Demonisation Of Diesel Is Leading To The Biggest Rise In CO2 For 14 Years

Figures obtained from the Department of Transport by selling site Buyacar.co.uk show the average new car sold in 2017 emits more toxic CO2 than new cars sold in 2016, which is the first time in 14 years that an average new car emits more CO2 than older cars. As more and more drivers desert diesel cars discouraged by tax rises, toxicity charges, parking surcharges and crashing car values, the unintended consequence is that CO2 greenhouse gas emissions are back on the rise again.

‘Unintended consequences’

The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is where the actions of people and especially Governments, always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.

In 2008 under the Labour government led by Gordon Brown, they made an announcement in the Budget which they thought was good for the environment, which was to discourage people from driving petrol vehicles due to the carbon dioxide (CO2) they emitted and so created a car tax system based on carbon dioxide emitted to encourage people to buy “lower polluting” diesel cars instead. In response, sales of new diesel cars and the British motoring industry itself boomed off the back of the decision.

Demonisation of diesel begins

By 2016 with a Conservative government in power, it became apparent that levels of toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) had increased in major towns and cities, contributing to 40,000 deaths a year. The Government was not meeting its own NOx emissions targets set by the European Union, leading to the threat of fines and court action. Diesel cars were pinpointed as the main culprit for these rises and it was then that the process of demonisation of diesel in all forms began in earnest, led by environmental pressure groups and the new Mayor of London.

Fast forward to the end of 2017 and diesel car sales have plummeted by 16% year on year. All the major manufacturers are running diesel scrappage schemes where you can trade in a diesel car bought in the last 8 years and receive up to £8,000 towards buying a new car. In 2017 the average value of a used diesel car fell by 26%, for many the choice of switching away from diesel cars seemed like a no brainer, but it wasn’t.

What the Government wanted people to do was buy new hybrid engine or fully electric cars and Taxis en masse. The problem here is they’re too expensive to buy or run and there is no used car market for hybrid or electric cars. Reason being, battery technology moves so rapidly that the battery in a two-year-old electric car is inferior to a new battery powered car, so they don’t hold their residual value for it to be worth buying an older hybrid or EV car. 

This is going to have a huge impact to the second hand electric Taxi market.

The Mayor wants all Taxis and Private Hire Cars to be zero emmisuon capable by 2033.

The new unintended consequence here is that while people are moving away from diesel cars as the Government wanted, they’re not buying lower emissions vehicles, instead they’re buying high polluting, big engine petrol SUVs, which is leading to an unprecedented rise in CO2 emissions. Further bad news is that the Government also have a CO2 emissions target they need to meet by the European Union as well.

Official CO2 figures show a rise in 2017

Official statistics for the first ten months of 2017 from the Department of Transport show that the average new car sold this year produces 121.1g of CO2 per kilometre. The average CO2 output of new vehicles sold in 2016 was 120.3g/km. With diesel registrations widely expected to stall further in December, it will spell the end of a 14-year reduction in CO2 emissions, which have declined by 4.02g/km annually since records first began.

How on earth did we get in this mess?

The greatest irony in all of this is that the most likely solution in reducing both NOx and CO2 to meet European standards over the next few years is buy a new super low diesel emission car. One would have hoped that the market would have naturally gravitated towards buying a new lower emitting diesel, instead demonisation has made them buy high polluting petrol SUVs.

As is often the case, the Government has again intervened and targeted the wrong area and not tackled the real problem.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2lq6KsG
via IFTTT

China's Solar Expressway Meets Light Of Day In Shandong, As Shenzhen Electrifies 16k Buses.

Vehicles run on a solar expressway in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 28, 2017. 

   

China on Thursday opened a 1-km section solar expressway for testing. Solar panels are laid beneath part of a ring road surrounding Jinan. 

The road surface is made of a transparent, weight-bearing material that allows sunlight to penetrate. The panels, covering 5,875 square meters, can generate 1 million kwh of power in a year, enough to meet the everyday demand of around 800 households.(Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

JINAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday opened a 1-km section solar expressway for testing.

Solar panels are laid beneath part of a ring road surrounding Jinan, capital city of Shandong Province in east China. The road surface is made of a transparent, weight-bearing material that allows sunlight to penetrate.

The panels, covering 5,875 square meters, can generate 1 million kwh of power in a year, enough to meet the everyday demand of around 800 households, according to Qilu Transportation Development Group, the project developer.

"The project will save the space for building solar farms and shorten the transmission distance," said Xu Chunfu, the group's chairman.

Electricity produced by the test section will be used to power highway lights, signboards, surveillance cameras, tunnel and toll gate facilities. Surplus power will be supplied to the state grid, Xu said.

