Is TfL's Electric Taxi Mandate, Playing Russian Roulette With Our Health ?

VERY FEW FACTS AVAILABLE, ON HYBRID AND ELECTRIC CARS.

Hybrid and Electric cars and Electromagnetic Fields 

ALMOST without exception, scientists and policy makers agree that hybrid vehicles are good for the planet. To a small but insistent group of skeptics, however, there is another, more immediate question: Are hybrids healthy for drivers?

There is a legitimate scientific reason for raising the issue. The flow of electrical current to the motor that moves a hybrid vehicle at low speeds (and assists the gasoline engine on the highway) produces magnetic fields, which some studies have associated with serious health matters, including a possible risk of leukemia among children.

With the batteries and power cables in hybrids often placed close to the driver and passengers, some exposure to electromagnetic fields is unavoidable. Moreover, the exposure will be prolonged — unlike, say, using a hair dryer or electric shaver — for drivers who spend hours each day at the wheel.

Some hybrid owners have actually tested their cars for electromagnetic fields using hand-held meters, and a few say they are alarmed by the results.

Their concern is not without merit; agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute acknowledge the potential hazards of long-term exposure to a strong electromagnetic field, or E.M.F., and have done studies on the association of cancer risks with living near high-voltage utility lines.

While Americans live with E.M.F.’s all around — produced by everything from cellphones to electric blankets — there is no broad agreement over what level of exposure constitutes a health hazard, and there is no federal standard that sets allowable exposure levels. Government safety tests do not measure the strength of the fields in vehicles — though Honda and Toyota, the dominant hybrid makers, say their internal checks assure that their cars pose no added risk to occupants.

Researchers with expertise in hybrid-car issues say that while there may not be cause for alarm, neither should the potential health effects be ignored.

“It would be a mistake to jump to conclusions about hybrid E.M.F. dangers, as well as a mistake to outright dismiss the concern,” said Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer for the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Additional research would improve our understanding of the issue.”

Charges that automobiles expose occupants to strong electromagnetic fields were made even before hybrids became popular. In 2002, a Swedish magazine claimed its tests found that three gasoline-powered Volvo models produced high E.M.F. levels. Volvo countered that the magazine had compared the measurements with stringent standards advanced by a Swedish labor organization, not the more widely accepted criteria established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, a group of independent scientific experts based near Munich.

Much of the discussion over high E.M.F. levels has sprung from hybrid drivers making their own readings. Field-strength detectors are widely available; a common model, the TriField meter, costs about $145 online. But experts and automakers contend that it is not simple for a hybrid owner to make reliable, meaningful E.M.F. measurements.

The concern over high E.M.F. levels in hybrids has come not just from worrisome instrument readings, but also from drivers who say that their hybrids make them ill.

Neysa Linzer, 58, of Bulls Head in Staten Island, bought a new Hinda Civic Hybrid in 2007 for the 200 miles a week she drove to visit grocery stores in her merchandising job for a supermarket chain. She said that the car reduced her gasoline use, but there were problems — her blood pressure rose and she fell asleep at the wheel three times, narrowly averting accidents. 

Driving a hybrid made Neysa Linzer drowsy.

“I never had a sleepiness problem before,” Ms. Linzer said, adding that it was her own conclusion, not a doctor’s, that the car was causing the symptoms.

Ms. Linzer asked Honda to provide her with shielding material for protection from the low-frequency fields, but the company declined her request last August, saying that its hybrid cars are “thoroughly evaluated” for E.M.F.’s before going into production. Ms. Linzer’s response was to have the car tested by a person she called her wellness consultant, using a TriField meter.

The TriField meter is made by AlphaLab in Salt Lake City. The company’s president, Bill Lee, defends its use for automotive testing even though the meter is set up to test alternating current fields, whereas the power moving to and from a hybrid vehicle’s battery is direct current. “Generally, an A.C. meter is accurate in detecting large electromagnetic fields or microwaves,” he said.

Testing with a TriField meter led Brian Collins of Encinitas, Calif., to sell his 2001 Honda Insight just six months after he bought it — at a loss of $7,000. He said the driver was receiving “dangerously high” E.M.F. levels of up to 135 milligauss at the hip and up to 100 milligauss at the upper torso. These figures contrasted sharply with results from his Volkswagen van, which measured one to two milligauss.

