THE "MAYFAIR MOB" TRIUMPH AGAIN, WORKING FOR THE TAXI TRADE.

 New Taxi Rank Markings In Wardour Street.

Last night, rank markings were repainted outside the old Floridita bar/restaurant, in preparation for its reopening as "100 Wardour Street".

The rank markings have been made clear enough, for us to easily move off any tout chancers. 

In addition, local wardens have agreed to ticket any vehicle other than a Taxi, seen parked or waiting at this site. 

Great team work again on behalf of the trade, by members of the Mayfair Mob, who have been working hard behind the scenes with both TfL and the council to complete this project ahead of schedule.

Please do not use this rank as free parking as it will be a working rank and is expected to be as busy as Novikov's Berkeley Street. 

If you see touts, parked up on our ranks, move them on and give it ten minutes. If there's touts there, then there's work there. 

Other rank triumphs for the Mayfair Mob, such as Hakkasan and Forge, have proved to be great assets in our fight to take the work back of the touts.

Other new ranks are currently under negotiation, but we need you to use them. 

Now the ball is in your court, use 'em or lose 'em.

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Canadian PM Announces Bill To Ban Uber.

Newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking a stand against Uber.

An internet poll, commissioned by Satov Consultants, a Toronto-based researcher and business advisory company mentioned Uber have covered 30% more rides than dispatched Taxi cabs in the major Canadian and American cities where both can be used. 

Since the introduction of Uber in Canada, new polls have revealed people are 56% less likely to use traditional taxis, but more important, they are 21% less likely to use public transport. This has put hundreds of thousands of licensed taxi drivers out of work across North America.

Prime Minister Trudeau made an announcement late Saturday evening in a press conference that a bill will be passed through the House of Commons that will be putting a halt to the service, promising to protect the integrity and commitment of traditional licensed Taxi drivers.

Mark Satov, founder of Satov Consultants, said “Uber is currently doing to the traditional taxi model what Expedia did to travel agents and what Amazon did to the vast majority of bookstores. 

Uber has grown its market share faster than anything we’ve ever seen and completely destabilised incumbents.”

Traditional Licensed Taxi cab drivers everywhere from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, even Edmonton and Niagara Falls have caused major disruption by protesting against Uber, and are now demanding Trudeau put and end to the service.

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Coming to an org near you, very soon.

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Letter To Editor : Uber Drivers Defecating In Residential Streets Around Heathrow.

I'm from Stanwell and before I start I just want to make it clear,  I have no interest in any war between Taxis and Private Hire.

This is purely about the parking, toileting, littering, abusive and physical intimidation, and so much more that is presently going on in Stanwell.

We the residents know why uber park here we aren't stupid. We also know they have no toilets or any other place to eat and such and we understand they are trying to make a living. However that does not make what they are doing right.

This weekend three news agency's ran story's of uber drivers acts in Stanwell, and yet just this morning I find myself chasing an uber driver from my garden.

Does nobody understand that bad press is a cancer for a company and yet the cancer is being caused by their own drivers.

Record these acts we are told, and what happens, drivers slap the phone out of your hand.

Do you think calling the police helps, the drivers just speed off.

We the residents can't just sit back and allow this to happen to us, my wife and child have had to experience so much and my dog has eaten God knows what. When you have 40 or more uber drivers in one street what does logic tell you is going to happen? 

Not a normal person in the world would say any of the above is right....

Last week an uber guy was defficating in my bush and another driver was going crazy at him. On Friday, I threw a guy from my garden and suddenly I was surrounded by 8 drivers, fortunately for me two passing drivers came and stood up for me with two more residents of course 5 against 8 is not as good as odds as 8 against 1, so the Uber guys backed down and drove off.

These are just a few examples for you, but what will happen if this keeps up? TFL will have to act as a lot of these things are crimes, people will not use uber because of what they read on the Internet and they will wonder what kind of driver they will get, and drivers will be more stressed because of the constant war with residents.

People need to wise up, as to what's going on!

If you need the toilets go to Tesco its 24hours as are three petrol stations within 2 miles not to mention the Mc Donald's restaurant.

Uber have told us they will adjust their app map so no pings will work in Stanwell. God knows why the police and Uber's licensing authority (TfL) are allowing this God only knows.