Future functions to be developed include mobile charging for electric vehicles and providing internet connection.

The road has a designed life of 20 years. It has three layers -- a concrete layer pervious to light on top; thin amorphous silicon panels in the middle; and a waterproof insulate protection layer at the bottom.

"The top layer has good flexibility which can both withstand the pressure of large vehicles and protect the fragile amorphous silicon boards underneath," said Zhang Hongchao, chief scientist with Shandong Pavenergy company which was involved in the development of the project.

Xu did not reveal the cost but said it was half of similar projects in foreign countries.

"With the development of solar power in China, the cost can be further reduced," he said.

China leads the world in solar power development. Its annual increase of new installed generation capacity has been the largest in the world since 2013. As of the end of September, China's installed photovoltaic capacity hit 120 gigawatts.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT: 

London is far from the forefront in adoption of electric buses: China's Shenzhen shows the world how it's done, electrifies all public transit with massive fleet of 16,000+ electric buses 

Click link : https://t.co/ve3Jc2IJxh 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2Ej3GWX
via IFTTT

The Truth And The Lies Behind Britain’s Speed Cameras

If you drive carefully past a speed camera, adhering to the speed limit and think you are safe, then you might be wrong.  Most of us don’t realise that those big yellow boxes can do a lot more than just register our speed and send information that gets us a speeding ticket.  But just what are their full abilities?

The offence camera

The speed camera should rightly be called the offence camera because it can record many offences other than just speeding.  They include not wearing your seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and even having illegal number plates.

According to statistics for the north east of England, between August 2015 and November 2015 there were a total of nearly 700 drivers who were caught for not wearing a seatbelt through a speed camera.  This is an offence that does seem bizarre – not only is it the law to wear one but they can also save your life if you are involved in an accident

Speed camera spotting

Another big problem is the use of mobile phones while driving.  To highlight how serious it can be, the fine was increased to £200 in March this year and now comes with six points on the license if you are caught.

Now you can be caught by speed cameras when on your mobile phone and receive a fine just the same as you would if you were spotted by a police officer.  This also includes mobile speed cameras which are now recording a range of other offences in the same way as the stationary version.

The most common device used for mobile speed cameras, that can record various information, is the LTI 20.20 UltraLyte 1000.  This device uses a laser linked directly to a DVD system that is running the whole time that the enforcement is in operation.  It can collect an image from cars up to 1000 metres away and includes information such as the time, date, speed, distance, site coding and whether the vehicle was travelling towards or away from the camera.  This is all detailed on the image of the driver.

The mobile phone problem

The reason for the higher penalties and the use of speed cameras to catch drivers using a phone behind the wheel is because it remains a huge problem.  In one crackdown last November, police caught around 40 drivers per hour on their mobile phones, handing out 7966 fixed penalty notices during a one-week long campaign.

This was an increase on previous periods of enforcement on ‘distraction driving’ where a crackdown had been in place.  In May 2016, they had caught 2323 drivers, in September 2015 the figure was 2276 and in May 2015, the number of drivers caught was 2690.

During the same period, where 36 forces around the county participated, there were also hundreds of verbal warnings issued along with 68 court summonses and 117 other ‘distraction’ offences noted.  The figures were part of the reason why the new fines and points system was brought in the following March.

Mobile phone law

The current law on mobile phone states that it is illegal to drive a vehicle and use a hand held mobile phone or a similar device.  It is also illegal to supervise a learner driver while using a mobile.  The definition of ‘driving’ is also one to watch – you are driving if you have the engine running so merely pulling into a layby without turning the engine off won’t save you from a fine.  Stopping at traffic lights also still counts as driving.  You can use a hands-free kit but if you are shown to be not in ‘proper control’ of the vehicle while using it, you can be prosecuted

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2zLz24U
via IFTTT

The Truth And The Lies Behind Britain’s Speed Cameras

If you drive carefully past a speed camera, adhering to the speed limit and think you are safe, then you might be wrong.  Most of us don’t realise that those big yellow boxes can do a lot more than just register our speed and send information that gets us a speeding ticket.  But just what are their full abilities?

The offence camera

The speed camera should rightly be called the offence camera because it can record many offences other than just speeding.  They include not wearing your seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and even having illegal number plates.

According to statistics for the north east of England, between August 2015 and November 2015 there were a total of nearly 700 drivers who were caught for not wearing a seatbelt through a speed camera.  This is an offence that does seem bizarre – not only is it the law to wear one but they can also save your life if you are involved in an accident

Speed camera spotting

Another big problem is the use of mobile phones while driving.  To highlight how serious it can be, the fine was increased to £200 in March this year and now comes with six points on the license if you are caught.

