Work Stopped On Oxford Street Pedestrianisation As Residential Votes Were Not Counted By TFL

Westminster’s cabinet member for Oxford Street, Daniel Astaire, has now told officials to stop working on the pedestrianisation plan. At a full council meeting last week Mr Astaire said: “TfL and the Mayor are the main proponents of the changes to the street, but it belongs to the council and the decision rests with us.  

Westminster council now says TFL's plans are “unacceptable”

“I have informed them — much to some surprise — that detailed work on a scheme is to be stopped. They had even wanted to appoint an artist to design street concept art, but I have stopped this too. At present there is no scheme nor a proposal which is acceptable to the council.”

He said Westminster could only back a plan that addressed the concerns of residents. Mr Astaire warned that any legal move by TfL to take control of what has been described as Europe’s most polluted street could take four years.

In his manifesto for the 2016 mayoral election Mr Khan said he would: “Restore London’s air quality to legal and safe levels, with action to make travel greener and pedestrianise Oxford Street, while protecting the green belt.”

When the Mayor then launched his proposals for Oxford Street in November he was accompanied by Westminster’s deputy leader Robert Davis, suggesting support from the council. 

Mr Davis has stepped aside from his role while he is investigated over claims that he received more than 514 “gifts and hospitality”.

TfL bosses initially claimed that the most recent round of consultation — between 6 November and 3 January — revealed 64 per cent outright or partial support for pedestrianisation.

However, it later emerged that many responses from residents had not been recorded because TfL had given out an incorrect email address. 

The deadline for responses was extended to April 6. 

Mr Astaire, who steps down next week, said “the overwhelming majority of Westminster’s residents and businesses” were against the plans.

Local Conservatives are under pressure from three candidates standing for the single-issue Campaign Against Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street party in next Thursday’s council election. 

Westminster Conservative leaders are worried that CAPOS could draw enough votes away from the Tories to allow Labour to win West End, Marylebone High Street and Bryanston and Dorset Square wards.

The Tory candidate for Bryanston and Dorset Square ward, Eoghain Murphy, said in a tweet this week: “Only the Conservatives will protect residents’ interests against the Labour Mayor’s plans. Don’t waste your vote!”

A spokesman for the Mayor said: “The Transformation of Oxford Street is a joint project between Westminster council, TfL and the Mayor… We continue to work closely with Westminster council to look at all the latest consultation responses in detail, and ensure everyone’s views are taken on board before a final proposed scheme is  presented.”

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Tory MP Liz Truss, Confirms Tory Party Support For Illegal Ride Share App.

In the Telegraph today a Tory minister warned:

"Labour will ban Uber and AirBnB if they gain control of councils. She goes on to brand the Conservatives the party of the gig economy".

Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, writes in the Telegraph about how the Tory party is the true party of young people, as it allows them to innovate in the new economy.

She warns that the Labour Party will ban start-ups such as Uber, Deliveroo and AirBnB, or stifle them with regulation so they fail, pointing to Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s battle with Uber in London. This caused the ride-hailing app to lose its license, a decision the company is now appealing. 

MORE TORY LIES !

This is more proof (as if any were needed) that the Tory party is 100% behind the continued licensing of this USA based company that doesn't pay full UK tax or VAT, has an extremely poor passenger safety record, failed to protect customer data, and spies on licensing regulators.  

More Tory lies !

Mayor Khans battle with Uber never happened. Khan has spent most of his time in the job defending Uber. 

The decision not to renew Ubers licence was made reluctantly by TfL, citing the apps poor passenger safety record, poor driving ability, data hacking of customer accounts and the greyball software which stopped secret shoppers investigating passenger complaints. 

More Tory Lies !

Fact is in London, the party leading councils will have no effect on Ubers relicensing appeal bit. 

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT:

Comment From Robert Moore on FaceBook 

Liz Truss is a Conservative is Chief Secretary to the Treasury, what she is actually saying is that she thinks Labour’s election pledge to clamp down on the gig economy is a bad thing - or to put it another way; the Tories have no intention whatsoever to ban Uber & their like.

So a vote for the Conservatives is a vote to continue the free for all that is destroying our industry, and we all know what that will mean for the Taxi Trade.

Vote wisely!

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Uber suspends operations in Vienna after court ruling

  

VIENNA - Ride-hailing service Uber said it was suspending operations in Vienna on Wednesday after a court upheld a complaint against its business practices brought by a local taxi company.

Uber's Austrian arm said in a statement: "Sadly, today's decision by Vienna's commercial court, for now, does not allow us to offer our services UberX, UberBLACK, and uberVAN in Vienna".

But it added that "we are working intensively to change our practices, in order to be able to offer our services to you again within a few days".

The complaint against Uber was brought by the Taxi 40100 company.

It said Uber represented unfair competition as it did not have to abide by the same rules as traditional taxi companies for picking up passengers.

"We're delighted with the court's decision," said Taxi 40100 head Christian Holzhauser.

Ride-hailing services have met with protests from taxi drivers in numerous cities and varying levels of resistance from authorities around the world.

Earlier this month, Uber had to suspend one of its services in Greece after tighter rules on the sector were introduced, while in March it had to suspend operations in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.

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Photo Shopped Taxi Driver Licences Accepted On MyTaxi App. Part 2

Under the mismanagement of Mike (on side) Brown, TfLTPH have lost all control of Taxi and PH apps.

This trade has a problem with alleged unlicensed Taxi drivers at Heathrow asking for postcodes to major hotels.

And now, Transport apps are prompting Taxi drivers to break the law.

Someone has to speak up for Public Safety.

Do we matter at all?

Licensed London Taxi drivers are as safe as houses!

Transport Apps are not safe.

