The Evening Standard (London)
January 24, 2000
Computer cabs
A PROPOSAL to streamline the London cabdrivers' "Knowledge" examination by introducing computer technology has split the London Taxi Board. Its leadership wants to speed up the system by replacing one-to-one verbal tests with computer examinations which can be taken by many candidates at the same time. Many drivers are appalled at the prospect.
Mr Bob Oddy, general secretary of the London Taxi Drivers' Association, says the change will lower standards and threaten the livelihoods of drivers who are already on the road. "If it isn't broken," he says of the current system, "why fix it?" In fact, though, the system is broken. A shortage of Knowledge examiners has led to delays of up to three years before applicants can take the test. As a result, as this newspaper has pointed out before, London's streets are starved of taxis at peak times.
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The Times (London)
March 13, 1986, Thursday
HEADLINE: Law Report: Power to levy taxi charge (105) /SCT
Regina v British Airports Authority, Ex parte London Taxi Drivers Association
The British Airports Authority had power to levy a charge on taxi drivers without amending existing by-laws.
Mr Justice Mann so held in the Queen's Bench Division on March 12 dismissing an application by the London Taxi Drivers Association for judicial review of the decision of the British Airports Authority of July 30, 1985 to levy a charge of 50p on taxi drivers using the taxi feeder park at Heathrow Airport.
HIS LORDSHIP said that the power to levy such a charge was not inconsistent with the Heathrow Airport London By-laws.
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The Times (London)
July 31 1986, Thursday
HEADLINE: Artist finds cabbie she made famous
BYLINE: TRUDI MCINTOSH
An American art student, whose oil painting of a London taxi driver in his cab won two important art awards in Boston, was reunited with her subject in Mayfair yesterday after writing a letter to The Times to trace him.
Sara Trainor, aged 18, from Boston, Massachusetts, presented the painting, 'London Cab Driver', to a delighted Mr Jack Feinstein, who has been driving American tourists around the capital's sights for 28 years.
'To be London's only taxi driver immortalized on canvas is like a dream come true. I am still getting over the shock of Sara finding me out of 19,000 taxi drivers', Mr Feinstein from Gants Hill, Essex, said.
He was found when The Times sent a photograph of him to the London Taxi Drivers Association. It had been taken three years ago by Sara's sister, Carol, after Mr Feinstein had driven them from outside Buckingham Palace to Harrods in Knightsbridge. Mr Feinstein was recognized immediately.
Miss Trainor, who is touring Britain with her family, said:
'I so much wanted to present him the painting after its success but he never told us his name back in 1983.'
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The Evening Standard (London)
January 24, 2000
HEADLINE: Split in the ranks over changes to 'knowledge'
BYLINE: David Williams;Tony Bassett
MOVES to modernise London cabbies' famous "knowledge" test with computerised exams have provoked a bitter split among leaders of the 23,000-member industry.
The London Taxi Board wants to push through changes to bring the near century-old test - feared and respected in equal measures by cab drivers for generations - up to date.
But the London Taxi Drivers' Association, which represents thousands of cabbies, has quit the board in protest. It claims that modernising the test will flood the streets with more drivers than before and threaten the livelihood of existing cabbies.
The board, which represents the interests of the entire industry, including garage owners and hire companies, says it is "disappointed" that the LTDA has decided to end its membership and has said it hopes it will reconsider its decision.
Bob Oddy, general secretary of the LTDA, the largest organisation in the London taxi trade, said: "Our concern is that the rest of the board have been campaigning for some time to alter the knowledge of London test by bringing in computers.
"They argue that they don't want to see a reduction in standards but my view is they are doing it to reduce standards and pump out thousands of extra taxi drivers into London.
"It is a threat to our members' livelihood and in any case there are already a record number of licences being issued." Mr Oddy claims around 1,000 new licences had been issued in the past year compared with 600 to 700 in previous years.
"They want to replace individual examiners and test 50 candidates at a time in front of a computer screen," he said. "Why should we change things?
If it isn't broken, why fix it?"
According to the LTDA, one reason for change was that Londoners had experienced problems getting taxis in the West End on Saturday nights. "While we accept there may sometimes be a difficulty getting a cab then, there are always enough taxis during the week," he said. "You can't just flood London with taxis during the week in order to get revellers home on a Saturday night."
He said the Government is reviewing fares with a view to increasing them on Saturday nights to get more cabs onto the streets.
