AskPOB Survey, On Key Issues Around Working Practises At Heathrow.

AskPOB is conducting an independent survey to establish driver opinion on key issues around Heathrow. 

AskPOB is an impartial third party, working in collaboration with trade organisations and groups, such as the LTDA, LCDC and UCG,  to reach as many licensed taxi drivers as possible.

Would you be prepared to offer capped fares to Heathrow from all London postcodes ?

 Would you be prepared to offer capped fares to all London postcodes from Heathrow ?

If a capped fare from W1 to Heathrow Terminal 2 was to be introduced, how much should it be ?

Should the local return time be reduce ? 

Should there be a dress code ?

Should there be a code of conduct administered by the trade ?

All these questions and more.

>Click Here, to take part in survey<

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Getting The Message Out To The Rank And File....by Jim Thomas.

With total signatures nearing 5,000 Licensed Taxi drivers, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and do a little bit of overtime to help the petition.

Last night I managed to get a dozen of my close friends to sign in Camley Street, KXTC. No mean feat as most of my friends are seniors and most have been driving Taxis for over 50 years. Most of these older drivers are uneasy with technology. 

After a difficult half hour, trying to get them to enter their details on my iPhone, I gave up in shear frustration and went back to the old method, getting them to write their name and badge number down. I could then enter the details on their behalf at my own leisure. 

Even this turned into a mammoth task with most putting unreadable signatures -Good job I already know their names.

As I viewed my evenings work as a success, I decided to take it a step further and this afternoon drove in to Harrow On The Hill, asking the suburban drivers on station rank to sign up. 

I was surprised to find most had no knowledge of the latest events or offending emails. Unbelievably, some had never even heard of Leon Daniels 

After passing round my one copy of the badge, I managed to get another 30 drivers to sign, so not a complete waste of time. Explaining the situation to each and every individual was time consuming. 

I was surprised to find the club don't deliver the badge to the tobacconist by the rank. The local drivers only link with the trade is from he LTDA's Taxi paper. Having spoken to the manager, he informed me, he sees no problem with drivers picking up trade papers or magazines from his shop, adding he's always supported the local rank Taxis.

As this method (clipboard collecting name and badge number) has now proved itself successful, I will be approaching more drivers on the Mayfair ranks later this evening. 

Please keep up the good work and remember this old saying : 

"If you destroy someone's life with a lie, then your life can be destroyed by the truth".

Ubergate ! Still not signed....

>CLICH THIS LINK<

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London Taxi Radios, Sound of the suburbs....Episode 6

SOUND OF THE SUBURBS EPISODE 6

ROBERT CARDWELL INTERVIEWS GARY FROM SW4 TAXI RANKS

 

Email: admin@londontaxiradio.co.uk
Tel: 020 8144 8294
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London Taxi Radio is an New Digital Media initiative incorporating an online radio station, podcasts, Youtube channel, photographs and video footage

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Uber Cease Operations In Austin Texas, After Losing Vote On Finger Print Background Checks.

Ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft are to cease operations in Austin, Texas, after losing a vote over required fingerprint background checks for drivers.

The rival companies said they plan to shut down their services on Monday 9th May 2016, after voters in the Texas capitol rejected Proposition 1, a measure that would have exempted drivers from required fingerprinting as part of checks into their backgrounds. Lyft said the vote will make it harder for part-time drivers to offer rides in the city.

"We have to take a stand for a long-term path forward that lets ridesharing continue to grow across the country, and will pause operations in Austin on Monday, May 9," Lyft said in a statement. 

"Disappointment does not begin to describe how we feel about shutting down operations in Austin," Uber said in a statement.

The vote comes amid growing concern for the safety of passengers on ride-hailing services. In the past two years, Uber has been dogged by allegations of drivers assaulting, raping and kidnapping passengers.

Last month, Uber agreed to pay as much as $25 million to settle a lawsuit in California that accused the ride-hailing company of misleading consumers about safety.

Editorial Comment :

Questions begs to be asked;

What is it that Uber are so scared to find out about their work force, through finger print background checks?

Just what is it they seek to hide?

Why would a TfL top officer seek to protect this company in London?

Sign the vote of no confidence in Loeon Daniels.

Click this link:

http://ift.tt/21DGesC

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Warning as woman is raped after getting into BMW she thought was a Taxi.

A woman has been raped in Wigan, after she got into a car she believed to be a private hire car acting as a Taxi.

The victim, in her 30s, approached a pale blue or silver BMW on Market Street, in Hindley, Wigan . She was then driven to an unknown location in the Platt Bridge area of the town where she was raped.

Police are now hunting a man following the incident, which happened at around 12.10am on Monday May 2.

