MAYFAIR MOB (MM) RANKS UPDATE : Taking The Work Back

Firstly the MM would like to thank TFL Ranks & Highways for their hard work and support over the last 18 months.

BEDUIN

Islington Council are raising an experimental traffic order after agreeing to rank time changes. The new rank plate should be in place soon. The MM would like to thank Smithfield Tennants' Association for their help in getting the consultation over the line. 

SUSHI SAMBA

TFL are currently trialling a rank here on Friday and Saturday nights supported by trade marshals. Although this needs a permanent rank for every night, this is a step in the right direction. The MM have submitted plans to TFL for a permanent rank and also have other options if this plan is rejected.

SKY GARDEN

Plans have been submitted to TFL to move 2 rank spaces from the top of Philpot Lane to outside Sky Garden at the bottom.

KANALOA

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a 2 space taxi rank outside this venue.

SEXY FISH

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a rank on Berkeley Square just up from the entrance. The MM understands that the LCRC have also requested a rank here in Bruton Lane. We feel that our plan would serve this venue better and produce more work but will support any rank gained at this venue by the trade. 

SIX STOREYS

We have submitted rank plans to TFL for a rank at this venue. The venue is due to open this Autumn in Soho Square. We have also entered into dialogue with the owners of this venue. 

HEAVEN

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a 3 space rank in Villiers Street. 

ARTS CLUB

DOVER ST

We have requested a two space rank outside the Arts Club.

This will provide the club with a service as the new Novikov extension is expected to require existing rank space. 

We are in contact with various councils pushing for the appointment of new ranks, and the upkeep of existing ranks

 

We are also working on other projects which will benefit the trade immensely once completed. We will update the trade when we are able to.

We are working with the UCG and RMT on various ranks and highways projects and hope to achieve more positive results for the trade through this collaboration.

We would like to thank all drivers that are currently working the ranks. TFL's biggest hurdle is taxis parked on working ranks as councils will reject rank requests whilst this is happening. Please use common sense if you need to leave a cab on a working rank in case of emergencies by not leaving it on point.

Please follow @givethem10 for the latest ranks info and please

GIVE EM 10. USE EM OR LOSE EM 

Be lucky drivers

Editorial Comment: 

Well done to the Mayfair Mob where land yard colour counts for nothing.

This amazing work load has been carried out voluntarily, by a group that is currently excluded from the official Joint Trade Rank's Committee. 

Didn't I read somewhere that Val Shawcross has thrown out the engagement policy?

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2bBpwa4
via IFTTT

Geely In Partnership With Uber, To Make Taxi Drivers Obsolete.

Geely owned, Volvo Car Corp. and ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. have signed a $300 million agreement to co-develop autonomous sport-utility vehicles that will either be used as self-driving taxis or sold to consumers.

The two companies will announce the joint project Thursday, saying the Swedish auto maker will conduct much of the initial engineering on a platform for an XC90 SUV that is capable of piloting itself. At some point, Uber will take that technology and use it as the foundation to develop its own self-driving vehicle technology. Volvo will do the same.

Under the agreement, Uber will buy XC90 SUVs manufactured by Volvo. Volvo is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and has been among the more aggressive players in the established auto industry when it comes to developing and advocating for autonomous vehicles.

Uber, known for its ride-hailing service, has been developing autonomous vehicles and envisions a day when those cars could replace its tens of thousands of contract drivers. It recruited a team of researchers and scientists from Carnegie Mellon University, hired the hackers who wirelessly took control of a Jeep in 2015, and earlier this year hired Ford’s Sherif Marakby to head its global vehicle programs.

Uber and Volvo will work together on dynamic mapping, object identification and other hurdles that face many companies working on driverless cars.

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

All Rise.....But Will Our Orgs Rise To The Challenge?

So here we have it Uber is seeking judicial review over improvements to the PH regulations.

All others in the PH world are in favour.

It's entirely reasonable that PH drivers have an appropriate decent level of English as they have to deal face to face with others, many of whom won't have English as a native tongue.

The same applies to having the phones (yep telephones Uber) staffed by London based staff with knowledge of the topography. 

As for insurance, it's a no brainer, how can you licence a PH vehicle for a year yet not have the appropriate insurance in place for the period? 

