Test

Yes I use iZettle and I'm very happy with their service.

I have in the past posted about Cab:App and iZettle, thought it would be fair to advertise all options available as what suits one driver, doesn't always suit another.

However I have been told that although all these hand held machines are currently advertising they comply with current TfL requirements, the game changes in April when new requirements will be announced. 

I would therefore advise drivers to wait before purchasing machines until after we know exactly what the new requirements are and which machines comply fully after April 2016.

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Minicab driver targeted in horrific attack, ambushed in Plumstead by waiting gang members.

A minicab driver was sent on a back-and-forth journey through south London before being ambushed by a gang of thugs assembled by his passenger. 

Police said the driver and the passenger became embroiled in a series of arguments during the bizarre journey on December 12. 

Having been driven through south-east London for almost an hour, the customer asked to be returned to the original pick-up point of Invermore Place, close to the garages near Walmer Terrace.

On the way there the passenger made a call, and the driver heard him asked the person on the other end of the line to meet him at the garages.

As the cab arrived at its destination the driver noticed five men waiting in the area.

He was then dragged from his silver Skoda and brutally assaulted, leaving him with head and hand injuries. 

The attackers are then said to have made off with £30 they stole from his car. 

Graphic footage of the assault was later uploaded to social media after the incident was filmed on a mobile phone. 

Police today issued an appeal to trace a man in his 20s in connection with the incident.

The suspect is a slim black man, with a beard, who spoke with an African accent, police said.

Detective Constable Danny Banks, from Greenwich CID, said: "We want to urgently speak with anyone who saw this vicious robbery and assault, or who is aware of this incident and can assist with our ongoing investigation."

Anyone with information should contact police via 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Calls to Crimestoppers are free.

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Plan for London's first underground hotel rejected

Plans for London’s first underground hotel, 50ft below the surface with windowless rooms, have been rejected by councillors who warned it would be a “minus-five star” destination.

Criterion Capital applied to convert a below-ground NCP car park in Bloomsbury into a 166-room Tokyo-style “pod hotel”.

The LDN hotel would be artificially lit and have no restaurant and bar. It would be on the fourth and fifth floors beneath a commercial block in Great Russell Street, near Tottenham Court Road Tube station.

It was touted as budget accommodation for tourists and business travellers. But Camden council turned down the scheme last night.

Councillor Stephen Stark said: “With no windows in the rooms, it’s not a zero-star rating for the hotel but probably minus five stars.”

Colleague Adam Harrison said: “We need to ensure it’s safe staying five storeys underground in a part of London with some of the worst air quality in Europe.”

Criterion argued it would “have much benefit to the area and create 24 jobs”.

Source: Evening Standard.

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ITS NOT JUST AT HEATHROW : Uber drivers upsetting villagers near Stansted Airport.

Lack of parking restrictions in a village just one mile from Stansted airport where residential streets are being used as waiting areas for minicabs is causing anger and frustration for those who live there.

Residents in Takeley are finding their streets lined with minicabs, lately many of them the new Uber cars, waiting for callouts to the airport.

And with no residential parking restrictions in place save for one hour between 10am and 11am each day, they feel they have “no leg to stand on”.

Paige-Elizabeth Reed, whose mother lives in the village, said: “The parking is getting so bad, with Uber drivers sitting outside the residents’ houses for hours.”

But North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP), which has responsibility for parking in the Uttlesford District, says it is aware of the problem and is doing what it can to “enforce the area”.

A spokesperson said: “The problem extends to the clearway on Parsonage Road and Stansted Courtyard. Restrictions limiting parking to a specific one hour period are usually put in place to prevent commuters from all-day parking.

“Residents concerned about these licensed minicabs parking in the area should report their concerns to their Local Authority, in this case Uttlesford District Council which is the licensing authority.”

When asked about the licensing in the area, UDC replied: “UDC: “We do license taxis in the district, BUT, THESE UBER CARS ARE OFTEN PHVs LICENSED BY TfL IN LONDON, and they wait around near the airport for jobs to come in via the app.

“Obviously if there are no restrictions, they do have the right to park, even if it is inconsiderate of resident’s needs.”

NEPP says it considers the potential benefits and impacts of many parking or waiting restriction requests from across north Essex, and would gladly do so in this instance.

However, it does stipulate that applications for parking or waiting restrictions must be able to demonstrate clear support, including from the local ward councillor.

“Each request is reviewed and scored, looking at key factors including the level of local support, potential benefits and impacts,” said the spokesperson.

“Schemes are then referred to the Partnership’s Committee to prioritise and agree which will be progressed.”

Ms Reed says that restrictions must be looked at more closely and as a matter of priority, as currently residents feel powerless to take action.

