Hey Joe....By Thomas the Taxi

Below is part of an email sent to leading licensing and compliance officers at the PCO/TfL on the 2nd of January. A copy of this email was also sent to Martin Low and Westminster Parking Services.

The emailed complained about the continued flaunting of Hackney Carriage Laws and parking contraventions outside the late night Bar venue, O

n Anon.

As of now, we have received no reply whatsoever, not even just to acknowledge receipt of the email.

Every night, as most night drivers will have seen, a line of PHV's would form an unlawful, unauthorised taxi rank outside this venue. Many complaints have been made to the PCO and Westminster Parking Services.

Up to last night, no attendance from compliance or TOCU squad officers

has been witnessed at this venue and it has taken a bus lane to stop this illegal practise. Although even with the new bus lane, last night touts were still parking outside OnAnon until a bus would come along and they had to move.

What bloody use is the TOCU squad, when PHV's can just flaunt the law in this fashion. In the wake of a car bomb left outside Tiger Tiger in the middle of a line of PHV's, this situation should never have been allowed to carry on in this manner.

Hit Squads from TOCU can be seen on Thursdays and Fridays harassing, hard working Licensed taxi drivers on Bayswater road, Chelsea bridge road, The Strand and Charring Cross road. Sometimes within yards of lines of illegally parked PHV's still touting away in the full knowledge they have little or no chance of being disturbed, let alone arrested.

Joe Royal you are a disgrace to your position and should think about resigning.

John Mason this is not Good enough.

...................................

"The Car Company currently operating at OnAnon, are not complying with the regulations set down by TfL/PCO and staff openly tout for business in the street outside. Combined with the unauthorised ranking of touting PHV's, we believe that this is grounds to revoke their license to supply Mini cabs at this venue.

Below is a list of most frequent offending vehicles from our data base. These vehicles openly ply for hire and tout for business outside both venues.

Toyota Picnic Gls; S 480 JGM,

Vauxhall Zafira club Dti; KF 04 TYC,

Toyota avensis Tr D; WR 57 YGK,

VW Sharan S Tdi Y 339 NLT,

Honda Shuttle 2.3i Ls R 977 AVX,

Mercedes C200 Classic auto, V 292 ERC,

Totota Picnic, R 576 KWV,

Peugeot 406 Glx Dt R 737 HGS,

Toyota Privia Gi N 320 ADP,

VW Sharan S Tdi LM 07 FHJ,

Volvo X 63 CLO,

Nissen Primera Activ, Y 277 UUS,

Bmw 520i Se Auto, M 6 SRY,

Ford Galaxy 16v Auto, LT 59 WLU,

Toyota Avensis T3-s, AD 03 UBA

Ford Galaxy Zetec Td Auto, Y 867 ACS

The drivers of R 576 KWV (white Toyota) and WR 57 YGK (silver Toyota) are very violent and have on occasion assaulted Licensed taxi drivers.

It has become a worrying trend that Westminster Parking Services rarely attend the scene after receiving complaints by phone, probably because of the frequency of complaints.

Local police station phone numbers are no longer available to our drivers as they are to the club staff. Phoning 999 after an assault has proved almost impossible to get assistance to the scene.

It is our understanding that over the past year, many drivers have been sending pictures and video clips of offending PHV's to the complaints department at the PCO and as yet, no one has received a response to their complaint.

Something has to be done at these venues now as the clock is ticking and it is only a matter of time before we see violence breaking out nightly this touting hot spot. You have the power to stop this happening before it starts.

The buck is now in your hands."

Click on image to enlarge.

Customer Service...you're having a laugh.... By Thomas the Taxi

I have always considered myself to by a loyal customer of Mann and Overton. I have always supported them in discussions with other drivers on ranks and in shelters and last year, again, I put my money where my mouth is and bought a new TX4.

I appreciated the one year free servicing and supposedly free first year overhaul, with the promise of a free loan cab. In retrospect, it was this offer coupled together with a bonus of £3,000 off list price that lead me to buy a TX4, instead of the new Mercedes Vito.

I liked the look of the Merc but didn't feel comfortable in the knowledge that this vehicle is used in London, as well as up and down the country, as a Private hire vehicle. Had the Vito been unique as a purpose built taxi I probably would have bought one.

That said, I paid my money and I took my chance.

