The Badge - February 2023

WE’LL FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO STOP E-TAXI BUS LANES

As you can read on pages 4-5 it seems that TfL have plans afoot to introduce E-taxi only bus lanes

I can categorically state that should TfL try to implement this policy the LCDC will fight it tooth and nail There is no way that with over 8000 diesel taxis currently on the fleet TfL should even contemplate such proposals Are they proposing that all buses using bus lanes use the same criteria?

Also, with the current cost of electricity and a severely cold winter, drivers are reporting that they are only achieving some 42 miles range from their batteries and are having to operate on petrol for most of the time - can and will TfL allow LEVC taxis into these lanes whilst using petrol?

On page 6 Geely have announced their ambitions to invest millions of pounds in expanding the production capacity and range of models built at its Ansty Park plant in Coventry

One can only hope that this new venture is more successful than their recent foray into selling vans into the UK, which has proved to be an economic disaster - with losses in the last published accounts of some £118m

More bad news for taxi drivers is that we have been reliably informed that the cost of a TXe will be going up every quarter this year I don't know for how long the trade can survive with this monopoly situation

Talking of a monopoly, I wrote to Helen Chapman in December last year asking if there were any contingency plans from TfL should Geely cease production of the TXe?

And also, should TfL consider changing the COF to allow a more competitive market in London?

Presently, the cost of a new taxi on finance comes in at just under £100k, making the job in the long term, quite frankly, for many drivers, untenable A few days before going to press, I did receive a reply to our December letter Unfortunately, Helen Chapman did not see fit to answer me and I received an email response from Dan Maskell which did not address any of the issues we raised in our original letter to Helen Chapman

We at the LCDC don’t often bang our own drum when it comes to helping our members with their legal troubles. A lot of the cases which come our way with members are quite sensitive and we respect their wishes to keep things in house and out of the paper which I can fully appreciate.

However, not only do Payton’s Solicitors offer our members a 24 Hour Duty Solicitor 365 days a year, but since getting involved with the Club, our solicitor Keima Payton has the distinction of having a 100% success rate in all her cases which she has handled on behalf of the Club’s members.

Keima Payton has a fearsome reputation in court and should ever the need arise you will find no one better able to fight your corner and save your Badge than Keima.

- Grant Davis, LCDC Chairman

T fL R E S P O N D S T O L C D C ’S D E C E M B E R

L E T T E R O V E R T R A D E V E H I C L E C O N C E R N S

Dear Grant,

Thank you for your letter to Helen Chapman, I’m responding in my role as TfL’s Stakeholder Lead for taxi and private hire

I do apologise for the delay in providing a response, this is due to the letter being received elsewhere in TfL and taking some time to reach us Please do send future correspondence direct to my email address or the Senior Relationship Manager mailbox

Turning to your concerns about taxi numbers, I am encouraged to note that the overall number of licensed

taxis continues to increase, with the latest fleet number (for week ending 29 January) totalling 14,999 In total we have 6,582 actively licensed ZEC taxis, representing 44 per cent of the overall fleet

In terms of vehicle manufacturers, this is a market open to anyone who presents a vehicle that meets both taxi vehicle licensing requirements and Condition of Fitness

I recall the event on Potters Field in 2014 This was arranged, in part, to allow a number of taxi manufacturers to showcase vehicles that they were

developing for the London market

As you will appreciate, this is not something TfL can compel a vehicle manufacturer to do, and LEVC and Dynamo are the only manufacturers that have brought a compliant vehicle to market

We are aware that Dynamo, who were re-purposing a Nissan NV-200 fully electric base vehicle, has entered liquidation and we continue to monitor this situation

We remain in close contact with LEVC who remain committed to manufacturing taxis in the UK and to

serving the London taxi trade Indeed, LEVC recently announced its plans for the coming decade to become a leading zero-carbon mobility technology company

In its role as licensing authority and regulator, TfL is not able to influence finance or market conditions that apply equally to other businesses and private individuals across the country We appreciate the investment in a ZEC vehicle is a significant one for taxi drivers which is why the Mayor and TfL has provided more than £50m support to help vehicle owners make this transition, via the

LCDC: response has avoided answering our questions!

