We have proved on numerous occasions that if we want our work back, its there for the taking.
Research by Westminster Council has proved beyond doubt that customers leaving a venue, usually take the first form of transport they see. If confronted by a clipboard man, operating an illegal rank, most won't think twice, as they believe this is a perfectly legitimate form of transport.
They don't know the Hackney carriage law and LTPH are refusing point blank to enforce you legal right to ply for hire.
Most nights, at places like Abacus, its a constant battle for space outside the exits. Many ranks have been moved away from exits and the touts have just filled the void. Many ranks have disappeared completely. TfL's budget for new Taxi ranks has been slashed every year for the last ten years and this years money for ranks, has been spent on the identifiers.
We've seen turf wars before on the streets of London, but the problem will now escalate with the reintroduction of the sale of satellite office licenses.
After the appalling mess TfL made of the revocation of their satellite office license, Diamond Cars now think they are invincible and have employed extra staff who openly tout outside the club on the pavement and try to prevent passengers using licensed Taxis. Every time we hit this club, more and more people are using our services. So please support the drivers winning the work back on your behalf.
After about an hour, the news reached Palestra and the new Prius was dispatched to investigate the goings on at Cornhill.
- Did these officers stop the touting by Diamond Cars employees?
- Did the take the details of all the LTPH licensesd private hire drivers illegally plying for hire?
- Did they check any of the private hire drivers details?
- Did they move on any of the minicabs?
- Did the even talk to Diamond Cars supervisor?
the answer to all these questions is of course not!!!
What they actually did was, park up and approached the Taxi rank and demanded to see the badge and bills of every licensed Taxi driver there.
Then they just disappeared
A senior officer for the UCG ranks and Highways team, contacted Suzanne Onodi, Assistant Traffic Manager (Enforcement) for the City of London and complained about Diamond car complete disregard for parking regulations in Cornhill.
This is the reply, which on close inspection shows just what we are up against..Thank you for your enquiry about night time enforcement and in particular parking in Cornhill.
Civil enforcement Officers (CEOs) regularly patrol the City to enforce the parking regulations and work from 10 pm to 7 am Friday and and Saturday nights, and late on other evenings Monday to Friday.
All the areas that you have mentioned are designated "hot spots" and as such the night time CEOs visit the areas regularly. The CEO will first move on vehicles found to be parked in contravention if the driver is present. Only if there is no driver or the driver refuses to move on will a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) be issued. This is good enforcement practice. In reality however, the drivers of the taxis see the CEO and voluntarily move on, only to return again in 10 minutes when the CEO has left. We need to cover the whole of the City and therefore it is not possible to have a dedicated resource at these locations.
We will continue to visit these locations, should you feel that illegal touting is taking place then this is a matter for the City of London police.
King Regards.
Suzanne Onodi
Assistant Traffic Manager (Enforcement)
Department of the Build Environment
City of London
PO Box 270
Guildhall
London
EC2P 2EJ
Worked it last night last job was brentwood... and for tfl unbelievable you can't believe how bad they are....
ReplyDeleteWas not at Abacus,but fully believe how TFL responded,I cannot be the only one thats noticed that the CBJ and scabs have dissapeared from the ANTHROP BAR in Gresham St,I would not mind betting that theres been a trade off by TFL on the lines of if you leave one,We will leave you alone at the other one.Cant think of any other reason.
ReplyDeleteTake a trip to Watling Street anon - there is a club called Reflex and you will see the same scabs and cbj's on the pavement. John Mason & Helen Chapman have both been touted there and have done absolutely nothing.
DeleteTrev
'The drivers of the TAXIS see the CEO and voluntarily move on.' God help us. She's the Assistant Traffic Manager? I wonder what it was that got her the job?
ReplyDeleteJoke enforcement from joke authorities!
ReplyDeleteWe have ONE SHOT at TfL etc. The Olympics.
If we do not use that opportunity we are dead meat!
threaten to block bow fly over junction every day during olympics unless they ban sat offices and give us the lanes. if they don't listen then, they never will.