Now you can be caught by speed cameras when on your mobile phone and receive a fine just the same as you would if you were spotted by a police officer.  This also includes mobile speed cameras which are now recording a range of other offences in the same way as the stationary version.

The most common device used for mobile speed cameras, that can record various information, is the LTI 20.20 UltraLyte 1000.  This device uses a laser linked directly to a DVD system that is running the whole time that the enforcement is in operation.  It can collect an image from cars up to 1000 metres away and includes information such as the time, date, speed, distance, site coding and whether the vehicle was travelling towards or away from the camera.  This is all detailed on the image of the driver.

The mobile phone problem

The reason for the higher penalties and the use of speed cameras to catch drivers using a phone behind the wheel is because it remains a huge problem.  In one crackdown last November, police caught around 40 drivers per hour on their mobile phones, handing out 7966 fixed penalty notices during a one-week long campaign.

This was an increase on previous periods of enforcement on ‘distraction driving’ where a crackdown had been in place.  In May 2016, they had caught 2323 drivers, in September 2015 the figure was 2276 and in May 2015, the number of drivers caught was 2690.

During the same period, where 36 forces around the county participated, there were also hundreds of verbal warnings issued along with 68 court summonses and 117 other ‘distraction’ offences noted.  The figures were part of the reason why the new fines and points system was brought in the following March.

Mobile phone law

The current law on mobile phone states that it is illegal to drive a vehicle and use a hand held mobile phone or a similar device.  It is also illegal to supervise a learner driver while using a mobile.  The definition of ‘driving’ is also one to watch – you are driving if you have the engine running so merely pulling into a layby without turning the engine off won’t save you from a fine.  Stopping at traffic lights also still counts as driving.  You can use a hands-free kit but if you are shown to be not in ‘proper control’ of the vehicle while using it, you can be prosecuted

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2BUYE1v
via IFTTT

Collusion? Corruption? Malfeasance? It's All In The Letters : We Need An Inquiry Now ...by Jim Thomas.

We've heard quite a bit about the letter from TfL giving the reasons why Uber would not be relicensed.

But there are far reaching implications that haven't yet been explored by our trade orgs. 

The letter (signed by Helen Chapman) points to the fact that an audit of Uber's operating system, was not carried out until late 2017!

If Uber's operating system was never fully audited, why did two top TfL officers sign off and release a statement to Managing Director Leon Daniels, back in 2014....saying the app was legal?

See this document, click link below;

http://ift.tt/2lcuVuz

Reasons given for the decision given by this dynamic duo were:

a) ULL (as the licensed operator) does make provision for the invitation or exceptions of bookings and also accepts private hire vehicle bookings in London. 

{This we now know to be a lie, Uber have admitted on oath in two court cases, this is not the case.}

b) Neither Uber BV (A related but distinct company based in the Netherlands) or Uber drivers, make provision for the invitation or acceptance of private hire vehicle bookings in London, or accept such bookings.

{This has now been proved to be another lie.} 

The letter went on to say :

Therefore, ULL it's not in breach of his license obligations, nor is it guilty of a corporate structure that facilitates other parties breaches of ULL's license obligations.

They then go on to say that ULL's shouldn't be suspended or revoked.... 

The letter to Leon Daniels, was then qsigned off by chief operating officer, surface transport, Garrett Emmerson and TFL's General Council Howard Carter.

Questions need to be asked as to why two prominent TfL officers signed Uber off as legal?

There is now a mountain of evidence in the form of letters, emails and phone calls, obtained under freedom of information requests. 

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :

Another question that needs to be thrown into the mix:

Back in 2014, Chairman of the UCG Len Martin wanted an approval system for all apps to ensure they complied with the law. His demand was included in the demonstrations carried out by the UCG.

Why did Helen Chapman, general manager of TfLTPH, refuse point blank to have such an approval system for apps?

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2zI3cq1
via IFTTT

LTDA's Uber Driver Prosecution Thrown Out By CPS On Request Of Mayor's Night Time Commissioner.

  

The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) brought a private prosecution against Uber driver who was licensed as a private hire driver by Transport for London (TfL), claiming that he was plying for hire. The Taxi Association had employed two private detectives in what they claimed was a “sting” operation.

The basis for the sting was that one of them booked the driver through the app and then took a ride, while the other filmed the operation. The gravamen of the prosecution was that the ability to see a car on the app meant that the car was plying for hire.

The defendant’s case was that driving in accordance with the Uber app is obviously not plying for hire.

The defendant’s legal team then requested the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take over the prosecution and discontinue it. 

This power is given to the CPS under section 6(2) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. It is very rarely exercised.

In this case, however, the CPS did decide to take over the prosecution and discontinue it. The prosecution was, therefore, nipped in the bud.