Thank you for your email of 10th February in reply to my letter to Helen Chapman sent in December last year

Unfortunately your brief statement regarding TfL policy, the benefits of purpose built taxis, and the link to the well-publicised LEVC management changes do not answer the fundamental questions I tried to pose to Helen My deep concern for what you call our “unique and accessible doorto-door service in London” is sincerely held and I would like to continue to engage with you and TfL on this matter I would appreciate direct explanation from you on the following questions

1 You point to the fact the number of taxis is slowly increasing to around 15,000 and 44% are ZEC, although I contend it is still 25% lower than before the pandemic Moreover, the statistic you quote hides the fact that the number of taxi drivers continues to fall and is now at an all-time low of 18,500

As driver numbers fall so the number of taxis on the fleet must eventually reduce In my view the falling driver numbers demonstrates the fact that the London taxi trade is no longer able to sustain a reasonable income for its participants (compared to other trades) and increasing vehicles prices and rents are the cause of this What is your view?

2 You point to the £50 million support (equal to c £7,600 per ZEC sale) plus another £7,500 OZEV support However, what is the point of pouring in all this money if the price of the taxi has still increased by 50% in a matter of 4 years?

3. You say that TfL, as the licensing authority and regulator, “is not able to influence finance or market conditions ” But surely you recognise that your policies on vehicle specification do have a direct and major impact on price, finance and market conditions? For example the higher specification resulting from

the turning circle/rear wheel steer on the Vito Taxi increased the price of the Vito by over £10,000 In this way your higher specification requirements result in higher prices which is now reducing driver numbers

4 You mention the LEVC management changes. Although we have not seen any statement on LEVC’s product plans, have you? Frankly most TXe drivers I know really like the fact that

Delicensing Scheme and contribution to the £7,500 grant off the purchase price of a new ZEC taxi

Taxis provide a unique and accessible door-to-door service in London, which remains one of the trade’s USPs and an important aspect of the service to disabled or mobility impaired customers This service is offered because taxis are purpose build and have a number of features that are set out in licensing requirements and Conditions of Fitness

Yours sincerely

it is a hybrid because the petrol engine gives them comfort, especially when petrol prices are cheaper than electric So, I would still ask you the question, if £66,000 is the current net cost of a hybrid TXe how much will a fully electric one cost to meet the Mayor’s ambitions?

5 Lack of competition and supply is having an enormous impact on the second hand taxi market.

You will have noticed the residual values of secondhand TXe’s doubling I have seen adverts for £40,000 for a 5-year old second hand TXe This is great for some, but it will make the rental prices of second hand taxis, for a large number of drivers of older cabs, impossible to afford Surely you can see this has a negative impact on the delicate balance of the taxi market?

I submit to you again that all the factors I highlighted here and in my letter to Helen demonstrate that there an increasing likelihood of a taxi vehicle problem with both supply and demand issues building up to a possible crash All I am asking is for TfL to consider how it can adjust its requirements to maintain the best standards in a changing market

I look forward to hearing from you shortly

Your sincerely

Grant Davis

IS ‘FAKE NEWS’ E-TAXI BUS LANE

In September 2018 Taxi Leaks published an article saying that e-Taxi only bus lanes, e-Taxi only ranks, e-Taxi only streets and areas were coming to London and would be coming sooner rather than later

In the October edition of the LTDA's Taxi magazine they published the following article :

Fake News / THE RUMOUR MILL

“Rumours spreading online that Transport for London is preparing to ban diesel cabs from some bus lanes and open them to electric cabs only are complete nonsense

The stories appear to have started on some ill-informed group based website, before spreading to Twitter. They were prompted by a misunderstanding deliberate or otherwise - of some new signage approved by the Department for Transport

The signage in question (pictured I & 2) give preferential treatment to e-taxi in bus lane and in some other areas, and have been created for Manchester, where Mayor Andy Burnham is planning a shakeup of the industry in the city: The only signs applicable to London regarding e-taxis will be installed at rapid change points (pictured .3) earmarked for cabs only - which are clearly of no use to diesel vehicles anyway

Transport for London have assured the LTDA that it has no plan to put any other signs in London, eroding the rights of diesel taxis and handing them to electric cabs.