Mr. Collins said he tried to interest Honda in the problem in 2001, but was assured that his car was safe. He purchased shielding made of a nickel-iron alloy, but because of high installation costs decided to sell the car instead.

A spokesman for Honda, Chris Martin, points to the lack of a federally mandated standard for E.M.F.’s in cars. Despite this, he said, Honda takes the matter seriously. “All our tests had results that were well below the commission’s standard,” Mr. Martin said, referring to the European guidelines. And he cautions about the use of hand-held test equipment. “People have a valid concern, but they’re measuring radiation using the wrong devices,” he said.

Kent Shadwick, controller of purchasing services for the York Catholic District School Board in York, Ontario, evaluated the Toyota Prius for fleet use. Mr. Shadwick said it was tested at various speeds, and under hard braking and rapid acceleration, using a professional-quality gauss meter. 

“The results that we saw were quite concerning,” he said. “We saw high levels in the vehicle for both the driver and left rear passenger, which has prompted us to explore shielding options and to consider advocating testing of different makes and models of hybrid vehicles.”

In a statement, Toyota said: “The measured electromagnetic fields inside and outside of Toyota hybrid vehicles in the 50 to 60 hertz range are at the same low levels as conventional gasoline vehicles. Therefore there are no additional health risks to drivers, passengers or bystanders.”

The statement adds that the measured E.M.F. in a Prius is 1/300th of the European guideline.

The tests conducted by hybrid owners rarely approach the level of thoroughness of those run by automakers.

Donald B. Karner, president of Electric Transportation Applications in Phoenix, who tested E.M.F. levels in battery-electric cars for the Energy Department in the 1990s, said it was hard to evaluate readings without knowing how the testing was done. He also said it was a problem to determine a danger level for low-frequency radiation, in part because dosage is determined not only by proximity to the source, but by duration of exposure. “We’re exposed to radio waves from the time we’re born, but there’s a general belief that there’s so little energy in them that they’re not dangerous,” he said.

Mr. Karner has developed a procedure for testing hybrids, but he said that the cost — about $5,000 a vehicle — had prevented its use.

Lawrence Gust of Ventura, Calif., a consultant with a specialty in E.M.F.’s and electrical sensitivity, was one of the electrical engineers who tested Mr. Collins’s Insight in 2001. He agreed that the readings were high but did not want to speculate on whether they were harmful. “There are big blocks of high-amp power being moved around in a hybrid, the equivalent of horsepower,” he said. “I get a lot of clients who ask if they should buy hybrid electric cars, and I say the jury is still out.”

Source : New York Times

Editorial Comment:

So there you have it "The Jury Is Still Out".

But in their infinite wisdom, TfL and the Mayor think it's ok to play fast and loose with our health, and have mandated tha only zero emission vehicles (that's their legal get out because they're not insisting on an electric vehicle, just a zero emission one) will be plated as new Taxis from 1st January 2018. At present, it looks pretty certain there will only be one zero emission vehicle available (TX5) , are TfL playing Russian Roulette with our future health.

Also in the frame has got to be our representative orgs and unions....all of them, as not one has questioned the safety of these vehicles. 

  

Let's not forget, back in 1946, people who victims of the blitz were rehoused in temporary prefabricated housing made mainly of asbestos sheeting. Even though experts had agreed as far back as 1920 that aspects was dangerous. 

I bring this up because my Aunt and Uncle were given a prefab to live in, back in 1947, both had died of cancer by 1964. 

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Daily Compliance Statistics 02/02/17 From Drive Observations ... By Gerald Coba

Don't forget, your help is essential.

PLEASE FOLLOW @WatchTfL on Twitter and report any compliance teams spotted. 

Exstemely rare photo of compliance team (Emma and Steve), asking a minicab driver if he wouldn't mind moving off the Taxi rank.

Compliance Driver Sightings For Thursday 02/02/17.

When asked why they concentrate on Licensed Hackney Carriage Taxis, TfL COs reply, "That's all we've been told to do". 

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United Taxis Merge With Rival, Creating Biggest Fleet In Dorset And Hampshire

United Taxis’ new board of directors on Boscombe sea front

BOURNEMOUTH’S biggest taxi operator has increased its fleet from 220 cars to 310 after a merging with one of its key competitors.

United Taxis’ merger with Christchurch Radio Cabs went ahead yesterday.

The move leaves United as the owner of the biggest taxi fleet in Dorset and Hampshire.

