TFL cannot prevent business owners (Taxi Drivers) from using equipment they already own so the equipment they are forcing into vehicles will eventually become redundant.
All the suppliers of this equipment know this very well, and it will be seen as a duplication of process and go down the same route as the mandated issues of emission abatement fittings and receipt printers..... straight into the dustbin of TFL ineptitude.
The costly route of 'free' fitting this equipment is bound to be clawed back eventually by the complicit companies creating a monthly levy charge which will be introduced as soon large enough numbers have been fitted and as projected profit costing and failings becomes patently clear to them and this will allow the drivers the complete opportunity to bring this un-welcomed TFL intervention to an unceremonious end.
If your Card processing company issues minimum "low usage fees" which may be linked to their own projected monthly fees AFTER you sign for free fitting and non usage quota linked usage basis you will undoubtedly have an immediate cost free contractual exit and cancellation due to a serious financial material fact alteration, so read your contract carefully before signing or ask what will happen if they suddenly introduce monthly fees to cover low usage cost because it will happen.
What will that mean to the TFL mandate who will try to coerce you to pay up by threatening to remove your plate because you no longer have rear card processing usage facilities?
TFL could never win that argument legally without examining the suppliers contract so the mandate would die just as the previous ones have.
Be Lucky
greenbadgejohn (on twitter)
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Thursday, 29 September 2016
Carry On, Follow That Camel ! ... By Im Spartacus.
ALL cabs are owned by the Dubai version of TfL, they maintain the fleet, insure, put the fuel in etc etc bit like the old London General.
Drivers just drive, they sign up as a double team for 7x12 shifts and keep 25% of the clock which is GPS monitored and they all accept cards.
Dubai seemed a safe, clean and law abiding place.
Cabs are usually newish Toyotas or Mitsubishi and the occasional FX4R (joking!) one I rode in had 600,000km on the clock but was clean and well maintained. Fares are about par with ours, drivers pleasant but not that great with any knowledge of Dubai.
Any signs of the U mob you ask? not likely as I say cabs are owned by the transportation authority, why would they give anyone a look in?
The only comparison with U is some of the driving, car drivers will think nothing of reversing a mile or more down the hard shoulder if they miss a motorway turnoff, very relaxing!
The cab drivers respect and regard us as the standard by which all others are judged, they are amazed (as we are) that the authorities in London even allowed PH let alone the bin end Umob!
Interesting place and well worth a visit and by the way I never saw a camel which has given me the right 'ump.
Next reports from Bratislava and Prague soon.
I'm Spartacus
Sent from my iPhone
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Wednesday, 28 September 2016
#SaveTaxi Wheelchair fundraiser success for Canonbury cycle crash victim.
Cycle crash victim Alex Doodle will no longer have to “crawl” to and from the taxis they rely on get to hospital appointments after a #SaveTaxi crowdfunder hit its target of £3,000 within a week.
As reported in the Islington Gazette last week, Alex, who is gender neutral, was put on a lengthy waiting list for a wheelchair earlier this year.
The architecture graduate has relied on black cabs to get around since a crash in Essex Road seven years ago and was “lost for words” when told the news.
“I’m still in shock and so grateful,” she said. “Black cab drivers continue to be my lifeline while government policies and funding cuts hinder my ability to live independently and have my basic needs met. A group of people in a trade also threatened took the time and effort to help me.
“They have given me more than a wheelchair – they have given me independence.”
Alex, who says she has been living off full fat milk because she spends all her money on cabs and mental health services, is looking forward to getting out and about again.
“I will be able to go to a hospital appointment, look around the shops or even go to an art gallery,” she said. “It’s been over seven years.”
The next target is wheelchair-accessible accommodation. Alex is currently in a first-floor flat in Englefield Road, Canonbury, waiting for an adapted home to become available – but just 28 have been let in the last two years. The council says it is doing all it can.
Alex, 44, continued: “When I eventually move, I will live with more dignity and feel less degraded as one of my conditions makes it look like I’m having a stroke so I’m basically on the floor for hours or days or trying to drag myself on one side to the bathroom.”
