Shocking Enforcement Statistics...Would Operation Neon Officers Be Better Employed As Taxi Marshals...by Jm Thomas

According to their own website, TfL directly fund 68 dedicated Cab Enforcement officers.

Below is an example of official spin directed, at the media from TfL, to justify their appalling record on compliance and enforcement. Last year saw a staggeringly low number of convictions. After almost doubling the Cab Enforcement Unit, convictions are still embarrassingly low. 

Other the last 3 years we have seen an escalation of touting in central London on a scale never witnessed before and yet a professional Metropolitan Police unit returns a hit rate of convictions at less than 2 a week! And this is double the rate of convictions for the same period in the previous year! 

It's interesting to note, that these apparent 46 convictions do not appertain to 46 separate drivers. It would appear —by examples given to the media— minicab drivers have been charged and convicted of multiple offences, which could mean the figures given relate to just 16 individual arrests.  

Sayed Mustafa, of Acton was found guilty of three offences and at the City of London Magistrates' Court on September 2 was fined £1,200 and disqualified from driving for six months.

Kandasamy Rajendran of Harrow, was found guilty of three offences at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 18 and was fined £375 with six points added to his driving licence. 

2 drivers 6 convictions....it's called spin!

Personally I think TfL and the Met should be hanging their heads in shame.

TfL Press Release:

A record number of rogue cabbies (do they mean minicabs) have been successfully prosecuted by Transport for London (TfL) this year. 

In the last six months, 46 cab drivers (they are not cab drivers, they are minicab or Private Hire drivers) working across the capital have been convicted following action by TfL of various offences, including driving without insurance.

The rise in convictions - from 38 during the whole of 2014 - follows a crackdown by TfL, which doubled the size of its compliance team to 82 officers earlier this year.

Steve Burton, TfL's director of enforcement and on-street operations, said the increase was testament to its work to improve passenger safety and stop illegal cabbies (again, they are illegal minicab or private hire drivers not cabbies) undermining law-abiding drivers.

"We are using a broad range of tactics to deter, disrupt and apprehend drivers who are touting or illegally plying for hire and we will push for the toughest penalties available for anyone caught by our teams," he added. 

In addition to the prosecutions by TfL during the last six months, the Met's cab enforcement unit arrested 267 drivers for touting and unlawful plying for hire offences over the same period. So far, 53 of them have been convicted and 80 cases are still pending

Extra Comment:

So, that taking into account that multiple convictions are counted from each case, very few of the arrested touts actually make it all the way to a prosecution and conviction. At present the multitude of touts seen around the capital have more chance of winning the lottery than being convicted of touting.

It's time we asked the question "Is our compliance budget being spent wisely?"

The compliance teams (made up mainly from bus inspectors on overtime) have no actual power and are not seen as a deterrent by touts. Would this manpower be better utilised as marshals controlling timed ranking facilities outside night venues?

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Camden Reply To Email, Regarding Tavistock Place Trial.

Todays reply from Camden, regarding the current traffic system being trialed in Byng Place, Torrington Place and Torrington Place.

Dear Sir,

thank you for your email. 

The reasons for the trial are set out below.

The road forms part of an important east / west cycle link connecting Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, King’s Cross and Angel. The most recent surveys in 2015 recorded 1,009 cyclists during the morning peak hour and 880 in the afternoon peak hour.  These figures demonstrate that the route is the busiest street for cycling in Camden and one of the busiest in London. The route now suffers from a number of issues:

• The number of cyclists has grown to a point where the existing cycle track does not provide sufficient space and also makes it difficult to safely overtake. 

• It is estimated that 50,000-60,000 students are based at the University of London Bloomsbury colleges, and they generate a large number of walking and cycling journeys. The area is extremely busy with pedestrians (over 1,800 pedestrians were counted on Torrington Place during the morning peak hour, rising to over 2,580 between 1pm and 2pm).

• The current road layout with narrow pavements, a two-way protected cycle track (on one side of the street) and a traffic lane in each direction does not provide a safe and attractive environment for the large number of pedestrians.

• The route suffers from a poor casualty record, particularly due to collisions between motor vehicles and both cyclists and pedestrians.

• Residents have also raised concerns that crossing the cycle track and then two traffic lanes can be difficult and confusing.