Negotiations between the firms started in September 2016 with the aim of increasing United’s reach into Christchurch, New Milton and Lymington and further east.

Christchurch Radio Cabs will now begin the process of re-branding its 100-strong fleet and its three offices, which are in Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth, New Milton and Christchurch.

The joint company will use both the businesses’ phone numbers, with all phone calls handled from one central call centre.

United says the merger will build on the growing popularity of its mobile app, which allows customers to book, track and pay for their taxi.

Derek Heritage, director of United Taxis, said: “It is a real pleasure to merge with Christchurch Radio Cabs at a time when there are many developments in our business.

“This deal sees United become the largest fleet in Dorset and Hampshire and offers our passengers more choice over a wider area.

“Further to that, our app offers a seamless and secure service that benefits many customers in terms of tracking their taxi, paying by card and identifying the car and driver.”

Chris Cullerton, who was chairman of the former Christchurch Radio Cabs, said: “In turn we had always wanted to get more business from the west and this merger allows everyone, within both companies, to benefit as one brand.

“Ultimately our customers benefit – collectively now we are on line to look after 170,000 customers a month – and with the development of our new app there isn’t an easier way to book at taxi and pay securely.”

United Taxis was established in 1995 and Christchurch Radio Cabs in 1970. Collectively the company employs over 485 drivers and 70 administrative staff out of seven offices.

United previously took over Star Radio Cabs in 2015, acquiring 40 more vehicles in the process and expanding the area it covered.

Source : Bournemouth Echo 

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A Blast From The Past.....Back In The Day.

THE TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW SEPTEMBER 5 1992

Minicabs have had a good run in London, Malcolm Macalister Hall reports, but licensed cabbies are fighting back in the increasingly violent battle for fares...

   

 

It has been a hot night, and Jim Wells is still in his T-shirt as dawn breaks over south London. "Good turn-out, given the time of day." he says. "We've won the lion's share of the work tonight. Normally, we. don't..." Around him. the narrow tangle of streets just up from the Elephant and Castle is gridlocked by about 60 black cabs, their For Hire lights blazing in the gloom. They inch past the entrance to the Ministry of Sound, the club regarded by trance-dance rovers as one of the capital's hottest tickets

Other cars try to weave through the melee -- Sierras, Carltons and Cavaliers, with magnetic radio aerials waving on their roofs. These are minicabs — unlicensed, unregulated private cars. They cut in front of the black cabs, and the black cabs cut in front of them, trying to box them in. As girls in long black skirts and platform shoes leave the club, there are shouts of "Take a licensed cab, love." A girl in a lethal-looking miniskirt chooses a black cab, to a round of applause from other drivers. "The minicab drivers feel threatened when there's a build-up of men like this," Wells says. "I think they've got the message."

As leader of the London Cab Drivers Club, Wells organised tonight's protest. He calls it a "drive-in". The idea is simple — pick a club or street where minicabs operate, put the word about, swamp the area with black taxis, and drive the minicabs out. This is the latest strategy in an increasingly savage feud between black cabs and minicabs which has broken out on the capital's streets in the past six weeks. With takings slashed by the recession and the possible licensing of minicabs now a keenly fought topic after the latest in a series of rapes, tempers have flared as both sides battle to keep control of their share of a multi-million pound business. There have been rights, threatening phone calls, and reports that baseball bats, hammers and catapults have been used.

Back at the Ministry of Sound, Dave Jessep is waiting for his passengers. He drives for Tower Bridge Cars, the minicab firm which has an account with the club. He says black-cab drivers have provoked him and his mates. "They've tried to entice us into a punch-up, but we're not cowboys. They've said things to women passengers like: 'Watch it. he might be a rapist.'" The dispatcher at the club for Tower Bridge Cars is Michael Loftus. He wears a leather jacket and a radio headset.

"In my words, this is total bollox." he says, surveying the log jam of black cabs. "They're just driving round and round, wasting diesel. and not letting our cars in. They park outside, and if you ask them to move, they're right rude about it." A moment later, there is a blizzard of abuse from a passing cab driver. "I just laugh at all this — it cracks me up," Loftus says. 'There's not way they'll drive us out of here."

Over on the opposite pavement. Wells and the cab drivers are giving no ground either. They insist that the presence of a minicab representative at a club constitutes illegal touting. It remains a murky and, as yet. untested legal area. "When there was plenty of work around, this kind of thing was left to go unchallenged," Wells says. "Now things are desperate, it's different. We're looking at every possible way to hassle them."