I have never kept a vehicle more than three years, as the added security of the warranty makes my working life feel less stressful.

I have always felt that companies, whose very existence depends on its customer base, should always give good after sales service. That being the case, their customers will return time and time again. That's how I run my business, by giving my passengers the best service possible. I assume that if satisfied, they will always prefer to use a licensed taxi as opposed to the competition.

Yesterday I took my 09 plate TX4 in to Mann and Overtons for its 20,000 miles service. I have had little niggley problems in the past 10 months but nothing major. I got there nice and early as I believe in good time keeping and one of the most important instruments in the cab (In my Opinion) is the clock. As mine was running approx 4-6 minutes slow every day I thought I should report this as a lot of my customers have planes, train and meetings to attend at precise times of the day. I know I wear a watch and my phone also has the time on the front but Having paid in excess of £33,000 I feel the most they can do is supply me with a decent clock.

So you can imagine my surprise when I was told by the assistant who checked my vehicle in that my clocks 4-6 minutes daily deficit was " within Tolerance"!

He said that M&O's personally have no legal responsibility for faulty parts and only act on instruction given by LTI.

LTI say that the "Tolerance" of the clock is 5%. Not having a maths degree I will have to estimate this as just over an hour a day. Now if I turned up for my 2 o-clock appointment at 3 and said well the clock in the cab says 2, would they have seen me? I don't think so.

It may seem petty to ague over an item that cost just a few pounds but what other vehicle manufacture would have these values, not one, I would imagine. So there I sat and argued the toss. I asked to see a manager, who also wouldn't budge on this point and kept saying their hands were tied. I told him I will never, ever, buy another vehicle from M&O's as long as I live. But he was adamant "Our hands are tied, its not us, its LTI".

There seems to be no such thing as customer loyalty or customer good will, once you've signed on the dotted line.

I am now of the believe that with this type of customer service, M&O's will soon be just a memory. As new suppliers offering new models turn their attention towards the prestigious London Market.

Then I sat in the waiting room and listened to the other drivers, for 4 hours while I waited for a 20,000 mile service. It was like being in a scene from a bad dream. Five radiators in a year, three mileometers, everyone's clock was faulty with leaks galore. One driver, so I was told, left and returned in minutes, ashen faced, with a steering wheel that just came off in his hands.

There is a strong rumour that the company responsible for the conversion on the Vito has built a replica vehicle which has been passed and working on the streets of Birmingham. In our opinion it wont be long before other supposedly purpose built models form Renault, Fiat and Citroen start appearing on London streets.

So, the new taxi market could start to heat up very soon. Not before time, as the 2010 TX4 is about to take a massive £1,500 price hike.

John Mason Director of Taxis and Private Hire meets the RMT...(again)...By John Kennedy.

On Tuesday the 16th March 2010 John Mason the new director of Taxis and Private hire met with representatives of the RMT London Taxi Branch at Portcullis House SW1.

John McDonnell MP for Hayes and Harlington, James Croy Political Officer RMT along with researchers plus David Vidgen Branch Secretary, Stan Marut complaints and compliance and finally John Kennedy vice chair attended honest open frank discussions with John Mason.

Many issues were raised with John Mason ranging from the M4 Bus lane fiasco, Richmond taxi rank, intimidation of taxi-cab drivers at Heathrow, Satellite mini-cab offices, illegal ranks of private hire vehicles outside venues and plenty of other issues were discussed too. John McDonnell MP certainly stood up for members of the RMT London taxi branch and he laid out a clear path for the RMT to be included in open honest formal discussions with TFL/PCO. The meeting was constructive and forthright which allowed for open honest opinions to be exchanged.

The RMT London Taxi Branch would like to thank John Mason for attending a meeting in the wonderful setting of the parliamentary estate and we certainly look forward to working with the new director so we can solve the many problems that have built up over decades within the London Taxi trade.

Please note a full report will be given to members of the RMT at the next branch meeting to be held on the 12th April 2010.

Remember if you want a voice and vote and not an air freshener join the RMT specialist transport union online at http://www.rmt.org.uk/

Westminster's New Signage Doing The Job?...by Thomas the Taxi

I know its early days yet as the signs have only been in place for five days. But I have been keeping an eye on the traffic found parked outside the Bar/Restaurant Tiger Tiger.