Don’t believe everything you read.”

PROPOSAL BACK ON THE MENU?

Below left is the signage picture featured in a post on Taxi Leaks that was actually proposed to the DfT by TfL (This was later confirmed at a recent TOPS meeting More on that later )

However the one that was printed in Taxi had been cropped - meaning that the bottom section that shows TfL's involvement was missing We do not know why it was cropped in this way.

As mentioned earlier the LCDC recently attended a TOPS meeting at Palaestra, at no time was introduction of e Bus lanes discussed However, all attendees were sent the following email:

Good afternoon,

Further to discussion at the Senior Taxi Trade Representatives meeting on 13January, we agreed to circulate a list of the taxi access requests that you have recently requested we reconsider, specifically to provide access to ZEC taxis at these locations.

Please find attached the list that you originally put forward in 2018. Please can you review the list and confirm they are still wanted and if there are further locations that you would like ZEC taxis to be able to access - please provide these by return email.

Kind regards

We contacted all the other trade groups that had attended the meeting, saying that this was the first we had ever heard of any such thing The only person who said he had some recollection of the conversation was Steve McNamara of the LTDA, who said that he vaguely remembers it being discussed The key to this whole saga is what discussions took place between TfL and the LTDA in 2018, which incidentally was the year ZEC vehicles were made compulsory in London

We know at the time that Steve McNamara is on record as saying publicly that within the next 3 years there would be 9000 ZEC taxis on the road It could be that the slower uptake of ZEC vehicles delayed the implementation of these e- Bus lanes and this has not been mentioned before now At the senior trade meeting, the new TfL commissioner, Andy Lord, mentioned to all present that he and Steve McNamara of the LTDA had held a private meeting in December 2022. One has to ask - was this the meeting where e-taxi bus lane access was discussed? And if so, that would explain why no other taxi trade representatives had any recollection of e-taxi bus lane conversations

For the sake of the trade, the LTDA needs to clarify what has happened here Why was the image of the signage notice cropped, which removed TfL's name from the application? If it was by mistake, why didn’t they subsequently clarify that the signage was indeed on behalf of TfL and London

and not Manchester? And what was on the attached list that TfL sent to them in 2018 - and who sent it?

LCDC quizzes TfL over Bolt bookings

Dear Helen/Graham

May I make you aware of the social media post below

https://twitter com/sammyscarf /status/162038648940541133

3?s=46&t=pWwl Q4 PKWeG iZ26MtHgA

It raises serious questions, if Bolt’s operation was lawful why aren’t they restricting dispatch to vehicles in London from places like Wolverhampton? Why are they telling drivers not to complete (ie accept)?

May I remind you of Helen’s witness statement in the Uber refusal, specifically,

‘TfL explained, it was minded to conclude ULL does not accept bookings before assigning them to a driverthe booking is accepted by the driver and the operating system then relays the acceptance back to the customer”

“In common sense terms, it is the driver, not ULL, which accepts the booking”

If Bolt are telling drivers not to complete (accept) and the model clearly can’t restrict the practice what is the difference from those quotes?

I’m totally aware that you have no control over a Wolverhampton operator, what you do have is the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998

Section 2

No person shall in London make provision for the invitation or acceptance of, or

accept, private hire bookings unless he is the holder of a private hire vehicle operator’s licence for London (in this Act referred to as a “London PHV operator’s licence”)

Emphasis on ‘or accept’ !! Are you happy for non TfL licensed vehicles working in London?

Do you not have a duty to investigate this allegation of Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, Section 2 breach?

Kind regards Grant Davis, LCDC Chair

Momentous new chapter for UK’s iconic black cab company

Electric vehicle manufacturer LEVC, best known for its famous black cabs, is set to invest millions of pounds expanding the production capacity and range of models built at its Ansty Park manufacturing plant in Coventry

With a new senior management team for 2023, the UK based company says it has begun a momentous new chapter, setting its brand direction for the coming decade and beyond, with a new strategy to become a leading zero-carbon mobility technology company across the world

Building on unrivalled heritage in purpose-built vehicles –LEVC has manufactured the iconic London taxi for more than 70 years – the company’s new strategy will see it grow beyond manufacturing the world’s most advanced taxi, the

TX.

