Taxi Driver Online

Fare cops in taxi rank patrols

TAXI wardens will patrol Manchester city centre to stop revellers brawling in the scrum for a Christmas cab.

They will be stationed at three of Manchester's busiest taxi ranks in a crackdown on thugs, troublemakers and queue-jumpers.

Cabbies welcomed the move, saying the present "mayhem" at key pick-up points led them to simply drive straight past.

The wardens started work this weekend and will be out every Friday and Saturday night until mid-January. They will work in pairs at Albert Square, Piccadilly Gardens and the Printworks.

Each warden will have a high-visibility jacket and radio contact with the city's CCTV nerve centre and police. The plan is being spearheaded by Manchester city council and Greater Manchester Police. It follows a surge in taxi rage as tens of thousands of people from around the north west flock to the region's "party city".

Val Stevens, the council's executive member for planning and environment, said: "The increase in rowdy behaviour at taxi ranks has been a factor in drivers refusing to stop to pick up passengers, aggravating unruly situations on Friday and Saturday nights."

Hackney carriage driver Pat Connor, chairman of the GMB union's taxi drivers' arm, said the wardens would be "good news for all taxi drivers".

He said: "The wardens will prevent people from being bullied at the ranks and their presence will give both the public and drivers more security."

Inspector Steven Greenacres, of the City Centre Safe Project, said: "For the last three years we have been working with our partners to make night-time Manchester a safer place to visit.

"The introduction of taxi wardens is the latest in a long line of measures we have been taking to help people get home safely after a night out."

The city council said it already had wardens for night buses and had recently taken a range of measures to keep people safe, including greater CCTV coverage, more police foot patrols at night and an M.E.N.-backed clampdown on bogus minicab drivers.

The wardens are being paid from a pot of Euro-cash called the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. The council is administering the project, which could be extended if it proves a success.

The scheme is intended to make life safer for people while they wait for black cabs and will also help prevent bogus and genuine minicab drivers plying for "hail-down" fares at popular ranks.

Minicabs, unlike hackney carriages, must be booked in advance and cannot simply pick up passengers from the street.
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Well done to Manchester, and as the money is coming from Europe, is there any reason why this can't happen everywhere?

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IDFIMH

I like the bit about there being a crack-down on the queue jumpers.

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IDFIMH

Yes Europe will not cough up everywhere, and this was probabvly applied for 2 years ago

I might be wrong but I think the money was for the slum clearance around the Man.City stadium prior to the Commonwealth Games. This I think is the residue. Not exactly for the purpose intended but with the state of the EU accountancy nobody will notice.So keep it under your hat.
Ged

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taxi driver @manchester airport

There are one or two places in my area that is a nightmare to pick up from when its mobbed.

The police are poxy but i think they have other things onm there minds.

But i think the pubs and clubs should dip in there pockets to pay for some sort of order. But with them once they are gone its out of sight couldn't give a dam.

Mugs like us have to clear up the mess.

well Ged are you saying this is not slum clearance?

It's nice to see money coming to the taxi trade from somewhere else, a rarity indeed.

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IDFIMH