The usual suspects have been parking on the opposite side of this major road or tucked away in Jermyn Street. So far this week we have seen very few PHV's parked outside touting. Touting is still going on but on a much smaller scale, as the cars that work from this satellite office take up most of the available space opposite. These vehicles though, are still unlawfully parked.

One thing we have noticed, is the wardens seem to be turning a blind eye to the scabs parked opposite on the double yellow lines and on the loading bay.

If you see PHV's parked illegally phone Westminster Parking services on; 02078 234567 and select option 5.

Make sure you have at least one registration number and know your own mobile number as these are asked for in a bid to put you off. All calls are logged and recorded and the more complaints we make the stronger our case against the parking services.

What is needed now is for licensed taxi drivers to service this rank. There is a constant stream of work which goes on all through the late evening and early morning.

Perhaps these signs can help in other locations around the West End where touts are operating on a huge scale. On Anon still has a line of up to a dozen cars ranking up outside most nights. Heddon Street is another mass touting hotspot where customers have to run the gauntlet of touts to reach Regent street only to be confronted by a second wave barrage of "Taxi Miss, Taxi sir".

I have never understood why, there seems to be no complaints coming from Bus drivers, about the congestion causing parked PHV's. The first northbound section of Regent Street is a nightmare because of bus congestion every night. PHV's double parked outside the Cocoon restaurant heralding the lines of vehicles parked on the corner Swallow Street. How/why has this been allowed to continue unabated.

Perhaps it would be a good experiment to place similar signs outside these four Touting hot spots; On Anon, Cocoon, Swallow Street, and Heddon Street. But of course, they would have to be enforced by Westminster's bank of new CCTV cameras, or the experiment would fall flat.

The ordinary licensed taxi drivers have made a fantastic fight back in central London and the touts are running out of places to tout from. We have to keep up this pressure and move forward. This work has been a fantastic testament to the character of the hard-working London Taxi driver who has been deserted by the leading trade groups which purport to represent their interests.

Feeling alone with their work decimated they have formed groups fighting rearguard actions with the help of new technology such as the internet and smart phones.

Don't be a fence sitter, Join the fight back today. Log on to the LTDF and join the Twitter action group.

Its our work, lets take it back together.

Bob to give £50K to PCO's John Mason?......By Jason Byrne.

I DON'T THINK SO. ITS ILLEGAL BOB.

LTDA’s £50,000 offer

The LTDA considers that there has

never been a more appropriate time

for the PCO to review its current

policy on the unrestricted issue of taxi

driver licences and I have advised

John Mason, the recently appointed

Director of Taxi and Private Hire, that

the LTDA is willing to subscribe

£50,000 towards the cost of an official

survey to determine whether there is a

significant unmet demand for taxis in

the Capital.

Taken from Taxi newspaper.

Bob Oddy, General Secretary of the largest licensed taxi representative body, the LTDA has set aside £50k of subscribers money.

Without holding a ballot, without seeking advice from his members, Bob has decided, solely on his own back, to offer £50k to TfL towards conducting a survey.

This he says has come about by the need to cut back the amount of licenses issued by the PCO.

But he is not talking about the extraordinary amount of PHV licenses being dished out like confetti, (approx 250 a week and at an all time high of 60,000), he is talking about limiting the amount of Hackney Carriage licenses coming through the lengthy knowledge system, currently 200 a year.

Great news to his thousands of new members who are currently doing three to four years on the Knowledge.

Its has been apparent for some time, that there are now more drivers over the age of 70 driving taxis than under the age of 30. The knowledge of London is supposed to bring new young blood into the trade. If a limit is placed on the amount of drivers passing out each year, the length of time each applicant spends "doing the Knowledge" would surely put most people off.

Would Bob's (or should I say the subscribers) money be better spent trying to reduce the amount of Private Hire licenses being sold over the counter in Penton Street?

We have for years now been castigated by every talk show host on London's talk radio stations, for failing to supply enough available taxis in busy periods mainly at week-end late nights. Every major newspaper has lined up to put their oar in. This has been one of the reasons why TfL/PCO, Tocu and Westminster council have been reluctant to enforce Hackney carriage and local parking laws. They just want the streets cleared as swiftly as possible and they don't give a damn about the legality or the safety of the transport used to ferry people away from the centre at week ends. This is reflected in the amount of serious sexual assaults including rapes, currently running at 10-12 a month in PHV 's

Bob has also come out with an amazing statement.