The London Taxi Board said in a statement: "The board would like to place on record the categoric view of all its members that any proposed reforms of the knowledge test should not in any way lead to a reduction in the knowledge syllabus or the high standard of licensed taxi drivers it currently produces for London. "The board hopes that the LTDA will reconsider its decision and join with the board to continue to promote and protect the interests of the licensed taxi industry across a range of policy areas."
Today, Rodney Lewis, editor of Taxi Globe, said the knowledge test needs updating although he said standards should not be dropped. "Also there are not enough examiners at the moment, leading to long waits for candidates of up to three years. It should only take one year.
Computerisation might help speed up the process," he said.
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Sunday Express
March 9, 2003
HEADLINE: WARNING TO WOMEN AS ASSAULTS BY ASYLUM SEEKERS SOAR; RAPE ATTACK MENACE OF THE BOGUS CABBIES
BYLINE: By Keith Perry
ILLEGAL minicab drivers are responsible for a four-fold increase in the number of sex attacks over the past year.
In London alone, 214 women have been sexually assaulted and 54 raped. In 1997 the total number of attacks was 66. Cities such as Manchester have experienced similar problems.
Two years ago the Government promised to license minicab drivers in the capital but the first licence has yet to be issued.
An Old Bailey judge last week issued an alarming warning that no woman is safe in a minicab.
Jailing an asylum seeker for eight years for raping a 28-yearold secretary, Recorder Michael Sayers said passengers had no way of knowing a driver's background and called for compulsory licensing.
An immigration officer working at Dover said: "Of the illegal immigrants we pick up, a vast majority are working as minicab drivers without any insurance or police checks on their background. They could be war criminals, rapists or murderers."
The case highlights a growing problem in cities where a burgeoning nightclub culture and lack of public transport has led to a boom in the use of minicabs.
These are separate from licensed black cabs and are supposed to be booked in advance at a central office. But many ply for hire illegally on the streets.
There are 100,000 private hire drivers in the UK. Powers to license them have been on the statute book since 1998 but the law's enforcement depends heavily on local council policy.
Demand for minicabs in London has soared because black cab fares for evening journeys rose by 50 per cent last year under mayor Ken Livingstone's plan to encourage more drivers to work at night. Richard Massett, of the London Taxi Drivers' Association, said: "It's been five years since regulation was approved in Parliament and nothing has happened."
Tim Godwin, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "We are particularly concerned that there may be people purporting to be minicab drivers as a deliberate ploy to to target victims and carry out sexual assaults." In Manchester, cab firms have dropped their legal appeal against plans to make bona fide drivers instantly recognisable by having all minicabs painted white and clearly marked with stickers.
Greater Manchester police have urged lone women not to hail minicabs after a 48-year-old woman was beaten with a mallet by bogus cabbie Mustafa Hussein.
In another case, a 22-year-old banker was sexually attacked.
Superintendent Garry Shewan said: "I know it can be difficult when it's cold and raining and all you want to do is get home, but by taking this kind of risk you may never make it."
In Luton, seven cabbies have been stripped of their licences for sexually harassing or attacking women passengers.
Jo Walker, of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: "Police must be given more resources to get these illegal cabs off the road."
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The Times (London)
November 17, 2001, Saturday
HEADLINE: London cabbies charge highest fares in Europe
BYLINE: Helen Rumbelow
A soaring price rise in fares charged by London's black cabs means people stranded in the capital at night are forced to pay the highest prices in Europe to get home.
The hackney carriages, saviour to lone women and lost revellers, have recently had prices increased by more than a third at night, making an already expensive service double, often triple, the cost of other British and European cities.
The relief on seeing their orange light on a deserted street has now turned to outrage when the meter starts clicking at an accelerated rate, with many arguing that the current uproar will have long-term consequences for London life.
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, who introduced the increase two weeks ago, says that there are already signs of more black cabs on the streets at night. Protecting people against dangerous rogue minicabs has been one of his main objectives.
But a chorus of others, including many cab drivers who declare themselves so embarrassed at the high charges that they knock money off the fare, say that the prices put the taxis out of reach of the masses. This defeats the object of the exercise by forcing them back to the mercy of the unlicensed cabs.
Luke Johnson, chairman of the Belgo Group of restaurants and campaigner on behalf of the taxi customer, said that the prices "were expensive, now they're farcical".
"It is a lack of intelligence and balls from the mayor, who has allowed himself to be swayed by a powerful lobby of taxi organisations," he said. "Politicians don't like to get on the wrong side of taxi drivers as it spoils their own ride home at night."