Wells and the drivers have staged "drive-ins" at other clubs, restaurants and minicab offices in the West End, the main battleground between the two groups. "If we can't win the West End, we might as well emigrate." Wells says. He maintains that, eventually, the bad blood is certain to boil over. "If you're not making a living and you see people stealing work from you in front of your face, it can only lead to violence."

In some cases it already has. In one incident outside a night-club, an African minicab driver is said to have been "chucked down the stairs because he wouldn't go away". In early July at Charing Cross, a minicab was reportedly boxed in by black cabs and repeatedly whacked with a baseball bat. The driver is said to have escaped by driving away on the pavement, further smashing up his car by ramming it through a narrow gap between a wall and some bollards.

Allan Kelly, the secretary of the London Cab Drivers Club, says he received threats after a sheet of the club's notepaper — which carried his address and telephone number — was allegedly obtained by a third party, photocopied, and sent anonymously to a string of minicab offices. "I got some nasty calls," Kelly says. "I was at home at about 10.30 one night, when the phone rang and a guy said he was going to come round and cut me up. A minute later he called back and said he was going to blow up my cab."

Meanwhile, in taxi shelters across London, among the mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches, there is usually a "scab box". On forms produced by the London Cab Drivers Club, hundreds of drivers have been logging the registration numbers of cars that they believe are being used as minicabs.

"On average we've been taking 40.000 numbers a week." Wells says. "We pass the details on to the Inland Revenue and Department of Social Security — many of these drivers are claiming dole."

Up against London's 16.500 black cabs, there are now said to be 40,000 minicabs. They are an unlicensed and often wildcat operation for the simple reason that no licensing system exists in the capital — unlike the rest of the country. To start up quite legally, all anyone needs is a car, a driving license, an MoT, and hire and reward insurance to cover fare-paying passengers. There is no vetting system whatever, and few rules. Minicabs are prohibited by law from touting passers-by for business, nor can they ply for hire (cruise the streets looking for fares). They cannot carry any markings indicating that they operate as a taxi, nor can they park together to form a taxi rank. The only legal ways to pick up a passenger are via a telephone booking or if the passenger turns up personally at the minicab office. Apart from these restrictions, minicabs have the run of the city.

Alongside the reputable outfits are the touts. Anyone who goes out late in London knows the form: leave a club at any time past midnight, hear the murmured "Cab, sir?" from among a knot of people on the pavement and walk round the corner to a battle-scarred Datsun, with sticky fake-fur seat covers and a Magic Tree air-freshener swinging from the rear-view mirror. Most established minicab firms are property run but. with such a lack of controls, black-cab drivers like to cite their extremely hypothetical (but just possible) "worst-case" situation: a man, they claim, could be released from prison in the morning, steal a car, and be driving for a cowboy minicab outfit by noon. Against this. London's 20,000 licensed black-cab drivers claim to be among the best-trained and best-regulated of any large city. Anything from 18 months to three years will be spent on the "knowledge", learning London's infernal street layout. There is police vetting, a driving test and health checks. Standards of driver behaviour and vehicle maintenance and cleanliness are enforced — ruthlessly, drivers complain — by the Public Carriage Office. Only the official black cab (which costs about £22.000) may be driven. All this, black-cab drivers say, is the reason minicabs can undercut their fares. Fare comparisons are tricky and depend not only on the state of the traffic but also on the passenger's bargaining skills at the minicab office. Notting Hill to Heathrow would be about £23 in a black cab, whereas a minicab firm does the trip for £16.50. The other great minicab selling point is their willingness to venture to the most obscure suburbs at any hour of the night.

Now the prospect of some form of licensing for London's minicab business has inflamed the situation even further. A recent department of Transport working party report recommends that some form of regulation should be introduced, but does not specify what this should be. Westminster City Council has also stepped in, proposing a license for the operators of minicab firms. An earlier plan to license individual drivers was dropped after an uproarious meeting last month at Marylebone town hall. "It just fell short of anybody getting arrested," one minicab driver said.

Both the Licensed Taxi Driver's Association (LTDA) and the breakaway groups are campaigning against a separate licensing system for minicabs, and insist that all drivers should be compelled to undergo training and vetting to black-cab standards. "It does not make sense to have two standards for people doing exactly the same job," says Harry Feigen, general secretary of the LTDA. The minicab trade, meanwhile, is naturally keen to be legitimised by a less rigorous licensing system, and maintains that the black-cab campaign is little more than protectionism.