He is described as being Asian, in his 30s and of average build. He spoke in broken English and was wearing white clothing.

The incident which was not reported immediately, as in over 60% of similar cases, was reported to police a short time later. The woman is now being provided with support by specially trained officers.

Police are now warning people to make sure to use licensed taxis or pre book a private hire vehicle from a reputable firm.

Officers have launched an investigation and are appealing for any information about the incident.

Detective Constable Kevin Byrne, of Greater Manchester Police’s Wigan Division, urged any witnesses to come forward.

He said: “This is an awful incident which has understandably left the victim feeling very distressed and she is now being provided with support from specially trained officers at this difficult time.

“I know an incident such as this will understandably cause a lot of concern within the community but I want to assure everybody that we have launched a full investigation with a team of determined detectives working to identify the person responsible.

“We would also ask that members of the public to take a licensed taxi or if you prefer a minicab, book a car from a reputable minicab company".

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2,400 Sign No Confidence Vote In 24 Hours : Keep It Going

I've just been advised that nearly 2400 drivers have signed the vote of no confidence in Leon Daniels in just over 24 hours, this is a great start but it still only represents 10% London's Black cab drivers! The last thing we want to hear is the new mayor saying to us that only a small number of drivers are unhappy with Leon Daniels!  Please, please encourage all Black cab drivers you know to sign this form, all it requires is a name and badge number to validate the vote, if you know a driver that doesn't use social media or doesn't have access to a computer simply get their permission and fill in the form for them!  It is extremely important that we remove Leon Daniels from his highly paid position as Director of surface transport, as this man has personally overseen the demise of the best taxi service in the world!  Well here's our chance to kick him where it hurts, let's put pressure on Sadiq Khan and let him know we have had enough!  Please sign the link below and start the ball rolling!  Thanks  http://ift.tt/21DGesC

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Letter To Editor : Large Cracks Appearing In TfL Armour...Plus Vote Of No Confidence In Leon Daniels.

So yesterday was interesting! 

We now have two bits of ammunition, firstly obviously the emails! 

And also the Twitter convo with Jackie Ryder and TFL.

 If anyone missed this it was TFL saying they will start requiring h/r insurance from PH at point of licensing from.... Wait for it.... 31st May!!! 

Plus this is only for new licensees!!

Believe it or not, they haven't decided a date when they will require existing drivers to have it in place. 

All this needed was an email to testing stations to implement immediately.

 

Today, we have a new Mayor and he will have a huge workload, I don't imagine for one minute we will be anywhere near the top of the pile on his list of to do's.

So here's my point... 

Why don't we put ourselves at the top of that list? 

For once TfL have a large crack in their armour so let's exploit it.

Here comes the wishful thinking part! 

Imagine if all the orgs (LTDA, LCDC, RMT, Unite, UCG, HADTU, Suburban Drivers Alliance) sat down together with the SaveTaxi girls, Dads Defending Daughters, The Mayfair Mob and all together backed one major demo, 10-15k drivers plus wives/partners all with one message, 

'demanding a public inquiry into TFL and the immediate resignation of Daniels', one clear message! 

And if we don't get what we want, then we do it again, and again... 

And if the orgs can't/won't sit round a table together just a commitment to promote the demo jointly

Winston Long:

..............................................................

Leon Daniels Caught Assisting UBER to word their communications to the public so as to mislead.

Leon Daniels is no stranger to controversy, in fact we in the UCG have long had no confidence in his ability to conduct his role as the Director of surface transport strategy.

He will have been instrumental in the chaos and gridlock that London has become, he believes that Private Hire can purchase "On-Off" hire and reward insurance, we checked with the MIB and no such policy exists.

He insists that Ubers Meter, isn't a meter and appointed a barrister to fight like the sugar plum fairy in court to prove he done nothing wrong when Uber were licensed and TfL never even bothered to check it's operating methodology, so we have the absurd and ridiculous ruling that a device used for time and distance measurement isn't a meter.

He told the GLA that Uber were only required to have a landline on the day they applied for a license as an operator. Which frankly is just laughable if it wasn't so serious.

The process of removing John Mason was started by a vote of no confidence by the Private Hire industry, now it's our turn to remove Leon Daniels by starting the process with a vote of no confidence

We call on the new Mayor that "If Leon Daniels is not removed from post 7 days after this vote of no confidence is submitted, the UCG will bring London to a standstill"

Click HERE to register your vote of no confidence in Leon Daniels and call for the new mayor to remove him from post.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF ANY TRADE ORGANISATION TO VOTE... THIS IS A WHOLE TRADE FREE VOTE

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