In light of the new evidence uncovered by the LCDC team, will the LTDA appeal this decision?

Or is this now the end of the drawn out case the LTDA had put all their hopes on while dismissing any action from other Taxi trade orgs?

Surely the Taxi trades powerful union’s legal teams (ho, ho, ho) will be all over this decision. 

After all, it’s been shown twice, in two different court cases, on two different continents that Uber’s operation is not legal under current London regulations. 

Again, as in Cambridge, it was licensing barrister Philip Kolvin QC who acted for the Defendant, instructed by Woods Whur Solicitors. 

In December 2016, Mayor Sadiq Khan appointed licensing barrister Phillip Kolvin QC as night time  commissioner.

LBC recently accused the Mayor’s night time commissioner of having a conflict of interest, because he is representing drivers in a number of cases, where the company ‘Uber’ are picking up the bill.

Conservative MP and former Transport Minister Theresa Villiers says the London Mayor now needs to review the appointment. 

She told LBC: "I have concerns about what I've heard bout Philip Kolvin's involvement in defending Uber drivers in court.

See article click link:

http://ift.tt/2BJOEYL

Source : Cornerstone Barristers and LBC Website.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT: by LTR’s Sean Paul Day

On 3/07/2015 Uber admitted under oath that they played no part in the booking process between passenger and driver. The case is significant as Uber’s operational model is replicated around around the globe. 

Correspondence was subsequently sent to The Mayor, Deputy Mayor with copies forwarded to TfL. The cover letter was later posted as an open letter in TAXILEAKS. 

No doubt other trade organisations sent correspondence to TFL also. 

THIS WAS 18 MONTHS AGO! 

CITATION: City of Toronto v. Uber Canada Inc. et al., 2015 ONSC 3572 COURT FILE NO.: CV-14-516288  DATE: 20150703

http://ift.tt/2CfaTZO

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2CcLYGl
via IFTTT

Pod Taxis Zoom Past Checkpoint, Speeding Towards Delhi

More Good News As UberEats and Deliveroo Restaurant Clients Face New Rules

Westminster City Council is to force restaurants to seek planning permission if they heavily use food delivery apps. 

Businesses will face formal enforcement if their deliveries reach too high a volume and disturb local residents.

Local cabinet member Daniel Astaire said the services will lead to "traffic chaos" in London if left unchecked. 

The council recently ordered a Nando's outlet to stop deliveries through the apps after it received more than 25 complaints about noise and congestion. 

Council officers reportedly observed large numbers of delivery mopeds parked outside the chicken chain's Westbourne Grove address, over several weeks. The delivery vehicles caused noise and congestion in a busy residential area, according to the council.

"The amount of Peri-Peri [sauce] fans in the Bayswater area meant that the popularity of the delivery service grew very quickly in a short space of time," a Nando's spokesman said. 

"Because of the location of the restaurant, at the junction of a busy residential road, this caused some disruption and the service was stopped at the request of Westminster Council."

Any restaurants found to be using deliveries as more than an incidental service will have to apply for a change in planning permission and prove that they minimise disruption in local neighbourhoods. The policy will be included in the council's City Plan next spring. 

Mr Astaire said that with nearly 3,000 restaurants in Westminster, the council needed policies "to keep up with new technologies". 

"It is a popular, much needed service but we can't allow the city to be swarmed with delivery drivers," he said. 

A council spokesman said that under the new rules, the volume of deliveries would determine whether a restaurant's deliveries constituted an incidental use or not. 

UberEats said: "We'd welcome the opportunity to meet with Westminster City Council to discuss how we can work together to support local businesses and address any concerns they have." 

Deliveroo said: "Deliveroo always works with communities and local authorities to ensure our service benefits restaurants, residents, riders and customers alike."

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2pBppWX
via IFTTT

The London Taxi Trade Has Been Given A Fantastic Christmas Present.

News has broken that Uber’s top managers lied on oath (perjury), to allow them to operate. 

This is part of the article which was published in today’s Sunday Times authored by Andrew Gilligan:

Taxi drivers want to bring proceedings for perjury against Uber’s senior UK managers after Transport for London (TfL) accused it of lying to the High Court.

In a 21-page letter to Uber seen by The Sunday Times, TfL says it refused to renew the company’s operating licence in September because Uber had given it “materially false and misleading” information many times.

Had Uber told the truth, its operating model would probably have been found “unlawful” in a 2015 High Court action, TfL writes, accusing the company of giving “false” evidence to win the case.

The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), which represents drivers of black cabs and was a party to the court action, said last week it would apply to overturn the judgment and bring proceedings against senior Uber managers for perjury.