"The taxi trade resists any changes because they see it as a dilution of their license and their historical rights. They're paranoid about it," says John Griffin, chairman of the Private Hire Car Association. It proposes an operator's license, issued by an independent authority which would scrutinise every driver's credentials and pass them on for vetting by the police.

Riyaz Hussain Ali is in the thick of the action. With clipboard and turban, he runs Swift and Safe Mini Cars in flamboyant style from the doorway of his office beside Leicester Square. AT night, from 8pm to 6am, there are greetings from passers-by, handshakes, shouts of "Hallo, boss" and "Maida Vale? About a fiver, mate." The customers come in all shapes and conditions — waitresses, theatre people, businessmen drunk and sober, sweat-soaked clubbers with shirts open to the waist and ties awry. His drivers, mostly African or Pakistani, include a Nigerian author, an electrical engineer, a businessman with an MBA, and an accountant. Their cars — Toyotas, Nissans, a Volvo with a clipped wing — are shoehomed into tiny spaces in the clogged streets nearby. Black cabs sit on a new rank opposite. Ali says there have already been three "drive-ins" outside his office.

"The black cabs are out of order," he says. "I find them quite aggressive. They drive past and call me w**ker and say, 'Go back to your country.' " He says there has been attempted fare-poaching, and alleges that one black-cab driver shoved him during an altercation, and that another threatened to put him through the plate-glass window next door."

At 2am, one of Ali's drivers took me home. "It's not any good any more," he said. "There's more expenses, and not enough work. If you go full-time, you go bankrupt — like me. But if you work in a shop or something, you're getting orders from people all day, and I can't stand that. The best thing about this job is it gives you freedom. It's like a poison, or a drug. Once you get into it, you never get away."

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Legislation, Legislation, Legislation is all you need… by Lee Ward.

So, that old chestnut legislation, you know, the thing that every politician falls back on when the industry want something changed to protect its future or indeed the public. That word legislation where they make out that a report must be done, then a consultation, then it goes through Commons and then Lords before it gets the Royal approval to become Law. We have all heard it right?

And then we go away expecting that in the background someone somewhere has started this report to get the ball rolling and in a few years’ time, if we are still around, it comes to pass and all will be well again…

Well, I will be honest, that’s how I thought it went anyway. Until today.

You see, I found out today while searching the internet as I do between jobs (yes, I have time to do a lot of surfing these days) I came across something on the Governments website and it’s to do with Legislation (http://j.mp/2ky8d0t)

Delegated Legislation

Delegated or secondary legislation is usually concerned with detailed changes to the law made under powers from an existing Act of Parliament. Statutory instruments form the majority of delegated legislation but it can also include Rules or Codes of Practice.

What delegated legislation does

Delegated legislation allows the Government to make changes to a law without needing to push through a completely new Act of Parliament. The original Act (also known as primary legislation) would have provisions that allow for future delegated legislation to alter the law to differing degrees.

These changes range from the technical, like altering the level of a fine, to fleshing out Acts with greater detail; often an Act contains only a broad framework of its purpose and more complex content is added through delegated legislation.

So, let me get this right, all those issues about Cross Border Hiring, Hackneys working as Private Hire Vehicles hundreds of miles away from where they are licensed, an App being legal or not and even capping of licenses could be dealt with easily because all that was needed was the 1976 Act needed ‘fleshing out’ with more detail, detail that would clarify what the intention of the Act was in 1976 before technology blurred the borders of one area to the next simply because the industry no longer relies on a radio waves ability over distanceto transmit the information to the mobile radio in a driver’s car…

Wow, it’s that easy to deal with, and so difficult for the people that we vote into power to explain to us and then kick into gear. All we needed was someone who is an MP and a Lawyer to know this, hands up if anyone is both of these…

And we have a winner !!!

 

So answer me this then, why does it take a humble, uneducated (scratch that, for a change I will not lower myself, I deserve more than that even if I say it myself) hard working driver to find these solutions when the people that get paid the money will not come forward with the answer to the problem.

