Taxi Driver Online

Our Council have told me that they are "looking at the wider picture" with their policy of making us provide a WAV.

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Grandad,

well you are the mayor so presumably you are in the loop but are the committee listening to you or the disabled lobby groups

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

There is no disabled lobby group in Melton who are asking for this. they do not use taxis/private hire here, they use community transport.

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Grandad,

so why do the committee feel they need licensed trade provision ? or is it so that on bank holidays and xmas day there is cover so the community transport bods can take the day off

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Isn't that because they have no other option, as the taxi/PH trade have abandoned them?

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IDFIMH

Well that wont work because we don't work bank holidays at all. I think it is a box ticking exercise.

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Grandad,

Council delay matters for further consultation, but I wonder if the trade will be happy when the council mandate electric WAVs at £60,000+.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... is-5950892

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IDFIMH

Found this slightly more interesting than Sussex portrays it, and had done most of the legwork anyway, so here's the article


Key change on future of Cheltenham taxis announced

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... is-5950892

Bosses want all hackney carriage cabs to be wheelchair accessible and electric

Many taxi drivers in Cheltenham are breathing a huge sigh of relief after a deadline they say would have cost them their jobs was scrapped.

The borough council had said that all hackney carriage licensed vehicles had to be made wheelchair accessible by December 31 this year.

Drivers had protested about the planned change for three years, saying it would cost them too much and put them out of a job.

Now the authority has had a change of heart, saying the deadline has been removed and that it wants to develop a new policy that will see all taxis become wheelchair accessible and electric.

It says more time is needed for both of these things to happen and will hold further talks with interested parties.

Council bosses want Cheltenham’s taxis, or at least those that work off its official ranks, to become greener as they seek to do their bit to combat climate change.

Cheltenham Borough Councillor Martin Horwood (LD, Leckhampton), the authority’s member for customer and regulatory services, said: “My ambition is to develop a policy where we have a 100 per cent zero carbon and wheelchair accessible taxis. The climate emergency motion passed by the council in 2019 commits to Cheltenham being zero carbon by 2030 and accessibility remains a priority for the council.

“The revised policy will be developed through extensive engagement with representatives of the licensed trade and disability groups, with advice from our climate change team.

“We need a comprehensive plan covering charging infrastructure implementation, affordability and finance for drivers, likely government disability legislation and air quality considerations.

“In the meantime, I also want to deliver an immediate and significant increase in the availability of taxis for wheelchair users in Cheltenham. To make this happen we are in discussions with an app developer to make it much easier for wheelchair users in Cheltenham to hail one of the 70 wheelchair accessible hackney cabs we already have.”

The council said it recognised the investment made by drivers who had already converted to wheelchair accessible vehicles and would ensure that the further move to zero carbon would be phased in for those with existing wheelchair accessible vehicles.

It said new applicants would still be required to license a WAV taxi, so the number of WAVs would continue to increase.

Andrew Pyrka, spokesman for Cheltenham Taxi Association, said: “We are delighted that Cheltenham Borough Council have decided to lift the deadline on the WAV policy, in light of the difficult times drivers have had over the last 18 months.

“We look forward to working with the council on a policy that not only serves the needs of the disabled but also contributes to protecting the environment.”

He added that lifting the deadline was “the right decision” as not doing so would have seen more than 100 taxi drivers lose their jobs.

The council put a London-style electric cab on display in Promenade yesterday to show drivers the kind of vehicle they need to have in the future.


Image:Anna Lythgoe/GloucestershireLive

Mr Pyrka said drivers would need help, via grants or finance deals, to acquire such a taxi because it cost about £60,000.

He also said that while many drivers were pleased that the deadline had been scrapped, others who had complied with the council’s requirement were bitter about the change.

He hoped that the council would acknowledge this and factor it into their planning going forward.

Ann Lightfoot, chairman of the Cheltenham Accessibility Forum, said: “We welcome the council’s policy which strives for accessibility for everyone and the use of carbon neutral vehicles.

“The forum is delighted to be involved in working towards equality of access for all and believes that cooperative working benefits all parties.”

So what's this all about? Some council-organised app for WAVs that HC WAVs are forced to use and forced to do pre-booked work? If they don't force drivers to join then I can't see many takers.

Seem to recall similar ideas in the past that have never happened. So I hope the council don't spend money developing an app that will probably be a white elephant

It's a councillor trying to sound all hip cool and modern.

Doomed to failure.

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IDFIMH

Of course it is. There isn’t a demand out there for wheelchair accessible taxis. I know, having had to operate them since 1992.

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Former taxi driver

In fact the rest of the councillor's statement was an object lesson in this kind of boilerplate 'comms'/PR stuff - all the necessary buzzwords and virtue signalling. Which is another reason I put the article up - it ticks all the necessary boxes, whether you love that kind of thing (like 'progressives' do) or loathe it (as cynics like me do):


But as Sussex and the rest of us know, it probably won't happen.

Or, as Jimbo and others know, it might happen, but to little practical benefit, and others will be paying the price

And it certainly won't be the good councillor paying that price, and chances are any marginal benefits would be made to sound fantastic via the selfsame comms/virtue signalling stuff

That's Councillor Horwood in the photo with the £60k EV, by the way

Agree with most of what this driver is saying as well, but not sure about his proposal for legal action.