Mr Johnson believes that because the rates are now higher after 8pm, taxi drivers will work shorter hours to earn the same money. Instead, he said there should be a new level of licensed taxi drivers who can work only in the unpopular night hours. "The customers at my restaurants can afford it, but it is my staff I'm worried about -it's just another nail in the coffin for the life of Central London and its workers."
Taxi drivers like Nick Line agree. He has worked as a cab driver for 27 years but said he knew something was wrong when his friend got him out of bed to pay the new higher fare on a taxi ride home. "I said to him, I wouldn't pay that fare, you must be joking," said Mr Line, 49.
Bob Oddy, secretary of the London Taxi Drivers' Association, which represents 7,000 of the 25,000 black cab drivers in London, said that the furore had got out of hand.
"There is so much hype and rumour that is all nonsense. We have to look at the problem rationally," said Mr Oddy, who was one of the leading campaigners for the increase.
In the past the only incentive for taxi drivers to work at night was a 60p supplement after 8pm and a 90p supplement after midnight.
That has now been replaced with an average 35 per cent increase for the first six miles of any journey from 8pm to 6am. It means that a five-mile journey after 8pm has increased from Pounds 10.20 to Pounds 14.80. But because the higher rates cut out after six miles the maximum increase is Pounds 5.40.
Peter Hendy, managing director of road transport at the Greater London Authority, said that when they increased prices they had the welfare of the late-night customer trying to find a cab in mind.
Many critics of black cabs complain that drivers often refuse to leave the centre of London. One traveller who tried to get a taxi from Finsbury Square to Blackheath early one morning was refused by 21 drivers before dialling a minicab company -whose driver was abused when he arrived. Under the new rules, black cab drivers are obliged to accept any customer travelling up to 12 miles.
Leading article and Letters, page 25
METER RUNNING
Fare for five-mile journey in licensed city cab with little traffic (at night in brackets):
London: Trafalgar Square to Hampstead, Pounds 9.20 (Pounds 14.80)
Paris: Notre-Dame to La Defense, Pounds 5.20 (Pounds 6.20)
Barcelona: Las Ramblas to Sant Andreu, Pounds 4.70 (Pounds 5.50)
Berlin: Kurfurstendamm to Grunewald, Pounds 7.60 (Pounds 8.90)
Brussels: Brussels Midi station to Evere, Pounds 7.60 (Pounds 8.80)
Stockholm: Central Station to Bromma Airport, Pounds 7 (Pounds
Cardiff: Pounds 7.30 (Pounds 8.30)
Edinburgh: Pounds 7.30 (Pounds 7.80)
Manchester: Pounds 7.80 (Pounds 8.20)
Glasgow: Pounds 6.30 (Pounds 6.90)
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[b]The Evening Standard (London)
May 14, 2001
HEADLINE: Cabbies attack Mayor over equality plans
BYLINE: Hugh Muir
A GROUP of taxi drivers has attacked Ken Livingstone's drive to persuade more minorities and women to become cabbies.
The London Cab Drivers' Club has accused the Mayor of insulting its members and indulging in social engineering over his plans to make sure the cab trade is more representative of London.
Despite the Mayor's claim that the trade is "an almost universal white male club", the cabbies insist their profession is "one of the most egalitarian trades in London".
The Drivers Club, which has 500 members, is one of a number of organisations involved in negotiations with the Mayor about his planned reforms.
In its journal The Badge, the club says its ethnic minority members feel slighted by the Mayor. It adds: "There are more fundamental issues to be addressed before we go down this race road, or is it your intention that we introduce a New York type service where not speaking English and not knowing where you are going are prerequisites to being a cab driver."
It continues: "If people from ethnic backgrounds choose to do the Knowledge, then they will be welcomed to the trade. If they do not then they have that choice. The London cab trade needs no help from political idealism in discriminating as to who will or who will not be a London cabbie." The Mayor was unavailable for comment but he is likely to deplore the tone of the attack.
While many elements of the reforms he hopes to drive through are negotiable, he is determined that the cab trade will address gender and race issues. He wants to ensure the interview process which forms part of the Knowledge does not discriminate against minority and women candidates.
His wider reforms will also sweep away anomalies such as the six-mile rule, which allows cabbies to refuse fares which take them beyond that distance.
This plan was attacked last week by the London Taxi Drivers Association, which represents 4,000 of the 23,000 drivers in London.
But the Mayor is having more constructive discussions with other cabbie organisations.
The Transport and General Workers Union says it is waiting for more details and the Joint Radio Taxi Association, with 8,000 drivers, is disassociating itself from those who oppose the Mayor.
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