After complaints that there were never enough taxis at peak times, he had commissioned a number of expensive mori poles. The surveys, were conducted prior to the current recession and were consistent in their conclusions that the average waiting times experienced by passengers seeking to use taxis in Central London were minimal and that taxi coverage at ranks in the Suburbs was virtually 100%. Regrettably, the PCO failed to respond to these findings.

Who's side are you on Bob?

Now we all know that Bob, who is very shy (hence the name silent Bob), loves to hear his boy Steve on the radio or TV news. So why did he keep these finding a secret, after spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of subscribers money. Does he now consider it money well spent, to keep these findings to himself, when they could have been used to defeat arguments put forward to demean the trade.

Or is there another reason for Bob offering to give the, strapped for cash, TfL a gift of £50K?

Perhaps he sees this as a chance to secure his seat on the board of TfL in the next Mayoral term.

Bob refuse to give the LCDC financial help in providing marshals for London clubs.

Bob refused to appeal against the decision to allow pedicabs to ply for hire.

Bob refuses to take the PCO to court over the satellite office debacle.

But he can find this amount to offer to John Mason.

Why not phone him!

If you are a member of the LTDA and concerned about your money being given away in this manner. Ask him why he decided not to discus this financial arrangement with you, the members and is it not illegal to offer money for services to a civil servant.

While your on the phone ask him why he lodged no objection to the introduction of safety shields in PHV's at the surface transport meeting he attended last year when it was decided PH could adopt these safety measures. Ask him why he is trying to lay the blame for safety shields at the feet of the RMT?

Best of all ask him when he is going to retire.

Jason Byrne.

Tigers new cameras.....by Thomas the Taxi.

It seems that Westminster Council have been listening to the complaints from the Licensed Taxi Trade about the touts parking on our 9 cab rank outside the nightclub/restaurant Tiger Tiger.

The new street enforcement cameras place high above the rank, with vivid signage at eye level should keep the touts off our rank (if enforced).

It will not however stop touting at this venue as these shots, taken last night (Monday) clearly show. The more persistent touts, now park on the opposite side of the Haymarket, they solicit their illegal fares outside the venue in plain sight and walk them over to their vehicles. Parking enforcement cameras will not stop this practise.

There have been calls by trade leaders for the rank to be mark out properly on the road surface and Martin Lowe is considering this. But we at the Anderson Shelter strongly believe there will be no added benefit by marking out the rank. We have seen all over the West End PHV's parked on marked Taxi ranks, it doesn't stop this practise. But what it will do at this location, is give the CCTV camera operators a boundary in which to persecute Licensed Taxi drivers who may inadvertently over rank by a few feet. At the moment, we are informed there is a rank for nine cabs. A start point is given but there is no end point, so no ticket can be issued for ranking outside the boundary of the rank, which has to work in our favour for once.

While on the subject of Tiger Tiger, again last night, around midnight, the door staff cordoned off Shavers Place and prohibited the general public from their legal right of way. By half twelve the pavement outside Tiger Tiger was at a stand still as people tried to pass they were crushed between the steel barriers and the line of Taxis on the rank. Not a great feeling to sit there in a taxi and have pedestrians pushing, shoving and leaning over your vehicle.

The Council now have the ability to observe the dangerous impact of the behaviour we see every Monday. We have in the past seen young people taken away to hospital after bad accidents , not in ambulances as should be the case, but in a bid not to record as an accident, the injured parties are man handled and ferried away in PHV's from the satellite office at this venue.

This is a shocking state of affairs. Unsafe to the customers and unfair to the licensed Taxi driver. TfL/PCO and Westminster City Council when will you finally sort this mess out.

We now have to wait to see if the new signage has any impact at the week end, when through the gridlock caused by the amount of illegally parked minicab's, all over the West End, it becomes almost impossible to service this venue.

Last Saturday night was a joke. The wardens stood on the junction of Penton Street and watched as touts parked their scab cabs outside and took the work.

Addison Lee Take over Grosvenor Licensed Taxi Rank

Last night, undercover of darkness and in the absence of the local traffic wardens, police or Tocu squad officers, Addison Lee's Pimark suited, sat-nav'ed second rate minicab service, took over the Grosvenor Hotel Licensed taxi rank in Park lane.