If people want to have SDP insurance then they have to surrender the PH vehicle licence and pay the CC, you can't have it both ways.

We already have cars being driven by one licensed and two unlicensed drivers, people falling asleep at the wheel, daily RTA's, multi devices on windscreen, rampant touting, virtual PFH the list goes on and on and it's getting worse.

It's certainly interesting and we wonder if any e mails and content of telephone calls from officers in TfL or indeed between the UTG and TfL will come to light?

What's clear is that despite the smooth PR exterior behind that is a company that can't abide any proper standards for passengers or drivers as the cost base rises to the true cost of provision and that will derail the sweatshop.

I won't make predictions on the outcome, but we should certainly now be using the famously trumpeted one million pound fighting fund informing the public of the FACTS.

All the unions and orgs need to get together and issue a joint statement on this in order to counter the propaganda and this time without seeking individual acclaim.

Will we rise to the challenge?

No further questions M'Lud.

I'm Spartacus

  

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2b5ZFHE
via IFTTT

No, No, No....We Cant Stand For This.....Where Is The Representation We Pay For

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2b0q7Re
via IFTTT

It's The Big One....Uber To Take TfL To Court Over New Regulations

Uber has launched legal action against London’s transport regulator over new rules that threaten to limit its business in the capital.

The billion-dollar startup is seeking a judicial review to halt the introduction of new rules it claims are too strict.

Transport for London set out new regulations earlier this year after a wide-ranging consultation of the taxi and minicab industry following a long-standing feud between Uber and London’s black cab drivers.

The initial regulation was previously welcomed by Uber, but in recent months the details of the rules have become too onerous, Uber claims.

Now, Uber is pursuing legal action over the matter, filing official papers with the courts this week after sending a so-called letter before action to TfL.

TfL said it would defend the legality of the new regulations.

“We responded to Uber’s letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations,”  said TfL's spokesperson.

“These have been introduced to enhance public safety when using private hire services and we are determined to create a vibrant taxi and private hire market with space for all providers to flourish.”

Uber is challenging four of the new rules; requiring written English tests for drivers, having to locate its customer service call centre in London, requiring insurance that covers drivers when they are not working and having to alert TfL of changes to its business model or app.

It last week rallied customers to contact the mayor of London urging him to review the regulation while business leaders and entrepreneurs have also written to Sadiq Khan asking him to rethink the rules, raising concerns that the red tape could stifle innovation and London’s digital economy in the wake of Brexit.

It comes as the mayor promised to make new plans for the future of the taxi and minicab industry in the capital.

A spokesperson for the mayor said: “Sadiq has asked his team to produce a comprehensive new strategy that will herald in a new era for the capital’s taxi and private hire trades.

“Further details will be released later this year of a plan that will deliver radical improvements for customers, a boost to safety, support for the taxi trade and further improve the quality of service offered by the private hire trade. There will also be a concerted effort to make London’s taxi fleet the greenest in the world.”

City Hall would not be drawn on whether this would include reviewing the new regulations, agreed under former mayor Boris Johnson.

Tom Elvidge, general manager at Uber London, said: “This legal action is very much a last resort. We’re particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process withTransport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber.”

General secretary of the London Taxi Drivers Association Steve McNamara on Monday said he was confident Khan would do “what’s right for London”.

Other minicab firms in the capital have backed the new regulation, however.

Addison Lee chief executive Andy Boland said: “Having previously backed the proposals it’s hard to understand Uber’s resistance to implementation of these new regulations. The whole industry was fully involved in the consultation and there is a strong belief that they will benefit both passengers and drivers.”

Gett managing director for Europe Remo Gerber called Uber’s U-turn on the regulations “baffling”.

“Frankly we’re surprised we’re wasting time on this. We should be focusing on the post Brexit needs of London, not minor operational details,” he said.

Editorial Comment :

It appears that Uber are against their drivers being properly insured to carry fare paying passengers, one would assume that they would welcome the regulation on compulsory Hire & Reward insurance but as we already know they continually push the boundaries.

TFL took over the responsibility for licensing London’s taxis and Private Hire vehicles from the Public Carriage, the PCo were originally set up to protect the travelling public, TFL took on this role and should have ensured that Private Hire vehicles required Hire and Reward Insurance at the time of licensing, but this has never been a requirement by TFL.