Transport Apps need a regulator, or it will end up like in Ireland where anyone with a driving license may drive for an app - no cab license needed.

How dangerous is that?

It shows 'The Establishment' don't give a toss if a Pleb is raped or even murdered. They probably feel there's a surplus of us already.

The silence from our representativeOrgs and Unions, especially those with newspapers and magazines, is deafening.

If any of our Orgs or Unions put advertising revenue before Public Safety, they are no better than the corrupt politicians and brazen TfL execs they pour scorn on.

The same goes for any driver who wants to sweep this dangerous situation under the carpet, because it might affect their app work.

Here's news for you, you're not earning more on an app than on the street.

You've just learned to rely on it.

Principles are not for sale.

By Lenny Etheridge. 

   

    

Delroy Grant, picking up Mike a Brown

    

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TAXI LEAKS EXCLUSIVE: Helen Chapman's Photo Shopped Bill Accepted On MyTaxi App.

TAXI LEAKS EXCLUSIVE :

Taxi Leaks has acquired evidence that a drivers bill,  bearing the name of TfLs Helen Chapman has been accepted onto the MyTaxi platform, even though it gives the address of 230 Blackfriars road (home of TFL's Taxi and Private Hire administration centre.) 

In addition to naming one of TFL's directors, on the bottom right hand corner, it carries a text passage saying that the regional manager of MyTaxi should be sacked for allowing this breach of security.....and yet it was still accepted on to the platform. 

This is the welcom email sent out to the fake Helen Chapman driver.

In addition, we have also been sent evidence that a serial rapist jailed for life, has been uploaded on to MyTaxi and actual jobs have been recorded, accredited to his account. 

Prolific rapist Delroy Grant was accepted staight on to the platform without question (even though his address was given as 21, Du Cane Road...the address of Wormwood Scrubs prison) and has been authorised to pick up passengers through the app.

We have been given proof below  that a journey was booked for Delroy Grant to pick up.

This evidence has massive security implications and could be used by enemies of the Taxi trade in London to tarnish our good name.

Taxi Leaks believes that the MyTaxi app should cease trading until it can fully guarantee the identity of all its drivers.

We received this information on Sunday night but were asked not to post as the people involved were trying to arrange a meeting with the MyTaxi CEO. We have now been informed that a meeting has been refused and that so far, MyTaxi has failed to issue a statement.. 

Once again the lid has been blown off instant hail apps, but this time, unfortunately,....it's one of our own. 

The MyTaxi app has a gapping security hole, that has allowed dodgy, photoshopped, un-vetted Taxi licenses to be uploaded onto the platform, to work alongside genuine Licensed Taxi drivers.

Just how many fake licenses have MyTaxi taken onto their app?

Is this the norm with other instant hail ride share apps?

MyTaxi - A Potentially Unsafe App by Tim Fenton on Zelo Street blog...

Moreover, MyTaxi might look as if it is there to help the cab trade, but they are on record claiming “Our competition is the street hail”. That’s a challenging proposition for the average cabbie: join MyTaxi and find yourself working for the unofficial opposition. Worse, as TfL have pointed out, it “does not licence MyTaxi or any other company offering similar taxi services via an app or radio circuit”. Obviously, private Hire is different.

Click this link below to continue reading Tim's post:

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Uber No Longer Trust Their Drivers With Your Pick Up Or Drop Off Details.

Apparently, Uber no longer trust their drivers with your pick up and drop off destination. They announced today that they are to hide pick up and drop off details on the journey notes. 

The changes come after customers going train stations (or to the airport) have complained of burglaries on their return.

Passengers have also complained of sexual harassment from drivers who "know where you live".

In a small change which could improve the peace of mind of its passengers, Uber will now obscure the exact pick-up and drop-off locations in its drivers’ records.

What it is: 

After this feature goes live, drivers will no longer have a record of precisely where they picked you up and dropped you off. Instead the app will show them the general vicinity of each location.

This procedure is becoming increasing like a street hail, which is illegal.

According to Gizmodo, this feature will roll out around the same time as Uber’s new driver app is out for everyone, which should be within the next few weeks.

The details: 

Uber’s making the change in order to comply with the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation. While the drivers will still need something for their records — something to show they did, indeed pick up a passenger in Area X and drop them off in Area Y at specific times — they’ll no longer retain your exact records.

Why it matters: 

While participating in a rideshare does mean you have to place enough implicit trust in a person to get into a car with them and let them drive you places, it doesn’t necessarily mean you want them to have a record of your location. This is particularly true if the one of the places in question is your home or work.

In the article by Gizmodo, the commentator states:

On the one occasion I Ubered alone, I had the driver drop me off at a location down the street and pretended to linger on the sidewalk with a phone call while he drove off. It wasn’t that I had anything against that person in particular — I just preferred that someone with whom I exchanged two sentences and made fleeting eye contact with in a rearview mirror not know my Airbnb’s location.

It’s not a catch-all solution:

It doesn’t prevent a driver from remembering your locations. Still, it’s a step towards giving wary passengers some sense of safety. Especially after it was revealed that 13,000 Uber drivers haven't had the proper criminal record checks with their TfL licenses. The fact that the rape of Uber passengers by drivers rose last year by 50% makes the service one of the most unsafe forms of travel in London.

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BREAKING NEWS: Statement from Brighton & Hove City Council Regarding Uber Relicense.

Following yesterday's licensing panel meeting, on the renewal of Uber Britannia Ltd's private hire operator's license has been delayed.

Given the scope and number of representations made to the panel, counsellors have decided to take further time to give careful and detailed consideration to the matter, to ensure the right decision is made.

The panel will reconvene later this week and will announce the decision on the renewal of the license as soon as possible following that meeting. 

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