This action caused major disruption to traffic travelling south down Park lane as the Licensed Taxis, the only vehicles who can legally stop on this space had to double park to ply for hire, as members of the public left the hotel looking for a safe and legal form of transport home.

John Griffin, Chairman of Addison Lees 1800 mini cabs, in an article published in the Evening Standard last year said that his drivers never broke the law, then sent each and everyone of them a letter, telling them all to ignore the law and ordered them to use the bus lane on the M4.

A practise still employed by their drivers today, along with illegal parking on Licensed Taxi ranks. By his action the licensed Taxi trade believe that this man is not a fit and proper person to hold an operators license.

Also last year one of his drivers allegedly ran over and killed a tramp, then failed to stop in the heart of the West End. The incident was reported by the passenger to the police on his mobile.

Apparently, now there is mutiny in the midst of his poorly paid work force.

The Anderson Shelter has received an email from one of Mr Griffins driver who alleges that when customers try to book cash cabs they are being persuaded to the operators to express their order by using a credit card. This gives the passenger priority over ordinary cash bookings that go to the bottom of the queueing system.

However their payment for the fare and commissioned gratuity go straight to the company. Drivers are not too pleased with this new policy and many are now doing the knowledge to break away from this form of exploitation of the work force.

John Griffin lives under the mis-guided illusion that one day he will take all the radio business away from the Licensed Taxi Trade. He bases his dream on customer service;

"A well dressed helpful work force, driving clean reliable vehicles".

But his dream falls down because his drivers, who don't last too long in the job because of the extreamly poor wages, have little or no knowledge of the city they drive in and rely too heavily on technology. A big mistake, as tests have shown time and time again, the actual routes employed by sat-nav's are a joke. Every day, we see his drivers turning the wrong way down one way streets and into dead ends because their sat-nav's have told them to do this.

Mr Griffin;

Flight from eastern Europe, ........£60

Primark suit, with shirt and tie ...£30

Sat Nav...................................£100

The Knowledge...............Priceless.

.........................................................................

Read John Griffins latest article in his in house mag echo 99, slagging off the Licensed Taxi trade. It is his goal to have all the radios taken out of black cabs and the work given to his vans, while we struggle along with street work only. This he basis on the New York Taxi scheme.

Click Here

Below is the email received by the Anderson Shelter.

From: Anonymous
Date: 22 March 2010 12:05:15 GMT
To: downtheoak@aol.com

Subject: [The Anderson Shelter] New comment on 50 years or bad planning.....By Thomas the Taxi..

Shame there’s mutiny afoot @ adi Lee John -Boy!!

I know as a FACT from adi lee . Customers are booking PHV by cash order. However minutes later they have been rung back by operators at Adi Lee HQ to persuade the punter to take A new “express” order…ie credit booking & commision straight to HQ. Hence drivers have found out they lose all cash job benefits for driving a A.Lee car. The only problem is the drivers havnt been told by HQ of new policy but by the passengers sitting in the back of their vehicle. Soo YES THE S#IT HAS HIT THE FAN. I attend a leading knowledge school in London and there must be a couple dozen Adi Lee drivers currently doing the Knowledge who are sick to death of Griffin’s greedy slave driving ways. Shame the truth about this company isnt published openly.

However i do agreed the Black Cab Trade & some drivers have a herendous attitude towards the public & a new dress code should be bought in from PCO with immediate affect. However i do agreed the Black Cab Trade & some drivers have a herendous attitude towards the public & a new dress code should be bought in from PCO with immediate affect.

10% of London Roads on the knowledge??? more like most apples & pears.

Email has been edited to remove identity of the whistleblower.

50 years or bad planning.....By Thomas the Taxi.

(NIGHT SCENES -1960)

Click here to go to Pathe website.

At the beginning of this rare piece of archive footage dated 1960 from the Pathe News website, notice the traffic flow around Piccadilly circus. Although the traffic in some shots, seems to be as heavy as it is today, the ease at which the lines of vehicles move around are a reminder, that the one way system now in place is a complete mess.

Most of the problems we see in the West End today emanate from the pedestrianisation of Leicester Square coupled with the moving of the central plinth containing the figure of Eros.

Will TfL and the Westminster City Counsel ever come to their senses and admit if you want the traffic in central London to flow freely, we have to visit the past.

Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square should be reopened to traffic plus Piccadilly Circus should be re-instated as the Hub of London.