LTDA’s general secretary, Steve McNamara, said: “The situation for Uber could not now be more serious.”

TfL’s previously secret letter to Uber explaining its licence decision was obtained during the tech giant’s appeal last week against the ban. The letter’s strong tone means that prospects for compromise seem less likely. Uber drivers continue to operate in London pending the appeal decision.

The TfL letter accuses Uber of a “lack of regard to the safety of its customers”, citing disclosures in the press that Uber failed to report to police a series of sex attacks by its drivers. It also says Uber conducted medical examinations of new drivers over the internet, and helped conduct criminal checks on its own drivers, a process that was supposed to be carried out independently.

The 2015 court case arose after the LTDA brought a private prosecution against Uber, claiming that the smartphones used by its drivers acted as taximeters, which only licensed black cabs may have by law. The case was taken over by TfL and the High Court ruled that drivers’ smartphones were not taximeters.

Uber had told the judge, Mr Justice Ouseley, that its central computer systems, not individual drivers, handled all bookings and fares. It had told TfL the same thing many times. However, TfL’s letter reveals that this year it asked the consultancy firm Deloitte to examine Uber’s IT systems. Deloitte found the company’s central computers accepted a booking only after a driver had done so.

TfL’s letter states that it believed that “the point is determinative and that Uber’s current operating model is accordingly unlawful”.

It says that, even if it is wrong about this, the “materially false and misleading” information it and the court had been given by Uber was one of three factors that made the company “not fit and proper” to hold an operator’s licence.

The other factors were that Uber had failed to protect customers from harm because of faulty medical, criminal record and crime reporting checks, and that it had not been “open and transparent” about its use of Greyball, software that TfL has said could be used to defeat regulators.

Uber — which maintains it has not used Greyball in London — says the software denies ride requests to users it regards as “fraudulent”.

The letter describes Jo Bertram, Uber UK’s then general manager, as “unsatisfactory and unhelpful” about her role in Greyball. For four months, the letter says, Bertram avoided answering TfL’s direct questions about whether she had used it.

Only on August 24 this year did Uber admit that she “was party to correspondence relating to the use of Greyball technology to evade enforcement in other jurisdictions for which she had personal responsibility”. A week later she resigned.

Uber said: “Uber London accepts bookings as a licensed private hire operator and always has. We continue having constructive discussions with TfL in order to address the issues they raised in the letter.”

TfL did not respond to requests for comment.

        *************************

Something else we have to look at, and that’s the way TfL dealt with the damning evidence, supplied to them by a team from the LCDC two years ago. 

Only now, have they decided to use this evidence against Uber’s operation, with a refusal to relicense the company.

The question needs to be asked, why are they dragging  their feet?

Why did they ignored evidence sent to them?

Why they waited till most of the top managers at TfL left, retired or been replaced?

TfL are allowing Uber to continue to operate while they appeal. 

As we now have solid evidence that Uber’s MO is illegal, the whole operation should be shut down. And TfL -contra to popular belief- have the power to do this. 

Another issue we mustn’t drop;

•  Why did TfLTPH play down the 13,000 fake criminal record checks?

• Who was responsible for putting this on the back burner for 7 months until it was discovered and published in the media? 

Malfeasance and corruption mustn’t be allowed to be swept under the carpet. All those responsible, must be bought to book. Many drivers are asking if our orgs and unions could combine and bring about a case for compensation for loss of earnings over the last five years. 

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT: 

Below is a letter to Taxi Leaks editor Jim Thomas from a prominent Taxi Driver in Manchester. 

Dear Jim

I think we have had a fantastic year really, after 5 years or more we have exposed much graft and corruption around all licensing authorities.

You decision to allow Lee Ward (Alpha) to guest post on Taxileaks was inspired, many other orgs would have shunned a Private Hire driver from posting.

Lee's performance in front of York Council was inspirational and won the day when getting York to refuse Uberk in their area.

As we write Parliamentary draftsmen are preparing the Licensing of Taxi safety Bill. It should be ready in the written form on or around 2 Feb (5 weeks away)

We will then have to Lobby MP's, not Cllrs, in all wards where we have driver's living. if we get this right, we will eventually win the day.

I wish you and yours a Lovely Xmas and new year, I also look forward to working with you again in the coming year.

Your Pal

Les. 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2BJWANC
via IFTTT

JBC Co Ltd Partner iZettle, With Awareness Campaign Using The IconicLondon Taxi

JCB International Co, the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd, has partnered with iZettle, the award-winning Swedish fintech company, with an awareness campaign using the iconic London Black taxis.

The campaign aims to reinforce the message that JCB and iZettle merchants across Europe accept JCB Cards. 

