Charing Cross Road:
Some months ago, a militant group of drivers organised themselves through twitter and formed a parallel rank by parking next to the illegally parked vehicles. This went on for a few days but the Police made it clear that the protesting Taxis were causing obstruction and would be charged if this protest persisted. But as of yet, no action has been taken against the touts by local council (Westminster), the licensing authority (TfL/LPTH), or the Police.
Private hire cars are being allowed to park in the loading bays, bus stand and on the Taxi rank in this area between Cranbourn Street and Irvin Street. Ironically "Licensed Taxis" have received PCN tickets from CCTV operators for stopping on the double red lines for more than two minutes. (You must appeal as these tickets are unenforceable re: Case No. CO/4743/2009 click here)
Its time this situation was sorted out by the LTPH enforcement and the Local authority. Complaints have also been sent to the joint ranks committee, but as of yet, no reply has been received and not a single word has appeared in the trade media.
New Appointment:
Cafe' de Paris:
Another situation that urgently needs to be addressed is the bus stand outside of the Cafe' de Paris, 3-4 Coventry street.
In order to make the "Golden Fare" rank legal it was necessary to change the traffic Management order to the Bus stand which now is restricted to Taxis only between the hours of 9:30pm till 8am. Yet every night and including weekends this bay is full of licensed private hire vehicles touting at the casino and night venue.
Cleaner Air? Then Give us more ranks:
With the Mayor's cleaner air policy and the constant going on about Taxi exhaust emissions, you would think TfL/LTPH would be bending over backwards to facilitate Taxi drivers needs to use their ranks. But this doesn't appear to be the situation. Taxis are being made to circumnavigate as our ranks fill with PHV's, touting outside clubs and bars.
Private hire has been given a free hand to park wherever they like every evening, which causes mass congestion and adds to air pollution. A blind eye has been turned by enforcement and the safety of young females has been compromised in order to clear the streets of potential trouble makers.
Lets hope that the appointment of Nikki Harris, who is no stranger to what is happening outside these venues, can get enforcement kick started and help sort this situation out.
Carry on Complaining:
The Anderson Shelter is to help relaunch the successful "Carry On Complaining" website. This will be set up for drivers to gain information on how to and where to complain about trade issues. We will endeavor to provide an up to date list of current email addresses with the facility of contacting MP's, MEP's, London Assembly members, and local councilors.
Keep an eye out for this new facility. We intend to keep them very busy
Over to Dicky Massett (UTG ranks committee chair or is it bed?) and Westminsters very own celebrity Martin Low assisted by ('Its not about the money)John Mason and TfL on this one.
ReplyDeleteThey will act immediately to assist us.
The Trade is safe with them.
A bit like Lansley saying the NHS is safe with him!
looks like TfL are going for the soft touch. Tried and tested at LTPH. I bet Peter Rose and Danny Sullivan cant wait to get in there to tell her what's what! More on the job training and guess who will suffer for it ? FFS.
ReplyDeleteJust out of intrest,who is in charge of the pco,And i dont mean the boy MASON,i mean who is actually in charge,who took Ellis place,Thats maybe who would we should be giving a hard time.
ReplyDeleteThis is like history repeating itself,Go back to killer on the knowledge,as soon as it was proved that Ed Thompson was not capable of the Job,he was replaced by MASON,and we all said lets give him a chance,Look where that got us,
ReplyDeleteGillis by suspending our ranks in favour of PHVs proved he was not capable,and now he has been replaced,Lets not make the same mistake again,
We must get on her case from day one.and keep on it until things change.
GARYS
why do we keep getting people to manage our affairs who are either from an enforcement or bus related background?
ReplyDeleteWe have 24000 more than capable drivers in the trade who i'm sure come from a myriad of backgrounds including law enforcement. Is it really that difficult to find someone who knows and understands the trade to fill these positions or will history just keep repeating itself with incompetents ?
Well Guy, we've hit the jackpot with Nikki. A well known champion cyclist from Bus Enforcement.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, when you look at who would be in the running from the trade it's self for this position, drivers (and I do use the term very loosely) like Dicky the Snail or Mike Hedges, I would rather go with Nikki, the cycling bus ticket inspector
Jason Byrne
Guy,
ReplyDeleteAre you new to this site,only reason i ask is if not surely you must realise how HENDY works,
He surrounds himself with mates,Because anyone who had half a brain would show him up for what he is,A guy not really capable of doing anything.
Remember the last commisioner,an american alcoholic,who saw life from the bottom of a bottle,Funny thing though was he done a better job.
The guy in the cab said: "Is it really that difficult to find someone who knows and understands the trade to fill these positions or will history just keep repeating itself with incompetents?"
ReplyDeleteThere may be quite a bit of truth in this as there are probably several taxi drivers within the cab trade who could reasonably fill these posts and have the necessary administrative and managerial skills, but they have only to apply when the jobs are advertised - internally or externally.
But I fear not many would do so.
But that doesn't mean to say, given the track record of this, that their application would be successful as the ugly head of nepotism may appear in the final selection process if former bus personnel keep coming into the taxi world.
Perhaps the former bus people would just love to see taxis run on the same lines as buses with NO owner-drivers and everyone taken on in an 'employed' basis and be under 'control'.