The new computer modelling system doesn't work. Get out the old archive footage and see how it should be done.

.................................................................................

What happens when the marshal's go home?

More Window Stickers On The Way....By Thomas the Taxi

According to the TfL website, following an internal review of the driver licensing operation, undertaken by an officer outside the Taxi and Private Hire Directorate, there is a new initiative currently under consideration by the surface transport panel.

The introduction of a sticker displaying details, relating to the driver of the vehicle. You would think it to be a safe bet ,that this consultation paper relates to Private Hire drivers only, but no distinction has been made on the TfL web site. So we must assume this would apply to us as well.

So apart from your registration number plate, a PCO registration plate on the boot and inside the door of the Taxi, plus the driver wearing a metal badge containing a PCO Hackney Carriage license number, this officer from outside the Taxi and Private Hire Directorate, has advised that we need to display our full details on a sticker, on the partition window, inside the taxi.

In the wake of the controversy over the increasing amount of unnecessary "Stickers" on Private Hire Vehicles, we are also advised that soon we will be required to display a further two tax disc sized green stickers on front and back screens to confirm the fact that we are indeed licensed to pick up passengers in central London, as opposed to suburban drivers who will not display these discs.

If this trend of displaying information in the form of stickers continues, soon we will not be able to see through the windows.

Touting (one strike and you’re out)

During Period 10, four private hire drivers had their licence revoked for touting. Since 1st August 2008, a total of 227 private hire drivers have had their licences revoked. To date in 2009/10, 64 appeals have been lodged of which 37 appeals hearings have taken place, (which means 27 touts got off on appeal without even going to court). The appeal hearings have overwhelming upheld the decisions to revoke the licences.

Notice how the figures go back to 2008 when giving the number of revoked licenses but then only back to 2009 when given the number of appeals.

(Lies damn lies and statistic's)

Two years ago Boris increased the enforcement staff at TfL/PCO to 32 officers.

If you do the maths on these figure it works out to just over two touts a week.

Quite good odds of not being caught touting, currently running at 180,000 to 1.

Would you consider it value for money that 32 officers (Plus auxiliary staff, PCSO's, DSS, and civilian officers) can only catch and prosecute 2 touts a week?

..................................................................................

This is a story taken from the Times Saturday Review, dated September 5th 1992. It highlights the beginning of the Taxi Trades fight to take the work back, led by Jim Wells who was then the chairman of the LCDC.

Clunk, clique, every trip

...............A blast from the past

THE TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW SEPTEMBER 5 1992

Minicabs have had a good run in London, Malcolm Macalister Hall reports, but licensed cabbies are fighting back in the increasingly violent battle for fares...

It has been a hot night, and Jim Wells is still in his T-shirt as dawn breaks over south London. "Good turn-out, given the time of day." he says. "We've won the lion's share of the work tonight. Normally, we. don't..." Around him. the narrow tangle of streets just up from the Elephant and Castle is gridlocked by about 60 black cabs, their For Hire lights blazing in the gloom. They inch past the entrance to the Ministry of Sound, the club regarded by trance-dance rovers as one of the capital's hottest tickets

Read full article click here.

RMT onwards and upwards....By Thomas the Taxi

A delegation of members, from the RMT London Taxi branch turned up outside Westminster City Hall, made a lot of noise and guess what! Martin Low appeared. He walked out and said 'Well I'm here, lets talk'.

The members lead by John Kennedy were more than polite as they stated major issues within the trade and Mr Low promised to meet JK for meaningful talks as soon as possible.

(Click here to read the official RMT account of the meeting)

Photo by Steve

I understand that Mr Low is concerned about being misrepresented in articles published here on the Anderson Shelter and is under the misguided impression that this blog is in fact the voice of the RMT.

The Anderson Shelter would like to point out that this blog is democratically run and you can comment or reply to any post, to make your point. As chief editor of the blog I would like to remind Mr Low that the Anderson Shelter is an independent project and has been up and running as a web site and blog for over five years. Long before the conception of the RMT London Taxi Branch.

This blog is not the voice of the RMT, they have blogs of their own and links to their sites can be found of the right hand panel, as can links to the LCDC, LTDA and other taxi trade media sites.

I, James Thomas (AKA Thomas the Taxi), am a member of the RMT and have been a committee member and lead officer on the ranks and highways group. I have recently stepped down from committee work because of personal matters unconnected to the RMT.

