Taxi Driver Online

Bid to put tuk-tuks onto city's streets

Home - Tuk-tuk TUK-tuks are set to hit Cambridge as a possible rival to the city's taxi firms. Plans to introduce the diminutive threewheel carriages to the city's streets will be considered by Cambridge City Council's licensing committee next week.

The auto rickshaws are most closely associated with the bustling streets of Asian cities, such as Bangkok and Delhi, but they could help to ease congestion in the centre of Cambridge.

If approved, the tuk-tuks will be primarily used to convey tourists across the city during guided tours, but they could be used as private hire cabs. But taxi bosses have raised concerns about the safety of passengers given the lightweight nature of the vehicles.

A similar scheme in Bath was scrapped after two passengers were injured when a tuk-tuk rolled over. Two children were also hurt in a "freak accident" in Brighton after a tyre blowout.

Glenn Hall, chairman of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis Ltd, said: "I don't think they are a safe form of transport. "I went on one of them in a foreign country and it was very dangerous. You only have to look at the accidents in other countries to see the risks and having one of them tearing up a bus lane could be a problem.

"It was bad enough when we had those pushbike rickshaws on the streets. "Because they would be pre-booked, they wouldn't worry taxi drivers as competition, but I would be concerned about their safety."

The first tuk-tuk application has been made by entrepreneur Malcolm Fulcher, but council officers warn if his bid is successful "it is likely that other operators may also look to set up in the district and the council cannot limit the amount of licences it issues". Officers add that "public safety is paramount" and all vehicles must meet exacting standards to obtain a licence.

Motorcycle safety expert Bernard Adams, manager of Camrider Motorcycle Training, said the tuk-tuk could be a safe form of transport if licensed properly.

He said: "The tuk-tuks running in India or Thailand would not comply with safety standards for the UK, but ones used here could meet approval. If they were doing under 30mph, then I think it would be a good way to get about town.

"They've been introduced in Brighton and they enjoyed some success. "Like motorcycles, their footprint is very low and they can do 150 miles to the gallon." He said most tuktuks were now fourstroke and had very low ccs. The city council will discuss the issue on Monday.

The 3-wheeled taxi

■ Tuk-tuk, a three-wheeled motorised rickshaw, is named after the spluttering noise emitted from its engine.

■ They're very popular in the Indian sub-continent and Far East, particularly in busy cities such as Mumbai, Bangkok and Delhi.

■ Models proposed for Cambridge would carry a driver and two passengers, would have seatbelts and a maximum speed of 35mph.

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IDFIMH

And the report to councillors is quite simply a sham.

http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/coun ... b/07_2.pdf

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IDFIMH

It makes me laugh when I see these applications when their own conditions state that no vehicle whose engine capacity is less than 1300cc will be licensed. Surely that is the end of the matter for these vehicles.

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Grandad,

Clearly the LOs of Cambridge haven't bothered reading, or referring to councillors, this report from an experience traffic officer (PC Hart) dated last year.

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/democracy/ ... ID%3d38326

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IDFIMH

Taxi Drivers Against Tuk-tuk Plans

6th July 2009

Taxi drivers have come out against plans to introduce tuk-tuks to the streets of Cambridge.

Members of the Cambridge Drivers Association, which represents more than 100 hackney carriage drivers, have voted to oppose the move to introduce the diminutive three-wheel vehicles.

Entrepreneur Malcolm Fulcher wants to run guided tuk-tuk tours for sightseers, and the auto-rickshaws could also be used as private hire cabs.

In a poll of more than 800 users on Cambridge News Online, 57 per cent of respondents supported the proposals.

But Robert Soanes, the association's chairman, said the lightweight tuk-tuks could be fatally dangerous.

Some non-motorised rickshaws already operate in Cambridge.

Mr Soanes said: "We feel there may be a novelty factor, as can be seen with the rickshaw-type cycles. However, a motorised vehicle can present far more dangers in that it is capable of far greater speeds than a pedal-powered vehicle.

"We have reports of many instances of rickshaws being ridden erratically and weaving hard to enhance the 'thrill' for their customers.

"If this were emulated in a tuk-tuk at speed, we could witness a fatality on the streets of Cambridge."

A similar scheme in Bath was scrapped after two passengers were injured when a tuk-tuk rolled over.

Two children were also hurt in a "freak accident" in Brighton after a tyre blowout.

In a report to Cambridge City Council's licensing committee, Jas Lally, head of environmental services, said tuk-tuks would require biannual mechanical fitness tests and would be classed as motor vehicles in terms of access.

He added public safety was of "paramount importance".

Safety expert Bernard Adams, manager of Camrider Motorcycle Training, said the tuk-tuk could be a safe and environmentally friendly form of transport if licensed properly.

He said: "The tuk-tuks running in India or Thailand would not comply with safety standards for the UK, but ones used here could meet approval.

"If they were doing under 30mph, then I think it would be a good way to get about town."

Licensing chiefs were set to take a decision on the application today.


AND


Tuk-tuk Plans Move Step Closer

7th July 2009

Plans to introduce tuk-tuks to Cambridge have moved a step closer after councillors agreed to examine the proposals in more detail.

Members of Cambridge City Council's licensing committee voted unanimously to consider an application by entrepreneur Malcolm Fulcher to bring the motorised rickshaws to the city once officers had prepared a full report into their safety.

Mr Fulcher wants permission to turn an existing tuk-tuk into a private hire vehicle, which he will use to give 90-minute guided tours of Cambridge to tourists. If he is successful, other tuk-tuk operators are expected to follow and run the three-wheeled carriages as a taxi service.

But taxi drivers have opposed the move on safety grounds. In a letter to councillors, Robert Soanes, chairman of Cambridge Drivers' Association, branded the proposed tuk-tuk "a potentially fatal gimmick" to promote tourism.

"All the current modern fleet of hackney carriages are crash-tested at some point and have a rigid roof structure to protect passengers. The tuk-tuk have neithe," he said.

But Cllr Neale Upstone told the meeting at the Guildhall yesterday (Monday, 06 July) that customers should have the right to judge the risk of riding in a tuk-tuk for themselves.

He said: "People who cycle around get injured and even killed, but we do not say: 'You should only drive Hummers.'

"When do we become the nannies for people who will want to get about how they like?

"Are we taking away choice for people if we were to oppose tuk-tuks?"

Cllr Jennifer Liddle said serious consideration should be given to licensing tuk-tuks as hackney carriages, which would allow them to pick up passengers from the street.

She said: "If officers are going to license them as private hire carriages, I do not see why they should not be hackney carriages."

The meeting also received a submission from Cambridgeshire police's casualty reduction officer, Tony Barrios, who voiced concerns about the vehicles operating on some of the county's larger roads, such as the A14.

Council officers have been asked to prepare an in-depth report into the tuk-tuks, including conditions covering safety and pollution, which will be presented to the committee when the tuk-tuk's licence is considered in the autumn.

Source for both articles; cambridge-news.co.uk

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

And we should send kids back down the chimneys.


When you adopted the 1976 act.


No but you could be saving their lives.

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IDFIMH