• A number of local groups, residents and institutions have asked the Council to look at ways of reducing the impact of through traffic in the area. As part of the approval for the West End project, the Council agreed to bring forward proposals for a trial to reduce the impact of through traffic on local residents in Torrington Place between Gower Street and Tottenham Court Road.

Because of the width of the road it is not possible to provide more space for walking and cycling without significantly reducing the space available for motor traffic. The experimental trial gives the opportunity to test a potential solution to these issues.

 The changes introduced with the trial will provide a safer and more attractive cycling route, which will improve conditions for existing cyclists, while also encouraging new cyclists. Removing westbound traffic will also make the corridor a more pleasant environment for pedestrians, with improved air quality and streets that are easier to cross.

The existing taxi rank will be retained outside the Tavistock Hotel.  Where a ramp is required to pick-up / drop-off disabled passengers, taxis will need to stop on a side street  for a left hand side kerb.

EDITORIAL COMMENT:

So there we have it. There's not enough room for cyclists racing each other to overtake!

And wheelchair users can be dropped off in other streets and make their way round, under their own steam. How caring of Camden Council!

While this is the scene in Tavistock street as portrait by Camden today 

This is the utter chaos being caused in Judd Street and other surrounding areas. 

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Birmingham firm completes London Taxi Group acquisition.

The company, which sealed a deal to buy Mini specialist Min-Its only two weeks ago, will now be able to move into a new market supplying parts around the globe for London taxis.

Leacy now has access to a 6,000-strong parts range for multiple marques and models of the cabs and – for the first time – will be making these products available online.

As part of the acquisition, Leacy also purchased a fleet of 21 taxis that are ready to be restored, the earliest dating back to a 1950s Marque 7 Beardmore model.

David Keene, Leacy CEO, said: “We are delighted with the purchase. It represents a strategic move into a growing international sector and will diversify our current offering.

“London Taxi Group is a well-known brand that has a loyal customer base, who are passionate about their vehicles.

“One of our key aims is to ensure the continuity of these iconic vehicles for the next generation of owners by enhancing the customer experience even further.”

He added: “We have ambitious plans to hit £10m by 2018 and the acquisition of strong businesses like London Taxi Group will complement our organic growth.

“20 new jobs will be created at our dedicated Aston Lane warehouse as part of this expansion and we are already in the process of recruiting the right people

“London Taxi Group is a well-known brand that has a loyal customer base, who are passionate about their vehicles.

“One of our key aims is to ensure the continuity of these iconic vehicles for the next generation of owners by enhancing the customer experience even further.”

He added: “We have ambitious plans to hit £10m by 2018 and the acquisition of strong businesses like London Taxi Group will complement our organic growth.

“20 new jobs will be created at our dedicated Aston Lane warehouse as part of this expansion and we are already in the process of recruiting the right people

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Lib Dem Councillors To Support Minicab App's Circumvention Of Current Legislation...by Jim Thomas

                 Caroline Pidgeon and Daniel Carr

TfL have recently proposed new regulations to take into account new advances in technology. The proposals have been welcomed by both the licensed Taxi trade and the majority of PH drivers and operators across the capital. 

But to everyone's surprise, the Lib Dem's mayoral candidate, in line with her party policy has come out against these new regulations. 

It appears that the Lib Dem's are if favour of a certain smart phone app being allowed to breach PHV act legislation, by showing cars in real time that are available for immediate hire (illegally plying for hire).

They are also against the introduction of a 5 minute  period before customer request and passenger pick up. Their reason is that people will be put at risk waiting in the street for the in visaged extra 90 seconds (based on the average arrival time of 3.5 mins).

If this app complied with current PH regulations and had a booking facility, passengers would not have to wait in the street at all. But again, the Lib Dem's feel this company should be given preferential treatment, in regards to the regulations every other PH have to abide by.

At a regional conference on Saturday, London Lib Dems debated private hire regulations, and how they should get it right.

There are three proposals Liberal Democrats should be most concerned with. The first, a mandatory waiting period between requesting a private hire vehicle and pick-up, is hard to square with any consumer interest rationale. TfL is proposing a mandatory 5 minute wait, about 1.5 minutes morethan the average time it takes for an Uber driver to arrive. Apparently this would reduce the risk of a customer getting into the wrong vehicle, a problem TfL provides no evidence to suggest actually exists. Even if it does, it appears not to have been weighed against the risk of extending the time in which people may have to wait alone on a street corner late at night. 

