Taxi Driver Online

read this week's route one pages 3/8/22/23,

http://www.route-one.net/issues/515/pub ... x.htm#/23/

Let's hope it is the beginning of the end.

Has anyone the latest on the chap going Euro, for want of a better phrase?

P.S. Right crap website for that mag.

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IDFIMH

I Cant open the link...

Same here.

I noticed a Community Travel bus parked outside a busy pub round here at 11:30pm last night, I thought, hhhmmmm they aren't picking OAP's up because it's not that sort of pub OAP's go into.

I am in regular contact with the man going euro, Martin Allen. He says it's taking far longer than originally anticipated, but progress is being made.

The "attack" is basically on two fronts, that of the s19/s22 exemption for CT groups from the psv licencing/testing regime, and the second is on the anti-competition side, where CT groups receive vast amounts of state aid which then enables them to compete from council tenders with a huge competitive advantage of no licences/government aid etc.

We now have the benefit that the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has at long last woken up to the matter and has entered the debate on this subject. It appears they've been lobbying quite heavily over the last few years, but like the chaps who have been doing the other leg work, it has been kept out of the public eye for now. Martin Allen of JA Travel in Mansfield is one of them. He is an absolute mine of information on the subject.

The CPT has also taken the matter up with the Senior Traffic Commissioner who has recently issued a new set of Guidelines which she expects psv operators to abide by. Despite submissions by myself and numerous other about the s19 problem, she chose to ignore it! Instead, there is a wooly "not for commercial use" or something similar clause in there which again skirts round the CT problem!

Did you know there are over 140,000 CT minibuses and permits issued? There's only 98,000 psv operator discs issued! The psv operator has to show backup finance of about £10,000 per disc issued, has to have a qualified transport manager, has to submit vehicles for regular safety checks etc; the s19 permits are handed out like confetti with few checks made.

An update, I had a call from Martin Allen last night with what he says is very good news from our point of view. As a "taster" he says there was a meeting last week in Ulster involving government lawyers, EU lawyers and interested parties and the outcome is that both set of lawyers agree the s19/s22 system is illegal and must cease.

Entry to the profession as the EU calls it must be level across the board; "hire and reward", "commercial gain", "not for profit" whatever you want to call it, regardless of the status of the operator, is all the same. It is being done for MONEY, and is hire and reward.

The ONLY exemptions will be things like scout and church groups. "Travel clubs" and the like will not be exempt as they are set up to provide travel!

There will be a full announcement soon. Martin has asked me to keep this information basic at the moment until he has seen the detail of the meeting.

Could the light at the end of the tunnel be appearing soon?

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IDFIMH

Is that the guy from Forest Town near Mansfield?

Possibly, I know he's in the Mansfield area. He's done an awful lot of work on this matter and deserves to be recognised for that if hopefully things work out as we want them to.

It's the same guy. He's spent £70K fighting the cause.

Sounds right. He's also working with a psv operator in the north east who has reportedly spent a similar sum fighting the same cause. I jut hope these guys succeed.

No one is supporting them though, they're spending their own money but others are going to benefit from it.

Welcome to the cab trade 1847-2013.

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IDFIMH

The latest new on the matter courtesy of RouteOne:

http://www.route-one.net/issues/517/index.html#/14/

Good..I hope it puts an end to all Charity masked money making Minibus groups who drive on car licenses and shit on the rest of us with regards Council Tenders..