As usual I dug further on what I have found and I came up with this in regards to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

(http://j.mp/2kylshE)

Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act associated Parts and Chapters

23 changes and effects yet to be applied

Commencement Orders yet to be applied to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

3 Commencement Orders yet to be applied.

So it is and can be done, as shows with the TWENTY SIX changes to the 1976 Act that governs our industry that I doubt very few had even been aware had changed, apart from perhaps Section 61 as amended by Section 52 of the Road Transport Act 2008, I assume you all know about that one, it is 8 years old after all.

I mean, you guys know all about the changes to the LGMPA 1976 because in 2016 they introduced the Immigration Act and all the changes that it made to the LGMPA 1976, didn’t you?

Well have a look, it shouldn’t take long, because we would have known all about it, or they would have at least the decency to deal with the issues of our trade in 2016 while they had their thinking caps on and quills at the ready (http://j.mp/2kymDgP)

Calmed down yet? Or did you dare not look….

So we have a problem, and we need a solution, I believe this solution is found by the following Formula

 

Therefore, my proposals by using the Delegated Legislation to the LGMPA 1976 would be as follows, and I have put what I propose in red for ease of reference

47​Licensing of hackney carriages.

47​Licensing of hackney carriages.

(1) A district council may attach to the grant of a licence of a hackney carriage under the Act of 1847 such conditions as the district council may consider reasonably necessary. 

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing subsection, a district council may require any hackney carriage licensed by them under the Act of 1847 to be of such design or appearance or bear such distinguishing marks as shall clearly identify it as a hackney carriage. 

(3) Any person aggrieved by any conditions attached to such a licence may appeal to a magistrates’ court.

 

48 ​Licensing of private hire vehicles.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, a district council may on the receipt of an application from the proprietor of any vehicle for the grant in respect of such vehicle of a licence to use the vehicle as a private hire vehicle, grant in respect thereof a vehicle licence: 

Provided that a district council shall not grant such a licence unless they are satisfied— 

(a) that the vehicle is— 

(i) suitable in type, size and design for use as a private hire vehicle; 

(ii) not of such design and appearance as to lead any person to believe that the vehicle is a hackney carriage; 

(iii) in a suitable mechanical condition; 

(iv) safe; and 

(v) comfortable; 

(b) that there is in force in relation to the use of the vehicle a policy of insurance or such security as complies with the requirements of [F2Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988], 

and shall not refuse such a licence for the purpose of limiting the number of vehicles in respect of which such licences are granted by the council.

(2) A district council may attach to the grant of a licence under this section such conditions as they may consider reasonably necessary including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this subsection, conditions requiring or prohibiting the display of signs on or from the vehicle to which the licence relates. 

(3) In every vehicle licence granted under this section there shall be specified— 

(a) the name and address of— 

(i) the applicant; and 

(ii) every other person who is a proprietor of the private hire vehicle in respect of which the licence is granted, or who is concerned, either solely or in partnership with any other person, in the keeping, employing or letting on hire of the private hire vehicle; 

(b) the number of the licence which shall correspond with the number to be painted or marked on the plate or disc to be exhibited on the private hire vehicle in accordance with subsection (6) of this section; 

(c) the conditions attached to the grant of the licence; and 

(d) such other particulars as the district council consider reasonably necessary. 

(4) Every licence granted under this section shall— 

(a) be signed by an authorised officer of the council which granted it; 

(b) relate to not more than one private hire vehicle; and 

(c) remain in force for such period not being longer than one year as the district council may specify in the licence. 

(5) Where a district council grant under this section a vehicle licence in respect of a private hire vehicle they shall issue a plate or disc identifying that vehicle as a private hire vehicle in respect of which a vehicle licence has been granted. 

(6) (a) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, no person shall use or permit to be used in a controlled district as a private hire vehicle in respect of which a licence has been granted under this section unless the plate or disc issued in accordance with subsection (5) of this section is exhibited on the vehicle in such manner as the district council shall prescribe by condition attached to the grant of the licence.

(b) If any person without reasonable excuse contravenes the provisions of this subsection he shall be guilty of an offence. 

(7) Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a district council to grant a vehicle licence under this section, or by any conditions specified in such a licence, may appeal to a magistrates’ court.

 

Hold on, have I not just dealt with Cross Border Hiring and the drivers who go and get a Hackney License somewhere that’s easy to obtain and then work as a Private Hire elsewhere?

Well, lets be safe about the Hackneys working as Private Hire shall we.

67 Hackney carriages used for private hire.

(1) No hackney carriage shall be used in the district under a contract or purported contract for private hire except at a rate of fares or charges not greater than that fixed by the byelaws or tables mentioned in section 66 of this Act, and, when any such hackney carriage is so used, the fare or charge shall be calculated from the point in the district at which the hirer commences his journey.

