Taxi Driver Online

LONDON TAXI BOARD AND LONDON MP WORK TOGETHER TO PREVENT CONGESTION CRISIS IN LONDON’S BUS LANES


Chair of the London Taxi Board (LTB), Brian Rice, recently met with MP for Ilford North, Lee Scott to discuss the growing concerns that the LTB have regarding the Mayor’s recent comments on Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) access to bus lanes.

Lee Scott’s constituency of Ilford North has a high number of taxi drivers and he was keen to offer ongoing support to the industry in light of these damaging announcements from the Mayor. Mr Scott shared the view with the LTB that a policy of allowing 40,000 Private Hire Vehicles into London’s Bus Lanes will result in a significant rise in traffic flow in the Bus Lanes, which will have a profound impact on congestion and will jeopardise the smooth running of these high speed priority lanes. Additionally, Mr Scott expressed safety concerns about the possibility of motorists following Private Hire Vehicles into Bus Lanes, regardless of any external signage.

Following a successful meeting Lee Scott tabled a number of written Parliamentary Questions about this issue. Newly appointed Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly MP will have to respond when Parliament returns from summer recess in October. In addition, Mr Scott has also written to the Mayor to express his personal concerns about the comments.

This campaign stems back to February 2007 when the Mayor announced on Capital Gold radio that he believed Private Hire Vehicles would be granted access to bus lanes in the near future. In a further concerning development, the Mayor has also indicated that the forthcoming announcement on PHV signage would enable this to take place by allowing the display of operator advertising on the rear window.

The following questions were tabled by Mr Scott:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to reduce the number of illegal minicab drivers operating in (a) London and (b) England.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the Mayor of London's office and (b) Transport for London on the access of private hire vehicles to bus lanes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Transport Occupational Command Unit regarding (a) the number of crimes committed by illegal minicab drivers and (b) proposed measures to reduce the number of illegal minicabs operating in London.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what projections have been made of the number of taxi drivers that will be operating in London for each of the next five years.


Following the meeting Lee Scott said, “The Black cab trade is a real asset to London and this needs to be recognised by the Mayor of London and TfL. In my view it would be quite wrong to allow private hire to use bus lanes. London’s ‘Black Cabs’ are instantly recognisable PHV’s are not. How could the authorities regulate bus lane use? We would get to the situation where every Tom, Dick and Harry is driving down bus lanes claiming to be minicab drivers. I am keen to support the interests of the trade and was delighted to meet again recently with Brian Rice, Chair of the London Taxi Board, to discuss current issues.”

LTB Chairman, Brian Rice was equally encouraged by the success of the meeting and commented: “Mr Scott has a number of taxi drivers within his constituency and has been a friend of the trade since his election in 2005. We welcome his continued support, and in particular his active role in this campaign and I am very much looking forward to working closely with him in the future.”

Brian Rice added: “In light of the upcoming London elections, we will continue to seek urgent clarification on this issue and reassurance that London’s transport infrastructure will not be jeopardised by this development and all further policy developments will be subject to a full and transparent consultation process.”

Ends

Date: 13 August 2007

Issued by: Richard Daniels, LTB secretary and media contact.

Telephone: 020 7700 9881

Email: richard.daniels@londontaxiboard.org

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IDFIMH

Perhaps someone should ask the pillock MP WTF this has got to do with the Secretary of State for Transport?

And maybe the tory MP could explain exactly what his party did to get rid of un-licensed vehicles in the 18 years they were in power?

Methinks the answer is sweet f*** all.

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IDFIMH

methinks your right

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Another kick in the teeth for London's wanabe Taxi drivers.
If someone could translate that into one of the million languages that London's Minicab drivers speak, they would probably shout 'taxee boss' even louder.

I'll do them a deal, learn the whole of London for two years, take about 16 face to face examinations with an examiner, take a driving test, take a wheelchair test, invest £33K in a fully accessable vehicle, stop refusing disabled people through your religion, then they can help themselves to any Bus Lane that they desire.

If they can find one which is'nt dug up or blocked, or full of Buses, that will be even better, but at the end of the day, they'll still be driving a Minicab for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.




You'd be a brave man to claim that.
Theres just no pride nowadays.

as well.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

But the issue isn't over how they speak, it's about the use of the bus lanes.

You may think it's fair that a Sussex taxi can use the bus lanes but the local PH can't, but I don't.

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IDFIMH

As far as i am concerned a bus,a taxi and a private hire all carry fare paying passengers,so we should be allowed to get them from A to B as soon as possible and also at the minimum cost

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

I think anyone and everyone should be able to use the bus lanes, end of problem.

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Former taxi driver

Then they wouldn't be bus lanes would they.

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Grandad,

What even me?

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IDFIMH

Spot on. Why should the public pay more to ride in a PH?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

And how many out of town Taxi's do I see in a day? 4, 5, or 6 perhaps?

They're hardly going to clog up the remaining space in London's Bus Lane's.
You forget anyone can buy a crappy 9 year old Vauxhall Astra and have it 'badged' as a Minicab, and as we all now know, thanks to Blobby, you don't even have to have Hire and Reward Insurance when you present the car.

Nice, two Mot's, and then you get a free ride down the priority Lanes, and don't pay the congestion charge.

I can't see many people becoming registered Taxi Proprieters, buying a £15 - 35K Cab, going for an induction at the PCO, and submitting the vehicle (with proper insurance) twice a year, once with a full overhall.

They don't. Minicabs don't have meters. So the route, or time spent in the vehicle makes no difference.

So a PH driver is going to charge the same for two seperate mile jobs, when one takes 5 minutes and the other 60?

I don't think so.

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IDFIMH

One, it's a Minicab driver (check the TFL site if you don't believe me)

Two, it's widely acknowledged Minicabs are fast becoming more expensive than the real London Taxi trade (ask some of the big 4 what they charge from central London to Heathrow for 5 people)

Three, If a customer hires you, do you change the price as the journey progreses?

London Minicabs don't have meters, a price is quoted before the trip commences. Given that they don't have a clue where they are going, it would be an expensive trip if meters ever got made mandatory.