This is good news for JCB's 106m Cardmembers that may visit London and want to hail London taxis equipped with iZettle payment devices or make a purchase at an iZettle merchant. 

iZettle revolutionised mobile payments in 2011 and has rapidly moved beyond payments to become a small business commerce platform, offering tools to take payments, register and track sales and to get funding. 

For JCB, the deal forms part of its strategy to increase its acceptance footprint across the SEPA region by expanding its merchant acceptance network to support its growing global Cardmember base. 

The London taxi partnership will see ten London black cabs co-branded with JCB and iZettle acceptance awareness for the next six months, ending in May 2018. All London Taxis with iZettle payment devices will accept JCB Cards

Taxi Leaks Extra Bit : 

There’s been a lot of controversy over the siting in the rear compartment of the credit card reader.

Many drivers are worried that the safety can be compromised by dodgy Passengers asking the driver to get in the back to sort a problem out with the machine.

Also female drivers are worried about their safety regarding the same aspect.

But I knew problem has arisen.

A taxi breakers in Liverpool who salvage cabs from online customers, have just bought a Euro 6 which has burned out.

It’s alleged that the fire started from the area of the fixed credit card machine.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2zhKMfy
via IFTTT

What A Fantastic Christmas Present....Sean Stockings Licence Reinstated By TfL.

We have been informed today by the LCDC legal team that even though, Leon 'the Liar' Daniels raised further objections, TfL have seen fit to reinstated Sean Stockings' license. 

Taxi Leaks would like to thank Keima Payton and the LCDC who made this happen.

Sean Stockings, said today he wishes to thank all you guys & girls who have supported him over the last 7 months. 

Merry Christmas Sean and a Very Happy New Year. 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2DveG32
via IFTTT

Let's Not Forget Who Made This Happen, Cab Drivers Made ThisHappen...by Lenny Etheridge.

Before we start tripping over ourselves to congratulate #TfL on their twenty one page refusal notice to Uber....let's not forget who licensed Uber in the first place.

It'd be like thanking the man who pushed you in, for saving you from drowning. 

They're all  now trying to distance themselves.

Below is the link to the 21 pages based upon educational graphs by @InThePinkTaxi and fact finding research from @Sammyscarf and @TootlestheTaxi of the @The_LCDC, given to #TfL two years ago.

Click here for TfL submission

Taxi drivers made this happen. 

 TfL had no choice but to refuse Uber, since the #Bellany emails were made public.

Is it merely coincidence that on the very day Leon Daniels scurried away into forced retirement in Wapping, our days in London began to get longer, the future looked brighter, and a new year full of hope beckoned?

Now that Uber’s Modus Operandi has been investigated impartially and independently and shown to be working outside the regulations, will @HeathrowAirport take steps to close the AVA Car Park to Uber Drivers without a pre-booked job?

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2DriLVS
via IFTTT

Gett chief expects ‘more than $1 billion’ in revenue by next year

Shahar Waiser, Gett's CEO, hopes the company will be first to launch on-demand self-driving cars

Shahar Waiser, Gett’s chief executive and founder, said the rideshare Israeli start-up expects revenue to “be more than $1 billion” by next year and hopes to “have the privilege to be the first to launch” self-driving cars-on-demand.

“There is a consensus that by 2020 there will be the first autonomous cars on the roads in most of the cities, and now with the help of Volkswagen we have a privilege to be the first to launch those cars on demand, including in Israel and other places,” Waiser told an audience during a presentation at the Israel Mobile Summit 2016 in Tel Aviv.

In May, German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) made a $300 million investment in Israel’s Gett, which has a presence in more than 60 countries worldwide including London, Moscow and New York. More than half of London’s black cabs run on Gett today.

The deal with VW is a strategic partnership between the two companies that will allow them to share data and explore collaboration for future projects. Volkswagen will offer Gett’s services to business customers, while Gett drivers will be able to buy discounted VW cars to use as taxis, the two companies said at the time. Volkswagen said the deal was part of a move toward modernizing the company’s technological and business platforms.

VW made the investment in Gett because it recognized “the new opportunity” of on-demand rides that has grown alongside traditional car ownership, 40-year old Weiser, dressed in a black T-shirt and chinos, told The Times of Israel in an interview at the sidelines of the conference. And as “the space of on-demand is rapidly growing and as VW leads the car production, they want to be significant in leading in the on-demand space as well.”

What Gett brings to the relationship is its “most important asset,” Weiser said: the technology, the big data, the artificial intelligence, the heat maps and the predictive algorithms that Gett uses in directing and locating its taxis in an efficient way.