Taken together with another proposal to ban the in-app visualisation of hire vehicles, the impact on ride-sharing services will be severe. As Uber’s popularity among customers revolves around the app’s visualisation function, low fares and short wait-times, killing two of these off smells suspiciously like an attempt to cripple a black cab rival.

The most concerning is the proposal to lock drivers into working for just one licensed operator at a time. It seems innocuous enough, but looking forward this risks significantly decreasing the take-home income of drivers who work for ride-sharing platforms. Why? If you use Lyft or Uber in the US you will notice most drivers have a dashboard of smartphones on the go. This enables them to play-off operators like Uber, Lyft and SideCar, accepting rides from whoever is offering the highest rate.

Locking drivers into working for one operator will also risk entrenching the position of today’s largest operators. New entrants, who usually begin with a small customer base, will find it hard to entice drivers to jump platforms if rides are likely to be less frequent. Back in Australia, fears Uber might unilaterally lock drivers to their platform prompted Uber Vice-President David Plouffe to insist his company would not go down this road. That TfL is considering a proposal that risks decreasing driver pay and cementing Uber’s dominance of the London ride-sharing market is troubling.

So what principles should inform the Liberal Democrat stance on the private hire market? As the motion suggests, we should back robust regulation on customer safety, payment of due taxes and the provision of disability compatible services. However, we also need to recognise that regulations which inhibit competition do a disservice to both customers and drivers. Other cities are already seeing a more vibrant ecosystem of operators emerge by following these principles.

New Lib Dem member Dan Carr proposed a motion that they should oppose controversial changes. 

Mr Carr argued that Merton has few black cab ranks and the growth of services like Uber will increase choice.

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More Taxi Ranks The Solution ? ... By Jim Thomas

Over the last two weekends, it's been noticeable that the TfL compliance team involved with "Operation Neon" has expanded. 

Unfortunately there is very little they can do.

• If a PHV is parked on a Taxi rank they ask them to move. 

• If a private car is parked on a cab rank they can call on Westminster City Marshals to issue a PCN. 

But, that's about it!!!

In this highly visible exercise, compliance officers can be seen slowly sauntering around Mayfair with absolutely no meaningful plan of operation.

The team with actual power of arrest are the Mets Cab Enforcement Unit (CEU), but they are too few in number and starved of an adequate budget. 

With the expansion of the Uber fleet, has come a massive problem of touting. Uber drivers using fog lights (in it's self a contravention under the Highway Code, rule 114) to signify immediate availability, are illegally plying for hire. 

These vehicles don't have to openly solicit as their customers have been carefully schooled in the procedure. They see a Prius with its fog light on, they wave their phone at the driver, who winds down the window. Passenger gives driver a destination and is allowed to enter the vehicle....no actual touting takes place. To any observer, it looks like a legitimate hiring.

But every journey undertaken in this manner is an offence. The driver has committed an act of illegal plying for hire and the journey is now uninsured. 

Because of the scale of what's going on and the way these jobs are procured, the CEU have a massive job on their hands trying to obtain enough evidence to arrest/convict touts, or even report the drivers for illegal plying for hire. The drivers involved have more chance of winning the lottery than getting their collar felt for touting. 

Possible Partial Solution?

The best way we can fight back is by getting too the work before the touts. We need to have ranks outside every venue, every popular night spot. We now have to do exactly what the touts have been doing to us for decades and that's to get to the work first, by putting Taxis outside venue exits.

                             IT WORKS!

It's no good any more, aimlessly driving round in circles. Your rightful work is being intercepted by these cars and the public are convinced this is totally legal. 

Mayfair Mob Modus Operandi 

The new marshalled rank at forge took over 150 jobs on Friday night alone. Jobs that in the past were shepherded into the waiting minicabs of Diamond Chauffeurs. 

Since the Mayfair Mob started targeting the area, touting in Berkeley Street, Bruton Street and Dover Street has been dramatically cut.

But there is still touting outside the Palm Beach. We need a rank there, despite the fact the casino say they don't want one. They just want the space outside to park customers cars. This forces Taxis to put themselves on offer by forming an unauthorised rank, but they do and it's surprising how quickly it can move.