LEVC is has now announced its commitment to deliver smart, green, safe and accessible mobility solutions to more people than ever before.

Underlining this commitment, the company has revealed its new senior management team, who will implement the new strategy

The company say the new appointments will maximise the engineering, marketing and production expertise that exists at the firm’s state-of-the-art home in Ansty, UK, backed by the global resources of parent company Geely Holding Group

Alex Nan continues in his role of Global CEO, and he will now also take on the role of UK CEO for LEVC

Alex is responsible for overseeing overall business strategy, technology, product planning and coordination with

the Geely Holding Group Chris Allen, who has been appointed as Managing Director of LEVC, after previously holding the role of Legal Director and Company Secretary, will be responsible

for procurement, manufacturing, technology and quality, government affairs, as well as mobility services

Jenny Jin has also been appointed as Executive

Director, looking after sales, marketing and aftersales Moe Wang, the general manager of LEVC Overseas will also take responsibility as the Director of Overseas Sales for LEVC UK

SO MUCH FOR CLEAN A AIR THEN TFL?

FOI REQUEST REVEALS 1400 IMPORTED PH VEHICLES IN JUST ONE MONTH

As the cab trade knows only too well, since 2018 and the introduction of the ZEC taxi, we have had to sacrifice perfectly good, reliable Euro 6 taxis at this Mayor’s altar of emissions. In fact, worse still, TFL went even further in decimating taxi vehicle numbers by scrapping three years from the 15 year age limit (in the name of cleaner air).

The price of a taxi went up £20k in a month and the promises of a "future proof" EV charging infrastructure never materialised - as we say at the LCDC "TFL make policy out of promises"

Dear Grant Davis

TfL Ref: FOI-2449-2223/GH

But worse still, we have had to accept a monopoly whereas the PH Industry can pick and choose from a large array of ZEC vehicles at about a quarter of the price of a TXe

So when I received a call from someone on the PH side of the fence informing me that in the rush to license petrol and diesel PH vehicles, garages and individuals were importing cars from abroad

I subsequently submitted an FOI request and the proof as they say is in the pudding (see below)

So taxi drivers who could not get an appointment at NSL

in the run up to Christmas can rest assured that their spots were being taken up by petrol and diesel PH vehicle owners - all of them making a mad dash to get licensed

Thank you for your request for information received on 29 December 2022 regarding Transport for London’s licensing of private hire vehicles

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy I can confirm we hold the information you require You asked:

“How many petrol and diesel vehicles were imported into the UK from abroad and then licensed in Nov / Dec before the January 2023 cut off.”

We do not specifically record on our licensing system if a vehicle has been imported into the UK from abroad However, based on Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) we have identified that approximately 1,400 private hire vehicles that were new to licensing between 1 November and 31 December 2022 were likely to be imported vehicles

The only way we could provide a definitive number would be to manually check each individual record of the several thousand vehicles licensed during this period, collating this information would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information

(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004

Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’

If you are not satisfied with this response, please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal

Yours sincerely

FOI Case Officer

The future is Gree n

The future is Colts

Don’t be a diesel dinosaur

TXE t axis to rent

We are still renting a limited amount of diesel taxis

FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH LONDON

By Charlotte Gill

Recently, I had a major realisation as I was walking home to my flat in Highbury.