It may seem on first glance, that I completely and unashamedly support the views of the RMT, but if you look closely at all my posts, going back before the RMT came on the scene, it becomes quite clear that it is in fact the RMT who support my views. Views I have had for many years as a member and supporter of all our trade representative organisations.

The Anderson Shelter would like to thank Martin Low for speaking with ordinary, hard-working, Licensed taxi drivers and agreeing to meet again in the very near future.

This confrontation with Mr Low comes the day after a meeting where John Mason, Director of Taxis/Private Hire at the PCO met with representatives of the RMT taxi branch, at Portcullis House on Tuesday the 16th March 2010 to discuss various issues affecting the London Taxi trade & its drivers.

Wrong again Mr Mason....By Thomas the Taxi.

Transport for London Taxi and Private Hire Notice 07/10

Late Night Marshalled Taxi Rank.

From Saturday 6 March 2010 the Cranbourn Street taxi rank, near Leicester Square, will no longer be marshalled. Instead, the taxi rank in Haymarket, near Tiger Tiger, will be marshalled between the hours of 22:00 to 03:00 on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The normal taxi rank regulations will apply and the taxi rank will operate on a first passenger, first taxi basis with no sharing, fixed fares or directional arrangements.

The late night marshalled taxi ranks support the Safer Travel at Night campaign which aims to reduce cab-related sexual assaults and the use of illegal cabs. Transport for London (TfL) is working with the local police to tackle the illegal touting in Haymarket, the West End and other parts of London.

Taxi drivers are reminded that the front of the taxi rank is outside Nero. Drivers must move to the front of the rank and should not stop further back to wait for a fare.

The Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket is currently licensed by TfL as a licensed private hire operator trading centre meaning that private hire and minicab bookings can legally be taken from inside the premises.

The full list of late night marshalled taxi rank schemes is below and drivers are encouraged to use these schemes.

John Mason
17 March 2010 Director Taxi and Private Hire
For previous Notices visit tfl.gov.uk/pco

Again Mr Mason has failed to word this release in the correct manor.

a. Mini cabs are illegal and were outlawed by the Private hire act 1998.

To use the wording Private hire or Minicab would imply that unlicensed mini cabs could be booked in a legal manner which is not the case.
Passengers requiring transport can only pre-book a Private hire vehicle which is licensed by a licensing authority such as TfL/PCO, or they can of course Travel safely in a Hackney Carriage Taxi

b. There is nothing contained within the Hackney carriage act or any of its recent amendments to say that a Taxi must move to the front of a rank. (unless called for by other drivers joining the rank.
The start of this rank is too far forward and one driver sitting on point will be there all-night, as customers will just flag passing cabs. We see this happening at Babble, Mahikis and Cornhill (for Abacus).

John Mason, you really do need to get these press releases proof read before they are published.
It is embarrassing and very unprofessional to keep withdrawing them.

TtT

Do they turn a blind eye!....By Travis B.

Turn a blind eye?
It is worse than that, TfL when issuing PHV Drivers Licences make no link between that and an Operator to give them work.

There are thousands of PHV Drivers who do not work for any operator at all. Some just to dodge the congestion charge but mostly as a cover for touting.

How do they get work?

Rather than TfL beef up the regulations and close the loophole, they effectively give them 'ranks' by enabling them to wait to be hired outside satellite offices. They do little more than throw a few crumbs at enforcement to appease us and occsionally the media, once somone is raped in the back of a minicab etc.

Of course the 'little yellow sticker' is used as a cover for far worse: Drug Dealing, People Trafficing Etc...

Just ask TOCU's Jo Royle!

Unfortunately, none of this counts against the income PHV's now bring in to TfL, so nothing really effective is ever likely to be done. Especially now as the cost of a satellite office license is to rise from £25 to £200.

Despite the pronouncements of Mr John Mason, The honest law abiding cab driver continues to see their livelihood stolen, threatened with viloence whilst the authorities sit on their hands.

Well TfL you have your 'thirty pieces of silver'.

We hope TfL and the PCO are proud of what you have done to the world's number one taxi service!

Maybe we should do to the PCO, what the doormen at NOBU and other venues do along with John Griffin. Laugh in their face!