“We have no leg to stand on. This needs to be sorted because it’s getting beyond a joke,” she said.

“1 mile from the airport and there’s people sat for hours just waiting and waiting. It has to and needs to stop. Make it permits only so residents can park easily with no hassle.”

Parish clerk Jane Heskey said the problem had arisen in the past few weeks.

She went on to say: “There is an average of 40 to 50 minicab cars waiting around the village. 

There is a real problem with litter and there are no toilet facilities in their cars so there is also the obvious issue with bottles of urine and plastic bags full of human feces being discarded.” 

She urged residents to record registration plates and take pictures of the cars so they could be checked out.

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PayPal Here : Approved For London’s Black Cab Payments.

If you jump into a Black Cab in London, you’re increasingly likely to be offered the option to pay with PayPal. You won’t even need a PayPal account.

PayPal, has been approved as a payment method by Transport for London (TfL). TfL’s has mandated that card payment facilities will be available in all London taxis, from October 2016.

PayPal Here is PayPal’s NFC enabled credit and debit card reader and to kick-start card payments in Black Cabs, PayPal is running taxi advertising with Ubiquitous, the UK’s leading taxi advertising company. The taxi advertising activity is primarily aimed at London taxi drivers and alerts them to the availability of PayPal Here as a contactless and card payment solution for their taxi.

As part of the advertising activity, inside the taxis passengers will see the tip-seat posters during their journey, which communicate the choice and availability of being able to pay for their taxi journey with a debit or credit card payment, including contactless payment, via PayPal. This includes of course Apple Pay for those with an iPhone that are signed up for the service.

Rob Harper, Director of Mobile Commerce, PayPal UK said, “There are more than 22,500 Black Cabs in London, offering a first class service throughout the capital. However, more people expect to be able to pay by card when they grab a cab, and are frustrated to find that many taxis don’t take cards. We hope to remedy this by working with Ubiquitous to make PayPal Here the choice of both London’s cabbies and passengers in 2016, giving people the option to pay via debit or credit card and by contactless card and mobile payments”.

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The London Taxi Drivers Association, seek judicial review of cycle superhighway

Mayor Boris Johnson's plan for cycle superhighway linking east and west London does not have planning permission, taxi drivers told a court.

The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association is seeking a judicial review of the £47m Westbourne Grove to Tower Hill route, via the Victoria Embankment.

The lanes will take up space causing disruption, the High Court heard.

Transport for London (TfL) said the plan was "works of improvement" and did not need planning permission.

The two-lane cycle way across the city is set to finish in the next few months.

Steve McNamara, Licensed Taxi Drivers Association's (LTDA) general secretary, has described the scheme as Mr Johnson's "last hurrah" before leaving office in May.

Project rethink

The LTDA is asking Mrs Justice Patterson to grant a judicial review of the decision, which could force a rethink of the project.

Mark Lowe QC, for the LTDA, said construction started last April without planning permission or an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as required by the EU EIA Directive.

He urged the judge to class the project as a "development" as defined under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which was not exempt from the need for permission, more so as it was could create "significant adverse environmental effects".

Howard Carter, general counsel at TfL, said "the east-west cycle superhighway will make London's roads safer for all, particularly cyclists".

Timothy Straker QC, appearing for the organisation, said the LTDA's objective was plainly "the cessation of further works, if not the dismantling of the work already carried out".

He said such a move would cause "considerable and unjust inconvenience" to the project. 

The hearing continues and is expected to take two days

Source : BBC news

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The Rise In London Private Hire Driver Numbers, Is Increasing Journey Times By 10%

An increase in the number of minicabs in London has lengthened journey times by an average of 10% over the past 12 months, according to research from Addison Lee.

According to the private hire car firm, the number of new entrants to the market has increased by 56% over the past two years. Much of the growth is down to the success of Uber, the ride-hailing app, which has gone from zero to more than 20,000 private hire cars in just three years.

There are nearly 95,000 licensed private hire drivers in London in total, and estimates suggest the figure will rise to 148,000 in the next two years.

Addison Lee’s chief executive, Andy Boland, says: “Our drivers and passengers have been telling us that London congestion has been getting worse and that journeys are taking longer. Now we have the evidence. At busy times, some parts of the capital are literally grinding to a halt.”

There has been growing pressure on politicians in recent months to impose restrictions on the number of minicabs in the capital, both because of congestion and pollution, but Andrew Jones, under minister at the DoT, said earlier this week that the government would not do so.

The growing number of minicabs in the capital persuaded the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to say last May: 

“We must be able to take action against the threat posed by the massive increase we are seeing in the number of private hire vehicles.”

For Boland, too, there are too many drivers. “Congestion and slower journey times are huge issues for London drivers,” he said.

Source : www.theguardian.com

  

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