It was a Sunday evening, and I was returning from a trip to Tunbridge Wells It had been warm and comfortable there busy but breathable, pretty, you get the picture As I came out of the tube, I saw an area that was distinctly the opposite Taking in my surroundings and following my normal path home (a journey that usually involves hiding my phone from thieves) I suddenly realised: I don’t like London much any more

In Khan’s London, everything declines apart from bureaucrats’ salaries

This has never been the case In fact, I am usually evangelical about the Big Smoke Born and bred in Islington, my parents practically had to tear me away when, aged 13, our family moved to Kent I rushed back as soon as I could

My increasing disenchantment with London, I now realise, started in 2016, when I had been on another return journey this time from Berlin I had been out clubbing most nights and found that the Germans were much more relaxed about closing times than I was used to; I felt liberated from the ringing bells of landlords and their staff wanting to close up Coming back to the UK clarified my thoughts: London’s closing times were more apt for a carehome karaoke evening than a capital

This was the same year that Sadiq Khan had become Mayor of London I was not particularly political at that time or interested in this new official Still my ears pricked up when he announced the appointment of a “Night Czar”, called Amy Lamé, to rescue nightlife I considered this a positive development, both for culture and the economy. Little did I realise, though, that this “Czar” would become symbolic of Khan’s London, in which everything declines apart from bureaucrats’ salaries

It’s hard to know where to begin with how Khan ruined London The rise of knife crime is an especially vivid example The most obvious signs of decay are the dead streets at night, congested roads and grotty buildings, as well as tube carriages filled with warnings about why you shouldn’t stare It is as though the city is now trying to put people off ever moving here It has the pettiness and militancy of Singapore with the scruffiness of a Magaluf bar

Khan’s main issue is one shared by other leaders in devolved bureaucracies he has a pathological

urge to meddle in a way that almost always makes things worse. Perhaps the biggest example of this, though it is not fashionable to say, are the antitraffic measures he has installed in London (LTNs and ULEZ) with scant regard for properly consulting the population For all the claims that these interventions are solving climate change, the streets tell a different, clogged-up story, with London recently becoming the world’s most congested city for the second year running

Whereas in 2016 car drivers spent an average of 73 hours sitting in traffic, it was 156 in 2022 In the magical world of devolution, it seems that results do not matter (or, as I recently wrote for The Critic, can be fluffed) Otherwise you might imagine that Will Norman, London’s first “Walking and Cycling Commissioner” appointed in 2016, would be shown the door (or, out of sheer embarrassment, find it himself) Instead he has doubled down on his plans, which mostly involve forcing cars off the road, at a cost to the taxpayer of £110,000 £114,999 per year

Khan’s czars are not so dissimilar from the lazy Russian aristocracy

Another person comfortable with failure is Lamé, who has even been rewarded for her poor performance Whilst City Hall data suggests the number of nightclubs in the capital declined by 22 per cent between 2019 and 2021, The Spectator recently reported she had her pay increased by 40 per cent to £116,000 Lamé (who wants to make London “greener”, “diverse” and “sustainable”) can count recent achievements such as giving Bromley and Woolwich £130,000 each to become “Night Time Enterprise Zones” This is in spite of the fact that no one wants to go clubbing in either, whereas they do in Soho The only thing “sustainable” ensured by Lamé are business closures in hospitality As for “diversity”, the capital certainly delivers “equality of unemployment”

Khan’s “czars” only live up to their name in that they are not so dissimilar from the lazy Russian aristocracy of the past, convinced they are entitled to large sums whilst doing little in return

The word czar is even more unfortunate when you think about Khan’s administration as a whole, where councils routinely seize assets off voters, many of whom have had their democratic wishes overruled Take Haringey Council, which made almost £2 million in fines between September and December 2022 from LTNs, despite many residents’ well known objections to their installations

Given London’s decay, it is startling that both mainstream parties think we need more “devolution” around the country If Cornwall, which recently received a devolution deal, ends up with a Mayor like Khan, it’s not hard to imagine they will soon invent a surfing speed limit, put curfews on crab hunting and ban Gordon Ramsay from the county

Maybe those places getting new “devolution deals” will mourn the same way I do now for London a beautiful city, built by titans, now being destroyed by bureaucracy.