Travis B

Do the TfL/PCO ask the Police to turn a blind eye?....by Thomas the Taxi

The London Licensed Taxi Trade has for some time been convinced that Police forces who are charged with enforcing the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire laws in London ie; Metropolitan, City of London and TOCU squad, have shown a bias towards Private hire operators contravening the terms of their license.

We have in the past seen officers from the PCO bend over backwards to defend the actions of clipboard Johnnies and lines of illegally ranked Private Hire vehicles, touting outside nightclubs, bars and restaurants.

Having read the Private hire act from cover to cover, plus amendments made since 1998 I find it extremely worrying, that these laws, laid down by act of parliament, (plus case law that is now common law) are being ignored by police agencies that should be held publicly accountable.

Has there been an arrangement made by senior staff at TfL/PCO, with top officers in our police services?

Surely not you would think. Well think again!

PCO Bias Part One.

Up till this present day, it has been a contravention for PHV's to use the Royal Parks. Not just the ones in central London, but all of them in the Metropolitan police district.

Did the PCO contact the Royal Parks constabulary and ask them to "Turn A blind eye in favour of Private Hire companies? You bet they did!

From emails posted on the Internet (Click here), it would seem that senior officers from the PCO, namely, Ed Thompson, Luke Howard and Peter Bentley were involved in an issue of "Turning a Blind eye" back in 2006. The PCO, has always shown bias in favour of Private Hire. If it were Taxis that were banned from these parks, they would nick us by the dozen every day, until we stopped using the parks.

The Anderson Shelter is concerned that the agency who is responsible for enforcing Hackney and Private hire laws, seems to be taking it upon itself, only to enforce laws that support its own agenda.

As far as our legal team can see, it is still a contravention for private hire cars, with or without branding to enter the Royal Parks and would point the reader in the direction of a release from TfL, reprinted in the Jan 2008 edition of DaC’s Call Sign magazine which said:

The Regulations governing Royal Parks prohibit any vehicle “constructed, adapted or in use for the purpose of a trade or business” from using roads in the Parks. There is a specific exemption for London licensed taxis, but this does not cover private hire vehicles (PHVs). This means that PHVs cannot drive in the Parks if they are on business, for example taking customers to or from Park venues (such as the Zoo or the Serpentine), unless the passenger resides in the parks.

The press release added:

Enforcement of this regulation has been variable due to the difficulty of identifying PHVs. The licence discs and the forthcoming red route exemption signage makes these vehicles more readily identifiable, thus increasing the possible risk of a fine. We have made clear that private hire vehicles provide a similar public service to taxis in many respects and urged Royal Parks to extend the exemption to include PHVs among the vehicles allowed to use the Parks.

In response to these requests, Royal Parks has agreed to review the restrictions and will be consulting on whether to allow PHVs to drive in the Parks in the coming months.

In the meantime the existing prohibition remains in force.

No further comment from the PCO on this subject has been made, so I would assume that the ban still stands.

Also we would point to the fact that in 2000, Addison lee lost an appeal in the high court, Click here for full case records, when one of its drivers was convicted for driving a private hire vehicle within the Royal Parks. This judgement is now case law and still stands, blind eye or not!

This ongoing situation, has in fact outlived the Royal Parks constabulary. There has been a consultation in progress ever since the Met took over the policing of the royal parks and a decision is promised this April.

PCO Bias Part Two.

More recently, drivers who complained about PHV's touting outside London's clubs, received notification from Luke Howard that it was quite legal for PHV's to form ranks and wait to be hired. But then, the very person who Mr Howard's legal team based their assumption on, issued a statement to the contrary. The new head of the PCO, John Mason, told a delegation from the trade that, had he been in charge at that time, the emails would never have been sent out.

We have seen the PCO/TOCU and Met Police stops in Baywater Road (2hrs), The Strand (2hrs), Charring Cross Road (2hrs), Lindsey Street (1hr) and Abacus (20mins). As there are nearly 60,000 PHV's (most now touting illegally) and only 24,000 Taxis, we feel that the amount of time spent checking Taxis in situ is unfair and bias.

We also believe that branding on Private Hire vehicles, which include a name and phone number, is a form of plying for hire If challenged by the trade, we would win, hands down. I personally have spoken to legal advisors in the course of my work who would supported this argument.

A word to the wise Mr Mason, enforce all the laws fairly, not just the ones that suit the agenda.

288 YEAR OLD BAN REMOVED