Not sure what this is all about. The mayor seems to be making a point about cross-border cars not knowing the city, but the incident is about an HC which he flagged down
So either the HC was out-of-area and was illegally plying for hire, or the driver's lack of knowledge had nothing to do with cross-border working and is in fact the responsibility of the council he's mayor of
But the article doesn't mention that, so either Anderson is talking nonsense or the Echo failed to portray his point fully in the piece.
Of course, don't think it's the first time the mayor has made the case against cross-border working, but this seems to miss the point completely.
Joe Anderson calls for action after cab driver 'didn't know where Old Swan was'https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... r-17020861Mayor wants new licensing system that protects local driversLiverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has repeated his calls for action over taxi licensing after he said a black cab driver in Liverpool didn't know where Old Swan was.
Mayor Anderson said he was shocked that the hackney driver he flagged down outside the Devonshire House Hotel in Edge Lane had no idea how to take him to his home in Old Swan - which is around 1.5 miles away.
The city leader said it was more evidence that a new approach needs to be looked at to give Liverpool Council more powers and money to work on improvements in the taxi and private hire trade in the city.
He has spoken before about the need for a Liverpool City Region-wide taxi licensing system that he feels would be fairer on the city.
He explained: "I couldn't believe it - this guy had no idea how to get me to Old Swan, which was just up the road.
"It just makes me furious that we don't have more ability to protect our local drivers who really do know the city well.
"We have got to do something, because at the moment every penny we make from licensing is ring-fenced."
Mayor Anderson said there is a major problem with drivers heading to neighbouring boroughs like Knowsley and Sefton where licences are cheaper and easier to get - and then heading into Liverpool to ply their trade.
He added: "I have proposed before that we have a city-region wide license that everyone pays into and where the money is fairly distributed.
"We desperately need more inspectors in Liverpool to try and stop people from coming in and taking work off the drivers from the city."
Liverpool has been continuing to clamp down on dodgy drivers - despite having rapidly diminishing resources.
Last week Hackney Carriage driver Girwel Singh was hit with a hefty fine in court after trying to scam football fans at Anfield.
He was caught as part of an ongoing city council crackdown called Operation Topaz, which aims to protect the public from match day taxi scams.
Magistrates in Liverpool heard that 36-year-old Singh was parked on Walton Breck Road, close to Anfield Stadium, for Liverpool’s home match against Burnley in March.
Undercover council licensing officers, who were patrolling as part of Operation Topaz, witnessed Singh talking with a group of passengers before letting them into his car.
When he set off, he didn't switch his meter on - and when stopped, officers discovered Singh had quoted the passengers £20 for a journey that should cost just £7.50 on the meter.
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