“It is the core – the same exact technology we use today to run our cars effectively across different cities, exactly the same technology will be needed for self-driving cars,” Weiser told the audience. “It is not just enough to produce the car but you also need a layer, an operational layer that will be running that asset in the most effective way and this is what we know to do.”

Gett will not be producing the self-driving cars, but once they are developed and are available, then Gett’s technology is “exactly the type of technologies that are needed to position those vehicles effectively. And this is where we again can contribute good value to each other,” he said in the interview.

There are almost 20 million rides-on-demand a day globally, Weiser said, compared with none just five years ago. There is a consensus between automakers that autonomous cars will be available by 2020 and there is a McKinsey & Co. study that says that by 2030 half of all new cars will be autonomous, he said.

Gett, formerly GetTaxi, was developed by Israelis Waiser and Roi More – without inspiration of US competitor Uber. The Tel Aviv and San Francisco teams both hit upon the idea independently during 2009. Uber got to market first, premiering in June 2010, while GetTaxi was released in Tel Aviv, its first market, in mid-2010. Uber made an estimated almost $2 million in revenue last year, Fortune said on April 18.

Weiser did not rule out additional funding rounds or an IPO for Gett. “Going forward we might raise more capital,” he said in the interview. “As any company that shows financially good results in absolute terms and in growth terms and profitability, it is reasonable to expect that such a company might attract additional capital” from companies that will want to be part of the new market being created.

As long as the company demonstrates growth, revenue and profitability, it has a variety of funding choices, he said. “One of them might be IPO, one of them might be staying private one of them might be any other option,” Waiser said. “Right now we are focusing to demonstrate growth, but mindful and disciplined growth, that is what Gett is famous for.”

Source : timesofisrael.com

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2DjntF5
via IFTTT

Lebanon Urges People Not To Use 'Unsafe' Uber After British DiplomatMurder

Breaking News : Leon Daniels Replaced By Gareth Powell

TfL has announced Gareth Powell as the new Managing Director, Surface Transport, replacing Leon Daniels with immediate effect. 

Source @MartinHoscik

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2Df0Fqf
via IFTTT

The Uber London Model is not Lawful... By Gerald Gouriet QC

TfL has finally released the full reasons for its refusal to renew Uber’s London licence. 

In a letter to Uber dated 22 September, which the regulator had not made public until yesterday (19 December), TfL sets out in detail how Uber had misled it, and also misled the High Court, as to the order in which bookings are accepted through the Uber APP.  TfL say that Uber’s answers to questions were “materially false and misleading”.

In the same letter, TfL express the view that the current Uber model does not comply with the 1998 Act and is unlawful.

In September 2017 TfL announced that it had not renewed Uber London’s licence: but the full reasons were not made public. When the LTDA asked to see those reasons TfL replied that the LTDA “was not entitled to them”.

The LTDA made an application to participate in Uber’s appeal to the magistrates’ court: its application was strenuously opposed by Uber. At a hearing on 19 December the Senior District Judge allowed the LTDA’s application and gave it permission to participate in Uber’s appeal. 

TfL’s 22 September letter was released on the afternoon before that hearing, as a direct result of the LTDA’s written submissions to the Court.

  Gerald Gouriet QC

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2kqj6QV
via IFTTT

EU rules that Uber is a transport service, not a digital company

AD UNUM OMNES .... IN THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY By Lenny Etheridge

The day the few proactive members of this trade brought down Uber, the DDD and their likeminded friends went out and celebrated in the Prince of Wales.

But UberExit has gone sour. The exact same way Brexit has.

The victors have been royally screwed.

The refusal by TfL (Transport for London) to deny Uber a license, is no more than a ruse.

A ruse to cover up the fact that Uber conspired with TfL to destroy their competition; the Taxi and Private Hire industry.

Sadiq Khan is a holographic metaphor of a London Mayor.

If he isn't taking selfies with every living person on the planet (bar Trump of course), he's promising affordable housing to millionaires.

Khan is very good at shutting down police stations, but has no appetite for taking on huge companies – who continue to walk all over him.

It is now considered that Khan is a worse mayor than the infamous Boris Johnson.

At least Boris spoke out against Uber. That is until he was bought-out and reined-in by Uber flunkies; Cameron, Osborne and Javid.

The only time you will hear Khan utter the 'U' word, is in reply to Caroline Pidgeon or David Kurten during Mayor's Questions.

Sadiq Khan and TfL stand by and allow Uber to fleece Londoners and visitors to London every single day.

Hundreds of thousands of Uber passengers are being ripped off via surge pricing.

Uber drivers are scamming thousands of Uber customers daily, by purposefully cancelling a job and collecting the five pound 'scrub' fee.

Why do Khan and TfL allow this to continue?

Because we don't matter, and they don't care.