For many years, we had a rank in the middle of the road, popular with night drivers, which moved extremely well. We need a rank for at least 4 taxis, bang outside, as we could do at all london casinos. The more rank spaces we can get, the less space there is left for touts to hang up.

Our biggest hurdle presently comes from local councils such as Westminster and Camden. 

Why do these councils put up such a fight against us protecting the public from unlicensed touts. Surely the idea of having a licensed Taxi service with adequate ranking facilities makes perfect sense.

I picked up an elderly couple last night from Hakkasan and the lady said to me:

 "When you come out of a restaurant and it's cold, wet and your tired, there's nothing more welcoming than the sight of an orange for hire light".

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'Reports of the demise of the London Taxi trade have been greatly exaggerated'....by I'm Spartacus.

"Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated"

So said the famous author Mark Twain when his obituary appeared in a newspaper, so it is with us, despite a well expensed and of course non UK tax paying PR campaign placing stories in the press and laughable surveys about how great they are.

We actually find out there's some "rotten in the state of Denmark" ( or is it the Holland or the Cayman Islands as no one is quite sure?) as the sweated labour (aka the drivers) kick up a fuss about the terms and conditions of their shackles, it sure seems likely that something is disrupting the disrupters!

             Uber drivers protesting at Aldgate on Friday 

So has our battle been won?

Not yet boys and girls, not anywhere near.

There's  a lot of effort needed to ensure the regulators and the legal framework acts as it should and put clear distinctions between us plying for hire and they who must be pre booked.

The other PH outfits are screaming blue murder but they need to reflect on their previous lobbying for the introduction of a 'light touch' licensing regime that's come back to bite them, we as a trade should reflect on how some of our trade organisations also allowed it to come to pass.

Still all that's a history and we need to look forward, campaign for legal certainty, provision of ranks & CCTV outside every 'honey pot' etc. etc.

Lastly a message to the interlopers:

We have been the world champion cab trade for over 350 years undefeated, if you want to knock us out, your going to need more than shocking drivers, political lobbying, shafting with surge pricing, non existent customer service or any clue of the geography of this big old town before you can even come close with a punch.

As another Travis said 

"you looking at me?" 

Travis, you bet we are!

I'm Spartacus

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Vive la France, vive les chauffeurs de taxi de Paris...by Jim Thomas.

Friday the 13th, will in future, forever be associated with one of the worst atrocities in inflicted on a civilian population by are small group of religious fanatics. 

As bombs exploded and to the sound of automatic weapons, the city went into lock down as all public transportation was suspended. 

People were scared, walking around, wondering how they could get back home to their families, tourists lost, wanting to go back to their hotels.

But then an extraordinary event materialised.

The Parisian Taxi drivers stepped up to the mark, turned off their meters and began a night of complimentary journeys to clear the streets.

The people of Paris were ferried to safety last night by the City's Licensed Taxi Fleet. Drivers switched off their meters and filled their Taxis with people desperate to get away from the carnage. 

With no fear for their own safety, the Paris Taxi drivers drove around the streets beckoning to the confused and distressed, taking them home to their loved ones. Later into the night, taking the walking wounded away from the city's hospitals. 

Just over 101 years ago, 6th September 1914, the French were back on their heels. Gen. Joseph Joffre organized a counterattack, and by Sept. 6 his troops were fighting the Germans along the Marne River. With the outcome and possibly the fate of France in the balance, General Joffre called for reinforcements from Paris.

But the railways were clogged and no trucks were available, so the military commander of Paris, Gen. Joseph Gallieni, hailed the city’s taxi drivers. On the evening of Sept. 6, hundreds of cabs assembled at Les Invalides, the military hospital, and by morning of the 7th, a convoy of impossibly top-heavy Renault AG1s with tiny 1.2liter 2cylinder engines was puttering their way towards the front.

The AG1 was the Checker cab of its day. Simple and sturdy, it became the standard Paris taxi in 1905. By 1907, there were 1,500 clattering over the cobblestones.

By the end of Sept. 7, some 600 taxis, each making several runs, had delivered 6,000 troops. 

It is not known whether the passengers tipped the cabbies, but they tipped the battle over to the French and became the saviours of Paris. 

The Renault AG1 was later to be christened "Miracle of the Marne.”

LAST NIGHT IT WAS THE TAXI DRIVERS, WHO WERE CHRISTENED "THE MIRACLE OF PARIS".

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