ReplyDeleteWhat are LTPH doing with our license fee
ReplyDeleteBudget for ranks down from 100s of thousands to just a few. £54000 wasted on these cheap IDs which have appeared for sale on Yellow badge ranks already.
£10k will be put aside each year for replacements
It don't add up.
£5 extra on our bill for new ranks = £41.5k which will pay for about 3, 4cab ranks. Ranks disappearing at treble That rate!
No increase in PH bills And Westminster to provide them with waiting hubs... It's sick!
Mason can't handle the flack so passes the buck to Chapman and keeps his head down
These sad people don't know what they are doing
does the fact that the ids are being sold on the yb ranks not worry people on here?tell me what is the difference between the scummy minicab drivers touting work illegally in central london and a yb buying a fake id and working illegally in central london?because for the life of me i cant tell what the difference is.it should make any green on here bloody mad to know they spent a lot of time and energy to get their badge just to see these cheating frauds{because make no mistake that is what they are}coming in through the pretence of being a london gb taxi driver and nicking work that isnt theirs.its a joke that certain people on here just think its not a major problem and seem to have the turn a blind eye attitude to the fact fake ids are doing the rounds.how can the ucg accuse mason of ignoring the problems of miniscabs when they are doing the same with ILLEGAL ybs working up town?
DeleteAlthough I do stand to be corrected, its my belief that the rumour that GB id's have appeared for sale on YB ranks is at best a joke in poor taste and at worst scaremongering for the sake of forcing further divisions between Y & G badges.
DeleteHaving worked as a yellow badge in various sectors around south london over the past 15 years there is one truth thay seems to have been missed in tthis scenario.
95+% of yellow badges did the licence for the sector they wanted to work in and wouldn't dream of working illegally in town or tollerate wrong doing of this nature on their ranks.
Despite the popular notion that all yellow badges are wanna be greens, this simply isnt true, and if they had wanted to work central london or heathrow they would have done the appropriate badge the same as those of you who did.
There may be a new breed of pro fraudsters from overseas with new ideas, but I assure you they would be sorted out if they turned up on ANY yb rank that Ive worked and i dare say that would go for the ones I haven't.
A few have now been forced to start the green due to lack of rank space - not because the ids have come in- but theres alwas6 someone willing to spin us in a bad light.
The fake IDs.
DeletePeople have been arrested selling fake IDs and fake bills in a pub in the east end.
It is happening
The STC dept of the Met police have put up posters in Taxi shelters, while LTPH/PCO have said nothing
.......yeah, in pubs in the east end!!! NOT on yb ranks with the knowledge of working drivers as was suggested. It would not be allowed to go on. Ironic really the fact that yb drivers that it would affect would not tollerate this behaviour for the good of the trade and common decency, but tfl........
Deletewhat exactly is the costing for putting a new rank in place? How do the finances break down in order to go from the idea of having a rank outside a venue to getting it painted on the road?
ReplyDeleteObviously i understand the guys who paint the rank need paying as do the materials but do the relevant council also need to be reimbursed for taking a section of "their road"?
Is it a case that PH don't need "special waiting areas" marked out in the form of ranks and thus are cheap to asset whereas because we have hackney carriage law etc etc to comply with and that needs certain legalities to be complied with which all cost in the form of legal fees then it's far easier (and cheaper) to ignore the cabby and his ranks and just let PH do as they please.
an answer would be nice Mr. Mason and Ms Chapman.
It's not just about painting the road, it's also about getting the traffic order passed, although now that computers have a cut and paste function, I don't know why a traffic order should take more than a man hour total to draft and approve.
DeleteAs for minicab ranks being taxi ranks on the cheap, few in power care about the money going over the table. Watch the money going under the table to understand what's really happening. A taxi rank is available to a large number of self-employed drivers, so no one person is able or willing to bribe anyone to get taxi ranks created, whereas the army of slaves in a minicab rank is feeding most of its earnings back to one man, who is able and willing to bribe to get that rank illegally approved. When a certain taxi rank on LUL property was abolished and a minicab office went in the station, 5000 quid went into the pocket of an LUL manager - I was told this by a friend of the minicab boss.