(2) Any person who knowingly contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) In subsection (1) of this section “contract” means—

(a) a contract made otherwise than while the relevant hackney carriage is plying for hire in the district or waiting at a place in the district which, when the contract is made, is a stand for hackney carriages appointed by the district council under section 63 of this Act; and

(b) a contract made, otherwise than with or through the driver of the relevant hackney carriage, while it is so plying or waiting.

 

But, lets be clear on the Operators also, it would be only right, after all

56 Operators of private hire vehicles.

(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act every contract for the hire of a private hire vehicle licensed under this Part of this Act shall be deemed to be made with the operator who accepted the booking for that vehicle whether or not he himself provided the vehicle.

(2) Every person to whom a licence in force under section 55 of this Act has been granted by a district council shall keep a record in such form as the council may, by condition attached to the grant of the licence, prescribe and shall enter therein, before the commencement of each journey, such particulars of every booking of a private hire vehicle invited or accepted by him, whether by accepting the same from the hirer or by undertaking it at the request of another operator, as the district council may by condition prescribe and shall produce such record on request to any authorised officer of the council or to any constable for inspection.

(3) Every person to whom a licence in force under section 55 of this Act has been granted by a district council shall keep such records as the council may, by conditions attached to the grant of the licence, prescribe of the particulars of any private hire vehicle operated by him and shall produce the same on request to any authorised officer of the council or to any constable for inspection.

(4) A person to whom a licence in force under section 55 of this Act has been granted by a district council shall produce the licence on request to any authorised officer of the council or any constable for inspection.

(5) If any person without reasonable excuse contravenes the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence.

 

And that’s just clarified the acceptance of bookings made by Apps.

This brings the LGMPA 1976 into the modern world while keeping the true intentions of the Act safe and secure, now who wouldn’t want that?

Granted, I am not a legal eagle and maybe my wording would need a slight tweak here and there, but it cost me a total of 2 pint cans of Stella Artois and 6 cigs to sort this out, now that’s a Yorkshireman’s budget if ever there was one.

So it was that easy Wardy? Yes mate, it was…..

 

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Breaking News : Uber Boss Quits Trump Advisory Group After People #DeleteUber En Masse.

Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of ride-sharing service Uber, has stepped down from President Donald Trump's economic advisory group after strong criticism from staff and the public.

The board, which also counts Tesla chief executive Elon Musk as a member, is due to meet the president on Friday.

Uber is one of several technology firms concerned over the impact of the immigration ban on its workforce.

The company said it had set up a $3m legal fund to help those affected.

These may include Uber's own drivers. 

Mr Kalanick informed his employees on Thursday about his decision.

In a memo to staff seen by the BBC he said: "Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that.

"Earlier today I spoke briefly with the president about the immigration executive order and its issues for our community," he wrote. 

Appearing frustrated with how his involvement was being interpreted in the press, Mr Kalanick added: "The implicit assumption that Uber (or I) was somehow endorsing the Administration's agenda has created a perception-reality gap between who people think we are, and who we actually are."

The move was backed by the Independent Drivers Guild which represents Uber drivers in New York.

"This is an important show of solidarity with the immigrant drivers who helped build Uber and number over 40,000 in New York City alone," said the group's founder, Jim Conigliaro.

"We are heartened that Uber has listened to the drivers and the community on this important issue that is so integral to the promise of the American dream."

Uber has come in for some heavy criticism since President Trump's election. 

Over last weekend, as protesters gathered at several US airports, Uber appeared to defy a recent NYC taxi strike by removing surge pricing - the mechanism by which prices go up on the service when demand is high. 

A social media campaign to "#DeleteUber" quickly went viral.

However, Uber said it had not been its intention to break the strike, and was looking to help people reach the airport without paying higher fares.

Source : Rueters 

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Daily Compliance Statistics 01/02/17 From Drive Observations ... By @WatchTfL.

Compliance statistics from Wednesday 01/02/17

100's of cabs checked not 1 PH

You can help build & shape this report.

Don't forget, your help is essential.

PLEASE FOLLOW @WatchTfL on Twitter and report any compliance teams spotted. 

Having removed badges and HiVis jackets, compliance team, having a nice sit down away from the rat race in the quiet of Gough Square!

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