TFL have failed the travelling public of London miserably by giving them the impression that Private Hire vehicles are safe and fully insured, this gives the fare paying passenger the false impression that they are safe and fully insured in the case of an accident.

Would Uber’s passengers not benefit from the drivers being able to converse with them in a competent manner also, apparently not according to Uber.

Now lets not beat around the bush, we all know why Uber have suddenly taken umbrage to these new regulations and that is they will no longer be able to charge ridiculously low rates as their drivers would not be able to afford to carry on working on their platform whilst paying for Hire & Reward insurance. They would also lose a large source of new drivers for the transient population of drivers.

There is of course another problem with Uber, they openly state that they do not accept pre bookings and that they are an “on Demand service” which is outside of the scope of their private hire operators license.

TFL need to win this challenge otherwise London will erupt into utter anarchy with private hire drivers running around uninsured and unlicensed totally unabated.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2bx3DtE
via IFTTT

London's Chaos Theory. Could They Really Get It This Wrong By Accident?... By Jim Thomas.

I totally believe, there is an underlying agenda to get rid of the London Taxi trade, going far beyond the woeful inadequacy of TfL. 

It's widely believed that most of Inner London's borough councils are party to the conspiracy against us. You only have to look at the way we've been treated by Westminster, Camden and Islington.

No planning committee from any of the councils, could have bought this amount of congestive chaos to our streets by accident???

The magnitude of this incompetence, surely must have been managed!

After witnessing the gridlocking of streets surrounding the Cycle Super Highway's segregated cycle lanes, they are now actually set to expand the nightmare right across the board, with Cycle Super Highway 2. 

This manmade mayhem, is to be followed by the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, which is likely to include a total ban on all motor vehicles (except buses and cycles) in Tottenham Court Road and part of Baker Street.

Just where are they expecting the traffic to go?

Pollution levels at present far exceeding European legal limits, allegedly causing an extra 20,000 preventable deaths per annum.

And it's all about to get much worse.

Taxi drivers are gifted with a six sense in regard to traffic flow. We have the ability to look at preposed schemes and evaluate the likelihood of its success. 

Yet neither TfL or local council planners, have ever tried to seek advice from the trade. Instead they pin all their hopes on graduates, many of whom live outside London, using computer modelling. 

The evidence that much of this chaos is part of an agenda relates to the fact, they generally take no notice of consultation results. 

London has now been turned into the world's biggest building site. Virtually every street in central London has road works of one form or another....

Who's computer predicted, central paving along most of the length of Oxford Street East, would improve traffic flow?

Who's computer predicted, narrowing the entrance to Regent Street from Piccadilly Circus would improve the chaos around Eros? 

Its total Lunacy

A ten year old child could have predicted problems from narrowing major roads, yet their computer model missed it ???

SO WHATS BEHIND THE CHAOS AND MAYHEM?

We saw it first at the London Olympics in 2012. TfL failed to provide ranks at the Olympic park and spectators were directed by an army of stewards from the stadium to expanded bus assembly points, and straight onto the tube. Olympic Tickets came with 24hr travel passes (the same at Lords and Excel). Taxi ranks were moved and hidden in side streets well away from the exits, while spectators were shepherded onto public transport.

We saw similar efforts made at Twickenham were spectators were directed to waiting buses while Taxis were excluded from streets around the stadium.

We've also seen our work touted by rail staff, airside, at Heathrow using lies about Taxi fares to attract more customers onto the Heathrow Express.

 

The same thing has just happened at Edgbaston, where Taxi ranks were replaced by a £5 a head bus service straight to New Street Station. With the bus company using the Taxi rank as a bus stop.

We will soon see a revolution in shopping trips to London with the forthcoming CrossRail service which they allege will bring so many people to Oxford Street, it will be the busiest shopping area in the world. 

Is this why we are being excluded from major roads in these areas ? 

• Oxford Street

• Tottenham Court Road 

• Baker Street

If Taxis can't get to the shops, people are not going to use us, they will take the tube!

Our night work could drastically reduce, when weekend night tube opens. 