Taxi driver threatens legal action after having to get cab he doesn't want or need

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... on-6695372

'I believe this is unfair, illogical and a punishment for the drivers who obeyed the council'


Image: Glocs Live

A fuming Cheltenham taxi driver claims a controversial borough council policy has left him with a cab he doesn't want or need. And he is so angry about it that he's threatening to take the authority to court.

Malcolm Rogers said he did as the council said he and other hackney carriage drivers had to, when he bought a wheelchair accessible taxi a year ago. After doing the job in the town for 30 years, he didn't want to change from a normal saloon car but was told he had to if he wanted to continue working on the council's ranks.

But after getting into debt when buying a wheelchair accessible vehicle for £15,000, Mr Rogers found that the council changed its mind and scrapped the deadline for drivers to get such a car. He said he had found in the past year that the new vehicle had been a hindrance rather than a help for him.

Not a single wheelchair user came to him for a ride and elderly customers complained that the higher level of his new car made it hard for them to get in. It also aggravated a back problem he has because he had to sit upright more than he used to.

He said an example of the disadvantage he was at with the new car came recently when he had been waiting at the front of the rank for ages for a customer. But when one finally came, it was an elderly woman and because she couldn't easily get into his car, she went to the taxi behind him instead.

He said: "I've written to the council, asking them if I could go back to a normal car and they won't let me." He said drivers like him, who complied with the council's requirement, were now stuck with a vehicle they didn't want and were financially out of pocket.

He added: "The council then let saloon drivers buy new cars but wheelchair car drivers cannot buy saloon cars. I believe this is unfair, illogical and a punishment for the drivers who obeyed the council."

Mr Rogers said he felt the council had failed to treat him equally, fairly and with dignity, as it was required to under the Human Rights Act. He said he was one of about 100 drivers considering taking legal action, that they had taken advice and had been told they had a good chance of success.

What the council said

Mike Redman, the borough council’s director of environment, said: “In June 2021, the council debated a petition organised by the Cheltenham Taxi Drivers’ Association, calling on the council to review the mandatory wheelchair accessible vehicle policy that was due to be implemented by December 2021.

“In response to the petition, the council voted unanimously in support of the cabinet member for customer & regulatory services, Councillor Martin Horwood, to continue engagement with the trade and others, on this issue. The result of this engagement was a decision, in September 2021, to cancel the hard deadline of December 31 2021 for all taxis to be wheelchair accessible.

“Councillor Horwood met with Mr Rogers personally to listen to his concerns. He recognises the investment Mr Rogers and other drivers have already made in wheelchair accessible vehicles.

“The decision taken in September included special arrangements for drivers who have already invested in wheelchair accessible vehicles, to allow them extra time to switch to low carbon vehicles. The authority will also be doing more to actively promote the use of wheelchair accessible taxis.

“We are again reviewing the policy as a whole, to provide further assurance that it meets both our climate change and accessibility ambitions. However, we do not intend to make any further special provision for those drivers that have already invested in wheelchair accessible vehicles.”

Like Colchester's CCTV, this is another one that seems to be rumbling on for years with nothing much happening except lots of paper shuffling

But I wonder whatever happened to the councillor's proposal for a WAV-only app?

See the post below this one.


Universal Credit fears as low emission and wheel chair policy could put Cheltenham taxi drivers out of business

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... on-7583951

Cheltenham Borough Council is consulting about plans to impose a 100 per cent wheelchair accessible licensed fleet for licensed taxis

Taxi drivers in Cheltenham fear plans to replace the town’s fleet with low emission and wheelchair accessible vehicles will put most of them out of business. Cheltenham Borough Council decided in September last year to postpone its plans to implement a requirement to impose a 100% wheelchair accessible licensed fleet for licensed taxis.

In March 2022, the council consulted on a draft licensed vehicle emission and wheelchair accessibility policy. This draft policy set out the council’s approach to implementing a carbon neutral licensed fleet by 2030.

“But in the name of carbon targets, you don't care that you will be ruining decent people's lives do you?,” one driver said. “This is an untenable idea from a council who in my opinion is unfit for purpose. No cab driver can afford £30,000 to £40,000 or more for an electric taxi.

“[There’s] no infrastructure for charging, especially on taxi ranks let alone only a couple around the town, and if drivers live in a flat three stories up... Well unless they're going to run a 60ft extension lead out of the window!?

“So it will be only a short time before the public suffer, because across the taxi and private hire trade there will be next to no taxis left to service the public.”

Speaking at last night’s (September 13) cabinet meeting, customer and regulatory services cabinet member Martin Horwood (LD, Leckhampton) said the policy consultation is part of the council’s ongoing process of getting a taxi fleet which is both more accessible for those with disabilities but is also on track to meet our carbon commitments for 2030.

"We have been undertaking consultation to make sure we are listening carefully to those who are affected or might benefit from this policy. And to make sure the steps we are taking are absolutely deemed reasonable,” he said.

"But there are some steps that just need to be taken in the short term to clarify some short term issues. They are to remove the most polluting vehicles from the fleet on the schedule that we envisaged, which is quite soon.

“They are also to clarify a particular technical detail about what counts as exceptional circumstances when a like-for-like replacement of a vehicle can be allowed.”

The council has launched a further, more focussed, consultation to gain a clearer understanding of these issues. The further consultation is seeking views from people with disabilities and their experiences of using Cheltenham licensed vehicles. A further report will be brought to cabinet once the consultation is finished.

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