I think the vast majority of uber drivers just don't care about anything but themselves. The only thing that brings a smile to my face is when I see somebody sat there for three hours before they get a job, I wonder to myself how much money can be made like that if any.....

I reckon my house has dropped 10 grand in price because it's currently being used as a toilet.

Anyway as always, I'll look foreword to another several battles when I get home tonight and my wife can look forward to picking up shit and washing the garden so our child and dog can play in it.

Stanwell resident. 

Editorial Comment:

It must be terrible to have to go through this every day and night. We know the police and TfL are turning a blind eye to what's happening with these parked up Uber cars around Heathrow. 

However, this whole situation is being staged to gain as much bad publicity as possible. As you say, this was all over the media at the weekend and surprisingly, carried by outlets who normally won't have a bad word said about Uber.

It's being stage managed in a bid to embarrass the airport authority to provide Uber with similar facilities to the Taxi trade...feeder park, canteen and toilet amenities.

Going on the way TfL and the Met have shown no desire to go up against this multi-billion dollar company in the past, they are gambling that they will get away with this, coming up against little or no resistance.

To be honest, I don't think you will have to put up with this much longer, as I have recently received an email from a very good source, informing me that Uber are meeting with the airport authority regarding a bookings desk to be set up in Terminal3, along the line of the ones we saw last year at music festivals. A feeder park and facilities will soon follow.

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My Taxi Trade Experience.....by Frances Luczyc Wyhowska

It is eighteen months since I took my first tentative steps into the world of the black cab trade:  I made a call to Nick Ferrari on LBC in support of the 2014 taxi demo.  Little did I know what the next year and a half would hold in store for me.

 

During these intervening months I have tried to campaign for the trade in any way that I can, whether that is by writing articles in the trade press, hassling MPs and councils, turning up to demos or handing out leaflets on ranks.  I have observed personally the duplicity of politicians at all levels, the ineptitude of the so-called regulators at TfL and the crass behaviour of the media when it falls prey to the power of cash-rich lobbyists and vested interests.

 

But it is not all doom and gloom.  

I have been astonished by the determination and resilience of the London black cab drivers.  They, after all, are the people who are at the coalface and see day to day exactly what is going on.  They are the people who justifiably guard their Green Badge achievement jealously against the infidels’ attacks.  They are the people who take such care with the disabled, mothers with small children, the military and the elderly.

 

And this is not the half of it.  Drivers have realized through the outstanding example of the Mayfair Mob that they can empower themselves to fight back and keep their position as the world’s gold standard.  They can and do embrace new technology and have adapted it to their world rather than letting the trade be subservient to the technology itself.  New apps, Twitter, smartphones, credit cards:  all these devices can be made to boost, rather than impair, the trade.

 

The other impressive discovery I have made is the extraordinary humanity of the drivers.  I have never before come across so many selflessly generous individuals.  I am proud to have become a Vice-President of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, and have seen at first hand the level of giving that epitomizes this trade.  Add to that all the work done through the Poppy Cabs, the Albany Taxi Charity among many others, and the collections for a wide variety of causes that take place on a regular basis at Heathrow.  All this takes place at a time when the trade has suffered some serious financial knocks.  This goes beyond duty – it is something precious and exceptional.

 

I am also very proud to have made some wonderful friends in the last eighteen months.  

Drivers often ask me why I have become involved.  The answer is simple:  it is the drivers themselves that have won my unswerving loyalty.  I truly hope that every one of you will have a better 2016.

Frances Luczyc Wyhowska

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TPH Notice 02/16 - Lumiere London 2016.

                    Lumiere London 2016

The Lumiere London light festival will be taking place between Thursday 14 and Sunday 17 January 2016 this year. The event, which is expected to attract large crowds, will take place around the West End and King’s Cross which will mean some temporary road closures and temporary changes to access taxi ranks.

Road closures

To safely facilitate the event, a number of road closures will be in place to allow set-up and for the duration of the event as follows:

The following roads will be affected between Wednesday 6 January and Wednesday 20 January 2016: 

From Thursday 14 January until Sunday 17 January 2016, the following roads will be closed between 16:30 – 23:30: 

Further road closures during the event may be required and will be kept under review.

