Taxi Driver Online

More protests in Birmingham, but have posted this fairly straightforward BBC report rather than the usual stuff from the Birmingham Live site. But if anyone's interested in three million updates, photos, videos and statements on the protests, and waiting ten minutes for it all to load and hoping it won't crash your browser in the meantime, then there's a link to the more detailed report at the bottom

Birmingham black cabs in 'go slow' clean air zone protest

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... m-48021881


Image: BBC

Black cab drivers in Birmingham have started a nine-day "go slow" protest against proposed clean air zone charges in the city centre.

Drivers of high-polluting cars will have to pay £8 to travel in the city centre after the government approved the city's clean air zone (CAZ) plan.

Birmingham's RMT union said it wanted more than the £5,000 the city council was offering drivers to upgrade cabs.

The council said government funding would help support taxi drivers.

Cabbies will drive slowly through the city centre at peak times for two hours each day of the protest, but say they will call it off if the council agrees to talks.


Image: BBC

Birmingham City Council was given £38m by the government towards the cost of the CAZ, of which £15m has been pledged to help black cab and private hire drivers, including bursaries for new electric vehicles or retrofit solutions.

RMT wants more funding for compliant vehicles and also said the proposed CAZ charge for taxi drivers should be dropped.

Birmingham's union branch secretary Raja Amin said drivers were in favour of the zone "but not at our expense - we're already hard-pushed".

The £5,000 for each black cab driver to put towards adapting their existing vehicle or buying a new one, was "not enough", he said.

There have been "no meaningful discussions or negotiations" with the council, he said.

Cabbies at the taxi-rank outside the Bullring and New Street Station told the BBC they felt the council was "not concerned" and "has not thought" about them.

The CAZ is due to begin in January 2020 and would affect diesel cars manufactured before 2015 and petrol cars made before 2006 driving inside the A4540 ring road.

The charge will be £8 for cars and £50 for buses and HGVs.


Live updates: Birmingham taxi drivers stage go-slow in city centre during Tuesday morning rush hour

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-16165780

Taxi drivers staging first of a series of protests over council plans for new Clean Air Zone

good luck but I think the council has made it's mind up already and won't budge judging from the previous articles

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Same old today, but noticed a headline on another website saying that police had issued a warning to drivers, but seems the warning a bit less of a threat than the headline made it sound (see below).

Anyway, some extracts and photos from the Birmingham Mail's coverage, which might avoid some people's laptops having a nervous breakdown if they actually had to visit the site. Great coverage by the Mail, though, but lot of it is a bit micro-local, and from the point of view of many these websites are just a bit overwhelming.

EIGHT more protests planned
Taxi drivers are planning a further EIGHT go-slow protests in the coming two weeks.

The next demonstration takes place tomorrow between 8am and 10am.

Up to 80 taxis taking part
Our reporter Jane Tyler is covering the protests,.

She said organisers from the RMT union have told her they’re expecting “even more “ cabs to turn up today.

They said around 80 vehicles took part yesterday.

Car passengers had abandoned vehicles
Yesterday saw National Express divert a number of buses in the city centre, particularly routes serving south Birmingham.

Meanwhile, some car seat passengers abandoned their motors and walked through the gridlocked vehicles on foot instead.

Holloway Circus gridlocked
Holloway Circus island is now gridlocked again.

Within just minutes of the cabbies setting off, traffic is all snarled up.

The angry tooting of horns by frustrated motorists has begun.

Today’s gridlock isn’t as bad as yesterday’s because police are here to ensure the outside lane of the island is kept clear.

Police out in force
The RMT organiser Raja Amin has just had another heated discussion with police.

He’s angry that officers have told the cabbies they’re causing an obstruction and moved them on.

Police issue warning
West Midlands Police has issued a warning to taxi drivers.

They tweeted: “We’re aware of today’s demo by taxi drivers in #Birmingham. If motorists are deliberately causing an obstruction, for example by getting out of their vehicles in the middle of the road or remaining in their vehicles while stationary, officers will take appropriate action.”

They added: “We’ve got officers in the city centre to assist with the free flow of traffic, and drivers who deliberately cause obstructions will be dealt with appropriately.”

Union defends action
Raja Amin, president for the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union Midlands council which is leading the campaign, declared the demonstrations a success and warned that even more drivers could join in over the course of week.

He said: “We wanted to show Birmingham City Council that we are not going to take their policy lying down.

“Most people said to us before that it is too early, people are on holiday, schools and colleges are closed, it might not have an impact.”


Images: Birmingham Mail/Birmingham Live

I suspect once the council took the millions from the government, there is/was no turning back.

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IDFIMH

The cab drivers protest does look very similar to what we have down here every November.

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IDFIMH