alongside Transport for London (TfL), includes specific new measures to support licensed taxi drivers, and sets out ambitious plans to enhance public safety, and also improve London’s air quality.
Special new measures being introduced to help London’s black cab industry to continue to flourish include:
- TfL will open up an extra 20 bus lanes for use by taxis this year and is asking London Boroughs to consider access for taxis to a further 40 on roads they control.
- The number of taxi ranks will also be increased by at least 20 per cent by 2020
- The use of new technology to provide customers with information to help connect them with taxis more quickly and easily – adding taxi information to TfL’s journey planner by summer 2017
The iconic black cab trade – already recognised as the finest service of its type in any city – will also be helped to become the greenest in the world.
From next year, up to £5,000 will be available to drivers who scrap the oldest and most polluting taxis. A grant of £3,000 will be provided towards the first 9,000 Zero Emission Capable (ZEC) taxis and TfL is asking the Government to guarantee the ‘plug-in car grant’ for these vehicles, which would take the total grant to £7,500.
From 1 January 2018 no more new diesel taxis will be licensed – helping to address London’s poor air quality and tackle the unacceptably high number of people dying each year because of air pollution.
The new plans include new ‘zero emission’ ranks for drivers who pioneer green technology alongside a network of rapid electric charge points.
New technology is changing the way many Londoners access taxis and private hire vehicles, and the New Action Plan also addresses how regulation can be used to ensure safety standards are applied across the taxi and private hire markets.
A range of measures are also being introduced to enhance public safety, many of these were outlined in the recent Private Hire Regulations review. These include:
- A formal English language requirement for all private hire drivers
- The provision of driver and vehicle details to customers, including a photo of the driver, before the start of each journey
- Even more robust insurance requirements
Other new initiatives to further drive up standards are now also underway, including quadrupling the number of on-street Compliance Officers, with 250 more dedicated officers on the streets by summer 2017.
By summer next year, TfL will also require that private hire drivers pass an advanced driving test before they can be licensed or relicensed.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“Our new Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan will help us deliver a truly world-class service for Londoners and create a vibrant taxi and private hire market where all providers can continue to flourish. From my first day at City Hall I have been determined to drive up standards and improve safety for every passenger in London, while protecting the future of our iconic black cabs that provide a unique and invaluable service for Londoners.
“Opening up extra bus lanes and increasing the number of taxi ranks will help ensure our black cabs continue to thrive, and our new proposals include ground-breaking incentives to create the greenest taxi fleet in the world.
“We’re also pushing ahead with important new measures to enhance public safety, including quadrupling the number of on-street Compliance Officers and requiring that private hire drivers pass an advanced driving test before they’re licensed. Nothing is more important than ensuring every Londoner feels safe getting around out City.”
Val Shawcross, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said:
“New measures such as opening up extra bus lanes and increasing the number of taxi ranks will help ensure our black cabs continue to thrive, and our proposals also include ground-breaking incentives to create the greenest taxi fleet in the world.
“A key part of our plan is to push ahead with important new measures to enhance public safety, including quadrupling the number of on-street Compliance Officers and requiring that private hire drivers pass an advanced driving test before they’re licensed. We must ensure every Londoner feels safe getting around our city, while creating a taxi and private hire market where all providers are able to thrive.”
Helen Chapman, TfL’s General Manager of Taxi and Private Hire, said:
“London’s iconic taxi trade is famous around the world and is a fundamental part of our public transport system. We need to support it and also ensure that standards in the private hire industry continue to rise so that both trades can flourish. Passengers deserve the very best, professional service when they choose to travel in either a taxi or a private hire vehicle.
“Through this comprehensive action plan we will improve public safety by driving up standards across the private hire industry, provide the support black cab drivers need and deliver the world’s greenest taxi fleet.”
Jim Kelly, Unite Cab Section Chair, told CTN:
“Unite welcomes further access to bus lanes and the increase in Enforcement Officers, as well as the beginning of the driving up of standards in the private hire industry. “
As part of the Action Plan, TfL has set aside £40 million to help drivers ‘scrap’ the oldest, most polluting taxis. This is in addition to £25 million funding for the £3,000 top-up grants.
From next year, owners of vehicles older than 10 years will have the option to receive a one-off ‘scrap’ payment of up to £5,000, depending on the age of the taxi, in return for no longer licensing it in London. The Mayor is calling on Government to support this initiative with a national diesel scrappage scheme to help drivers dispose of the vehicles and ensure they aren’t used elsewhere in the UK.
As well as the measures that the Mayor and TfL can implement, there are a number of improvements that require agreement from the Government.
TfL is lobbying the Government for powers to address cross-border hiring – when private hire journeys are made in the Capital in vehicles that are licensed elsewhere in the country. Powers are also being sought to deal with pedicabs, seize uninsured vehicles and automatically disqualify from driving anyone convicted of touting.
ENDS
Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan 2016
taxi-and-private-hire-action-plan-2016
by News Desk | Sep 13, 2016 | London News
After the Mayor heralded a new era for London Taxis, the Independent Taxi Alliance, (ITA) have heralded a new era in trade demonstrations.
The ITA will be inviting all drivers, no matter what colour lanyard, to attend the Mayors Question Time at city hall this Wednesday at 10 am. They will also be holding a demonstration on Monday 3rd October during the rush hours of 4pm till 7pm at a destination to be announced at a later date.