During the event access for buses and taxis will be permitted:

• Along Oxford Street from Orchard Street

• Past the southbound closure of Regent Street, at the junction with

• Mortimer Street – after this buses will need to make a right turn into Margaret Street towards Cavendish Square

However, this will be monitored throughout the event and changes maybe made to this access if any issues occur.

Taxi ranks

The following taxi ranks will be available during the event: 

Access to the above taxi ranks will be monitored throughout the event and changes maybe made if issues occur. 

Further Information

Further information about the event is available on TfL's website and on the event organiser’s website.

Helen Chapman 

General Manager

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RMT Announce Strike Dates Over Tube Cuts And Night Tube

RMT announce new strike dates over tube cuts and Night Tube

RMT confirms programme of action on London Underground over pay, Night Tube and job cuts.

Tube union RMT today confirmed that its executive has agreed to a wide ranging programme of industrial action across London Underground grades in two separate disputes over pay and night tube and the plans to bulldoze through massive cuts to station staffing numbers early next month.

On pay and night tube ALL grades called out follows

• Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 26th January 2016 and 18.29 hours 27th January 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 26th January 2016 and 20.59 hours 27th January 2017
• Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 15th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 16th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 15th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 16th February 2017
• Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 17th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 18th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 17th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 18th February 2017

Every job matters /Fit for the future station job cuts programme

• All station staff grades to take a week of action from the imposition of the rosters and new operating model on Sunday 7th February through to Saturday 13th February – the nature of that industrial action to be confirmed in due course.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“RMT members are furious at the bodged introduction of the Mayor’s Night Tube plans and the fact that they have been tied in with a pay deal that has left our members dangling on a string and out of pocket since April last year. RMT supports the principle of a properly worked out Night Tube service introduced through agreement with the unions but the abject failure to work through the detail has led to a comprehensive breakdown in the negotiations and has forced us to name a programme of further industrial action. This whole situation could have been avoided if London Underground, under direction from the Mayor, had dealt with the Night Tube professionally from the off instead of resorting to ultimatums and imposition.

“RMT has fought for more jobs on the Underground to cope with the added pressures of Night Tube but those jobs must be within the framework of the existing tube operations and must offer career opportunities to the Underground’s existing staff, including existing drivers who may choose to take up the offer of reducing their hours.

“On the station staffing crisis it is absolutely crazy to be bulldozing through and imposing new rosters linked to the axing of over 800 safety-critical jobs from early next month when there is a heightened security status and when services are dangerously overcrowded across the network.  The current plans also rip up previous agreements to protect staff caught in the middle of this reorganisation. The station staff are the eyes and ears of the Underground and hacking back their numbers represents a lethal gamble with safety that RMT will continue to fight against.

“RMT remains available for talks in both disputes.”

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Bus mounts pavement in Camden and crashes into supermarket

A shopkeeper told how his sister was “seconds” away from suffering serious injuries after a bus crashed into a supermarket in north London.

Police and paramedics were called to Pratt Street in Camden at 10.47am on Saturday after a Transport for London 274 bus mounted the pavement before hitting Ozdiller Food Centre.

Owner Huseyil Ozdil said his 32-year-old sister Feleknaz was helping a customer at the time of the crash and has been left traumatised.

He told the Standard his sister could have been seriously hurt after the bus hit the store near the counter where she usually sits.

But Ms Ozdil was helping a customer elsewhere in the store at the time.

He said: “Thankfully we are ok. There are no injuries but my sister has been badly shaken up by what has happened.

“The bus collided with the front of the shop where the counter is and that is normally where she sits.

“If she wasn’t helping a customer at the time then it’s possible she would have been seriously injured. Ten seconds could have been the difference.

“Everyone is trying to calm her down but she might need to go to hospital.”

“I wasn’t here at the time but this wasn’t just a bump. Luckily no pedestrians were outside on the pavement at the time.”

Police confirmed no injuries have been reported and road closures are in place following the collision.

Tony Akers, TfL’s Head of Bus Operations, said: “At 11am today (9 January), a route 274 single deck bus, operated by Metroline, was involved in a collision with a shop front along Pratt Street NW1.

“No one was seriously injured in the incident. Police attended the scene. There will be a full investigation into the incident.”

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