The Conservative Party has nailed its colours to Uber's mast.

Not only has most Tory MP's lobbied in favour of Uber. The Party itself campaigned for this criminally complicit company to be relicensed.

The Tories even went on to compound their obvious admission of wholesale bribery, by having leaflets printed up to plead Uber's defence.

Was it Theresa or Dara who paid for those flyers?

Wes Streeting MP has campaigned on behalf of all Taxi and Private Hire drivers, who have been unwitting victims of a TfL and Uber attempted takeover.

Tom Watson MP has shown great concern and interest in Uber's illegal coup d'etat.

Unfortunately our unions have been slow in coming to our rescue.

Is it because Taxi and PH branches are too small?

Or is it because London has a Labour Mayor, and the unions cannot find a compromise between taking down TfL and embarrassing our ineffectual mayor?

Sadiq Khan’s apathy is ultimately losing votes by the ton for Labour in London.

Uber's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, apologised to TfL’s Mike Brown, and vicariously to Khan, for all the rapes and sexual assaults, for all the thievery, for the refusal to help police with a sexual assault inquiry culminating in the Uber driver reoffending, for the hacking of customer accounts, for the attempted deformation of a rape victim's character, for all of Uber's institutionalised sexual discrimination and lechery, for Greyball, for all of Uber's bribery and corruption, internet theft and industrial espionage, for hacking their own drivers' phones, for their fake insurance certificates, for the fraudulent DBS background checks, for the bogus medical tests, he was even kind enough to apologised for Uber terrorists and murderers.

Brown and Khan feel that the hands on confession by such an important and influential man, is enough for them to reconsider Uber's Operator's License application.

It is a shame that our very own Sean Stockings wasn't as important or as influential as Uber's 'born again' CEO. If he was, he might have been allowed to work whilst his appeal was being considered.

Uber are allowed to continue unlicensed for as many years as it takes for them to 'Masada' the Taxi trade.

Mind you, Uber didn't film TfL staff - including Leon Daniels and Mike Brown, eating in a public place, whilst doorstepping them on issues such as the Croydon tram crash - as Sean Stockings did.

I recently read the victims and their families are still awaiting compensation, over a year on.

No I didn't forget Uber's Hackgate.

And neither did Dara. He decided to keep that information from Brown and Khan. Much the same way he kept it from the FBI and the fifty seven million Uber customers and drivers who were victims of this crime.

So much for contrition, hey?

The real enemy of Licensed London Taxi drivers and legitimate Private Hire drivers, is TfL.

TfL are guilty of misfeasance in public office, and corruption.

TfL licensed Uber in 2012, knowing that the app transgressed all TPH regulation.

In laymen's terms, the app facilitated the act of putting the potential passenger in direct contact with the prospective driver, bypassing the Operator.

No Uber PH driver possesses an Operator's License.

Therefore TfL and Uber not only facilitated a crime, but they profited from it too.

The Licensed London Taxi trade has a strong case against TfL for misfeasance and grave malfeasance.

Uber have admitted on oath and in public that their app puts the passenger in direct contact with the driver.

TfL have lied to the GLA; using made up terms to try and qualify their illegal decision to license Uber.

It is not about instant hail or nano pre-bookings - time is irrelevant.

The order in which the process is administered, is the keyfactor - Uber back-fills, after the event.

TfL cannot plead ignorance, ignorance is not a defence.

TfL are our government appointed regulator.

TfL not only colluded in this illegality. They actively changed regulations to fit Uber's work model.

TfL and Uber really are partners in every sense.

Our unions seem reticent about their lack of will to do anything proactive against TfL.

And our Orgs do not have the muscle.

We can propose a Judicial Review and cite ourselves an "interested party". But as our flaccid mayor pointed out, Uber could drag this appeal out for another four years, and still carry on regardless.

Most proactive individuals in this fine trade see our path as an obvious one.

We need to take out a class action.

It is not difficult to prove TfL's collusion. Uber have done most of our work for us.

Compensation can be across the board.

TfL are guilty. The trade should seek recompense.

Drivers have suffered a huge drop in available work, due to TfL's illegal policy. Therefore drivers have suffered a loss of income, suffered physical and mental torture, by having to work slavish and ungodly hours to make ends meet.

Drivers have suffered emotionally from stress caused by TfL's inaction to regulate correctly and their conspiracy to decimate our trade.

The Taxi trade must claim for damages and remuneration.

TfLTPH's misfeasance, and malfeasance by some individuals at TfL, has cost drivers money, their mental health, their marriages, their homes, and even their lives.

It doesn't matter which union a driver belongs to or what organisation they're affiliated to...

TfL either pays us out or pays us off.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2kNeQdv
via IFTTT