Further action could see night time demos on consecutive nights (Thursday, Friday, Satureday) which could paralyse parts of central Londons night life.
The ITA have published this list of accusations below, which they say make TfL NOT FIT FOR PURPOSR.
• Endangering Londoners with watered down DBS on minicab drivers.
• Refusal to inform Londoners of u acceptable rate of minicab rapes and sexual assaults.
• Refusal to release statistics defining the astonishing amount of minicab RTAs
• Licensed minicab drivers without passing basic DVLA test
• Threatening licence revocation for taxi drivers refusing to comply with dangerous payment mandate
• Catching taxi earnings up to 5% on card transactions
• Condoning uninsured minicabs and inventing fictitious on off insurance
• Fabricating evidence of Uber landline in a failed bid to hoodwink the GLA
• Guilty of tutoring number on how to evade regulation
• Unmonitored ‘out of office’ liaison’s and unlimited meetings with Uber
• Harassing taxi drivers am favouring minicab illegalities.
#NOMORE … DEMARCATION NOT DEREGULATION
Taxi leaks COMMENT :
In light of the Mayors so called ‘New Era For London Taxis’, uber put out this statement to all their drivers and customers, to encourage them to complain by email to Mayor Khan.
by News Desk | Sep 13, 2016 | London News
Why I joined taxiapp
We are already experiencing how de-regulation causes a race to the bottom. History has shown that it is not always the best person, team, product, ideology, or even idea that wins, but mostly it is those that have the most money, weaponry and/or exposure that are victorious. As a consequence, everyone loses. And it has been studied in great detail. The Great Depression in the USA is a case in point.
Studies show how a deregulated environment puts passengers in danger financially and physically, and leads to an unhealthy business environment – preventing companies from providing top quality service.
With that in mind, it is of my firm opinion that the private hire industry is on course for UK wide deregulation. Whilst the consequences of this are not fully known, the ramifications on the stringently regulated taxi trade could be monumental.
On the back of TfL’s tentative admission that it was lawful for PHV/D to show availability was the news that the DVSA were going to scrap the taxi driver test from December 2016, deregulation seems inevitable.
Simply put, any PHV/D that is showing availability for work is plying for hire. Effectively, a concept that has defined our working model for over 150 years is no more. Yes, they have a particular way in which they ply their wares but then so do we. Those who asked for a level playing field are now being rewarded with a one tier system. And instead of instructing all private hire drivers to undertake a similar driving standard requirement to taxi drivers, the policy makers have decided to scrap the taxi driver test altogether. The news of both was secreted to the trade so surreptitiously it has garnered virtually no response at all. Notably, the silence from our representatives is deafening.
I’ll be the first to admit, deregulation of the private hire bill has been a foreboding for some time and was the primary reason I chose to get on board taxiapp. Following a long night of existential angst, I concluded that the trade needed it’s own technological platform. To think otherwise, was to enslave ourselves to the whims of corporates; the money men who feign fondness for the history of our sweet, little localised trade.
In a moment of frantic urgency, I called Phil- one of taxiapp’s founder members- convinced that a work force was being stockpiled in order to perform an en-masse take over of our vibrant, self sufficient industry. .
It is impossible to know where innovation will take us next, but it is safe to say, if we are not on the first rung of the technological ladder we may not be afforded the chance to ascend to the second rung.
Those working on taxiapp have, unequivocally, done everything they can to protect the driver from a potential takeover by off-shore business men facilitated by our very own government bodies. It is crucial that we are not distracted by dissenters (even trolls have trolls) who’s misdirection would rather see us sold off to the next highest bidder.
Although i’ve said a thousand times, the intention with taxiapp has always been for the trade to regain control, and to be,, at least, the eulogists of our own destination.
One aspect I have realised since being amongst the passionate and determined steering group behind taxiapp is that business only has regard for business, and taxiapp has in some weird way put the trade back on the map. No question then, if we as a trade want to be a formidable force to be reckoned with when our ranks and the street hail come under threat, then we have to make sure there is no chink in the taxi trade’s armour.
it is as clear as day that our regulators have smoothed the way for us to be hijacked, nevertheless, each and every one of us must accept the responsibility of promoting our industry- on a big scale- to remain valid, and it is imperative that we are in a position to challenge those who would readily take our place. Now is not the time to be suffering the tiredness of defeat.
Taxiapp believe the fight has yet to enter the ring. Collectively, we are a behemoth and by utilising that cohesive strength we can securely operate stronger than all the rest. Merely going through the motions as the Corporates feed on our (not yet deceased) carcasses would mean we are doomed to stagnate amongst the satnav swamp, or at worst not at all.
Are you ready to fight our corner? Defeated, no more! Promote #StreetHail. Promote #Ranks. Promote #Taxiapp. taxiapp.uk.com
In the words of that famous silent film star Charlie Chaplin, let us all unite
Sean Paul Day
London Taxi Radio & taxiapp
by News Desk | Sep 10, 2016 | London News
Did you ever stop to wonder, in the light of the hold ups we’ve witnessed, concerning Taxi driver licence application and renewals, how it could be possible for Uber to get over 600 of their new driver applications licensed every week, for over a year. Many of their applicants without the necessary enhanced DBS record checks!
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