Where is the new network of Taxi ranks outside night tube stations?

Visit the suburban stations and see the new PH booking offices, many inside the station forecourts!

TfL and Network Rail (oh look at who their new chairman is) have been getting away with touting our work for many years, facilitated by piss poor weak trade representative orgs and Unions, who prefer to fight amongst themselves rather than concentrating on who the true enemies are. 

TfL's compliance officers currently harass Taxi drivers at mainline ranks while turning a blind eye to touting from PHVs.

Why is it we don't see TfL COs, regularly checking the booking details of PHVs at stations, why do they only concentrate of Taxis ?

Compliance teams turn up frequently at pop up Taxi ranks, yet when did we ever see them at the entrance to the restaurant inside the BBC car park on Wood Lane, or the side entrance to Westfield, or what about the pop up PH ranks at the Brewery and Honouree Artillery company when there's functions on? 

It just doesn't happen.

Recently, we found a certain PH company (RD2.com) had been given special dispensation from TfL and the Corporation of the City of London to form an illegal Taxi rank on red rout double red lines, to be available for immediate hire at a function on Lower Thames Street, outside Old Billingsgate. 

The United Trade Group engagement policy which held us back for four years, was always going to be scrapped after Boris exited stage right, as the new mayoral administration looked for a way to quell the unaffiliated demonstrators, but the UTG are still there and still excluding other orgs at compliance and rank committee meetings.

Their excuse is "you have to be invited by TfL"...

I beg to differ on this as the Joint Taxi Ranks Committee is a self appointed group who sometimes invite TfL to their meetings and not the other way round.

It needs to be sort it out and soon. We have to make sure every group have representatives invited.

We have for months seen a trend for disgruntled drivers to break away from the traditional subscription based representation. New driver groups such as the Mayfair Mob, Dads Defending Daughters and Action4Cabbies have appeared and in the case of the Mayfair Mob, are beginning to achieve impressive results. 

Trade representation has always mirrored football supporters mentality. Loyalty to a certain colour of lanyard has definitely held back progress and helped to keep the trade divided. 

But drivers are now starting to question their own orgs apparent lack of results.

Now the engagement policy is gone, everyone is playing in the big league. Perhaps it's time to take a leaf out of the beautiful game and have talent scouts look for the best people from all the teams, and bring them together in a united squad.

"Taxi United" supported across the board by every driver. 

Sounds better than a fragmented disenchanted trade.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2b9rAbq
via IFTTT

Suspicious Minds.......TaxiApp, Introducing The A Team.

Since word of Taxiapp came out, some doomers & gloomers can't quite believe a band of committed Taxi drivers can possess the knowhow to achieve such a seemingly unreachable goal. Some have said, "we'll come aboard if it takes off". 

If Taxiapp is to succeed it'll need 'brave hearts' and their support from day one!

Cynicism's like folding your arms, stepping back and commenting on affairs like the two old boys on the Muppets. Just throwing out adverse and derisive comments  Whereas others really try to effect and improve the lives of those around them, Which's correct and noble.  

At Taxiapp we, with  hundreds of drivers who've so far signed up believe  a credible challenge can be mounted against the corporate 'Goliaths' who await with anticipation the demise of the 'Street Hail' so they can pick our pockets!!!!

As our trade sips in the Last Chance Saloon, we may never again have the opportunity to influence events. We'll be hostages to fortune, with the usual suspects making 'fortunes' out of us!!!!

Fellow Cabmen and Women.

YOUR TRADE NEEDS YOU!

      Introducing the team:

  Ladies first, Mirna, flanked by Sean, Phil and Scot.

This pic was taken Friday 12th August, after an extremely productive meeting with TfL TPH. They're considered to be Taxiapps A Team and represented us and the trade admirably.

We wandered beforehand if TfL would be authoritative, obstructive, disparaging,  even censure or condemn our aspirations. They were anything but!...During the meet they enthused over the concept of Taxiapp at one point describing it as 'unique'! 

They are prepared to give us as much assistance as they're allowed. 

Taxiapp feel the TfL representitives found it refreshing to be eyeballing working cab drivers, who know how things are and what they're talking about, rather then corporate executives types chasing pound notes, feigning flattery for the cab trade.

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