Cabbie Terry Vaus started the fundraiser. He said: “It’s fantastic news. I never thought when it started it would go so well.”
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The UTG Done Deal Credit Card Mandate Omni Shambles Rolls On....by Jim Thomas.
Last Thursday night, CMT's complete system shut down and driver's could not sign in, or clear a payment for hours.
In just over four weeks time, under the proposed Unite Taxi group(UTG) done deal regulations, this would mean many thousands of Taxi drivers having to stop work and go home... until the system's restored back up and running properly.
Currently many CMT machines have a software bug, which appears to stop the PEDs logging on for long periods of time. This could also result in many drivers having an early bath. I personally contacted CMT UK on their Twitter feed one evening when I couldn't sign in, hoping for a help line phone number and was given an email address -not quite what I was hoping for.
But CMT are not the only equipment with problems.
The iZettle Muria MO10 units are currently printing out receipts containing the drivers full name, home address and telephone number. Many drivers are giving these receipts to customers, completely unaware their personal details are emblazoned on them.
To be fair, this whole issue has been a complete shambles from the start. Badly planned, badly thought out, with almost no import sort from drivers, or driver's groups.
The start date for the Card Mandate has been put back by 4 weeks, while the requirement for rear fitting has had to be been postponed till 1st January.
Speaking to a compliance officers over the weekend, they informed me that interdepartmental memos are flying around like confetti. Apparently the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing (their words not mine).
Driver Safety:
Driver safety issues with the rear fitment of Card readers still haven't been addressed by LTPH. General Manager Helen Chapman said at the LCDC AGM, 'we have no data to show this may be a problem'.
As yet, the main body of trade drivers....the 80% not on social media, haven't received a word of notification from TfLTPH so far.
What's your experience of problems concerning these new rear PEDs?
Use the comments section below to air your fears about issues relating to the CC equipment.
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Tuesday, 27 September 2016
TfL's Ministry Of Misinformation...Keep Calm And Tell Them Nothing...by Jim Thomas.
Over the last few years, TfL have continued to drag their feet when asked to publish the Private Hire related serious sexual assault and rape statistics.
Their webpage- where these figures should be found -has been cleansed of actual numbers and replaced by manipulated percentages, giving a false perception to the travelling public, that the attacks are on the wain.
This is not the case seen in statistics released by the Met Police, acquired by freedom of information requests.
Their webpage announces that TfL publish the official Met Police statistics for sexual offences on an annual basis...BUT WHERE?
Their webpage has been systematically cleansed of actual numbers.
After an official FOI request, TfL stated they would release the figures for 2015-2016 by the 20th of September. That deadline has come and gone.
After multiple requests from multiple drivers on social media, TfL say they are still finalising the figures.
Taxi Leaks made 65 requests on Twitter before we got this non answer.
After more requests from drivers over the last week, TfLTPH have posted this announcement.
But going to the page on the TfL website shows no figures have been released. In fact, they haven't released the statistics for 2014-15.
Below, is the actual wording in respect of the rape statistics, on the webpage where this link sends you.
Sexual offences
We publish the official Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) figure of the total number of confirmed taxi and private hire related sexual offences on an annual basis. The MPS is unable to provide a definitive breakdown by type of vehicle for reporting purposes. It is not always possible to determine whether these offences were committed by unlicensed or licensed taxi and private hire drivers or any details of how the victims were approached. The specific details regarding the offender's characteristic in each case are often not clarified until the investigation of each allegation is complete, and in a significant number of offences, the profile of the suspect is never confirmed and remains unknown.
The following are official crime figures from the MPS:
2012/13 - Taxi and private hire related sexual offences were over 30% lower than in 2002/03. The number of rape offences almost halved over the same period.
WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS ?
2013/14 - Taxi and private hire related sexual offences fell by 15% compared to 2012/13, with rape offences down 30%.
AGAIN WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS ?
2014/15 - This data will be available later this year.
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