Taxi Driver Online

Derby Evening Telegraph

September 17, 2007 Monday

Council set to lay down law on future of city's rickshaws

Rules to decide how an unusual mode of transport should be licensed in Derby city centre are set to be discussed.

The council believes using rickshaws to get around Derby could be just the ticket to boost tourism.

Best known as a convenient way to travel in the Orient, rickshaws are driven by pedal or battery power and are operated by one rider carrying up to two passengers.

Now the council wants to lay down rules on how the vehicles would be operated in the city and whether they would need a licence similar to those issued to taxis.

Rickshaw firms have previously expressed an interest in operating the vehicles in the city centre and the council says it wants a policy in place in case other companies decide they would like to introduce the vehicles.

Councillors will be asked to consider the issue at a meeting of the taxi licensing and appeals committee on Thursday.

The committee will decide whether the council should approve specific makes and models to stop homemade rickshaws being used and whether they should be subject to annual safety checks.

A report on rickshaws prepared by council officers suggests they may be used for travelling within the inner ring road area of the city.

Leader of the council Chris Williamson said he thought rickshaws would provide shoppers and tourists with an unusual way of travelling between the new Westfield shopping centre development and Cathedral Quarter shops.

He said: "I think having rickshaws in the city centre is a good idea and they would be very beneficial to tourism.

"It's something that's a bit quirky and unusual and they would be a big attraction for people. I hope the committee will agree these rules because rickshaws would add a new dimension to the city."

A city council spokeswoman said: "We had expressions of interest from a number of firms who wanted to operate rickshaws in the city.

"They have since withdrawn their interest but as this is an issue which keeps coming up we decided to put a policy in place in anticipation of other organisations asking about rickshaws in the future."

Unlicensed rickshaws are already in operation in Leicester, while Nottingham City Council is considering an application for the use of tuk- tuks, which are similar to rickshaws but motorised.

Rickshaws also operate in London's West End taking people between restaurants and theatres.

A spokeswoman for the London Assembly said they had been operating for a number of years and were popular.

But in April, transport minister Gillian Merron said rickshaws in the capital should be regulated, drivers should be subject to criminal record checks and tested on their knowledge of the city streets.
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What since they were told that they would need a HC license, and the drivers would also need HC licenses?

What a surprise?

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IDFIMH

a full page story in the daily record today 19/09/07 reports of an edinburgh rickshaw driver earning £600 per day, he has bought a £7000 yacht and is off on a cross channel voyage,it also says, after a few hundred miles of pedalling he has stashed enough cash to buy a a broken down sailing boat which he done up and sold for profit, his name is rudolf sassu in case the inland reveue are reading this

http://www.taxinewspaper.co.uk/issues/1 ... s01-12.pdf

They all need a plate on them.. My car was hit all along the off side in London, when one over took while I was sitting in traffic, did £500 worth of damage... Barst@@@ gave a false name & address. They need a plate so they can be identified for verious reasons...

They don't need a plate, they need banned.

The LTDA seems to be the only organisation willing to take them on throught the courts. Now TFL are going back to the courts, same result?

Do you not think that by licensing them that could be the end of them, or at least most of them?

By licensing PH the trade has gone from 70,000+ to around 40,000, via the CRB and inland revenue checks.

Maybe that could happen to the bikes.

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IDFIMH