Courtesy of The Critic magazine

PROJECT HORIZON - CABBIE DEATH KNELL

Through the medium of The Anderson Shelter and Taxi Leaks, I have been warning the Licensed Taxi trade of Project Horizon for well over a decade, after it was discovered (by accident) published on the Internet in an un-redacted email train (now removed) which TfL have always denied ever existed

I also predicted back in 2010, that under this agenda, eventually, there would be nogo areas for Taxis followed by Private Hire ranks where drivers would be allowed to rank and wait to be hired, with the aid of a clipboard man (As technology moved forward, the clipboard was eventually replaced by an online app)

One part of the email discussed a proposal to let PHVs rank at major venues and mainline stations, in the fashion of the clipboard men that were appearing outside pubs, clubs and restaurants, fully sanctioned by TfL This actually happened after the STAN Report, but was replaced by the online ride sharing apps

The main issue of Horizon was to cut the number of Licensed Taxis in half to make way for a massive expansion of Private hire We saw the then director of TfLTPH invited to San Francisco on a jolly up to be shown the new venture of online ride share

Government ministers as high up as no10, put pressure on the then Mayor or London Boris Johnson, to ease the passage of this company, into the London market (which was seen world wide as the jewel in the crown)

Amazingly, not one Org or Union approached me about my findings and the subject was never discussed in any trade journal As a result, we are now actually sharing these virtual ranks with on-demand private hire, utilising online apps

Back to 2010

TfL went berserk when I first published my finding including the email train in full and I was ordered by their legal department to remove all posts concerning Horizon from my website 'The Anderson Shelter' of course, I refused The email train I’d found on line disappeared, as did all references to Horizon on TfL's internal internet, which I’d acquired the password to TfL then went further and got Goggle (the host) to remove my website completely

Then the worst happened. Somehow my laptop was compromised with a virus and my hard drive infected and wiped Sounds far fetch like a plot of a TV drama but this is what happened Unfortunately, at that time I didn’t have a printer, and now all my evidence was now gone

But that didn’t stop me, I started a succession of blogs online and carried on exposing whatever I could find out about our regulator

Look around today, nearly everything I predicted has come to pass

At the time of my original discovery, I was a founding member of the RMT and I bought this up at branch meetings time and time again But they were only interested in one thing that was defining Plying for Hire in Law They are still on about this 13 years later

After years of negativity and deterioration, did we not all cheer when Val Shawcross announced the United Trade Group would be scrapped and the gagging order known as the engagement policy would be consigned to the shredder

But then, the old United Trade Group was immediately replaced by the new United Trade Group Another lesson not learned

To make Private Hire attractive to new drivers, TfL have drastically reduced the number of Licence Taxi drivers and Taxi vehicles by stealth Looking at the recent figures published on TfLs own

website, will confirm this The reduction of the age limit for older Taxis, have killed off many older drivers, who had reduced their hours and were working part time to supplement pensions, now find the price of the new Taxi to buy or rent, just not worth the effort of working on

To further the progression of Horizon, TfL placed the trade in the predicament of struggling to afford new replacement vehicles

Cheaper models have been kept out of the marked by outdated standards of fitness resulting in just one highly expensive vehicle, while giving our work to a nondomicile company which pays little to no tax here in the UK We are supposed to learn from past history, but it seems our trade has learned nothing

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan being questioned on Project Horizon at Mayors Question Time, said it didn’t exist But when pointed out to him on our behalf by Cllr David Kurten at a proceeding MQT, that TfL actually had a director

of Project Horizon in the personage of Gareth Powell, he changed his story to, "it’s only applicable to internal TfL issues and has nothing to do with the Taxi trade" More lies from the mouth of the Mayor

The ultimate goals of Horizon were:

• Cut taxi trade in half

• Double the amount of private hire vehicles

• Create a one tier service where PHVs and Taxis work together sharing work

With the help of so called Taxi apps working alongside Private hire, plus a Private Hire company buying up an established Taxi company, all these goals have now been virtually reached, the result of a fragmented trade where 3 orgs and 3 unions can’t work together as one

Our only hope (in my opinion)

We desperately need a Taxi board with everyone working together from the same page, not fragmented and empire building

But to be honest, I can’t ever see that happening

T and Davis Grant answers the know

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AS AN L.C.D.C MEMBER YOU WILL RECEIVE:

24 HOUR DUTY SOLICITOR EXCLUSIVE TO THE CAB TRADE

Your 24 Hr duty solicitor hotline membership card

Peace of mind 24 hrs of the day

LEGAL COVER

Our fantastic team of City Of London based solicitors and barristers, experts in Hackney Carriage and road traffic law

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

As a member of the LCDC, we will deal with any complaint that has been made against you by members of the public

Also we will attend the LTPH with you on any personal appeals that would affect your licence

HEATHROW AIRPORT REPRESENTATION

With our reps at the airport working

hard on the trade’s behalf for a fairer, and more safer future at Heathrow

RANKS AND HIGHWAYS

The LCDC attend the Joint Ranks committee, working hard for more ranks and more access for the taxi trade in London

CAB TRADE ADVICE

All members can call the office for any information or up to the date news on any trade related subject

TRADE’S FUTURE

The Club worked tirelessly in bringing in the green & yellow identifiers to the taxi trade And are always working hard to protect our future

CAB TRADE REPRESENTATION

We are working hard to work with members of the GLA and also politicians to fight our corner against TFL and was a major influence in the recent “ future proof” document

VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS

The Club works alongside LTC and Mercedes to deliver a vehicle that meets

our standard as a London taxi driver

Recently we have held meetings to work against the ULEZ strategy and the introduction of taxi age limits

CLUB PROTECTA

To help drivers who have acquired twelve points keep their licence

* £12 per month is tax deductible

Conver t your Taxi from Euro 5 to Euro 6 Emis sion Standar ds with HJS Retrrofit t SCR Te chnology

HJS Emission Technology have developed a range of retrofit Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) exhaust systems that enable drivers of Euro 5 diesel taxis to upgrade to Euro 6 emission standards.

HJS retrofit conversions are currently available for the Euro 5 LTi TX4, the Mercedes Vito and Peugeot E7 taxis. All systems have been tested and approved by the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS) which is managed by the Energy Saving Trust HJS Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) is an advanced active emissions control system that can reduce exhaust tailpipe emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by over 90%

The HJS SCR system operates in conjunction with the vehicles existing DPF which already meets the requirements for the reduction of Particulate Matter. The SCR system supplied by HJS consists of an underfloor catalyst, an Adblue tank with airless pump, a variety of sensors and an independent control unit with driver information display

The SCR system operates by injecting Adblue (an Ammonia based solution)

directly into the exhaust gas stream. The Adblue is mixed with the dirty exhaust gases and passes over the SCR catalyst converting Nitrogen Dioxide emissions into mainly water and Nitrogen. SCR retrofit systems have already helped many drivers across the UK to comply with Local Authority Clean Air Zone requirements and avoid the daily access charges

In many cases, government grant funding has been made available to support the taxi trade to upgrade their vehicles

Retrofitting existing taxis to meet Euro 6 emission standards is a highly costeffective way for drivers to avoid the daily access charges and can also give the vehicle a longer life span and can increase its value It will also help drivers to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to local air quality improvements

The SCR system is manufactured in Germany to the highest standard and can normally be installed within one day

Walker on the march...

POTS AND KETTLES

A top Bod at TPH (Taxi & Private Hire) who shall remain un-named, suggested that recent comments in the trade pointing out that a new TXe could cost a driver £100,000 over five years was hyperbole. I quote “I would just observe that the £100,000 figure (whilst making a great sound bite) is the price with the highest possible finance deal: the ticket price of a LEVC TXe is in the region of £67,000.”

Bod went on to make a far more ludicrous statement that we will return to For now, what TFL Bod said has some merit, but not much It may surprise TPH Bod that not too many drivers have £67,000 stashed under their mattress Even normal HP is now beyond most of us and so we are left with lease/purchase deals

In any case, as of this month that figure has risen to £112,271 It’s true that this figure includes a final payment of £21,811 So, in a way Bod was correct because any driver brave enough to pay this final figure would , fingers crossed, have a further 10 years to spread the cost over Even so, if we deduct the final payment figure, that still leaves £91,460, which is only 8 5% adrift of £100k anyway

Most drivers taking these five year deals, have no intention of making the final payment This is not only due to financial constraints but also fear over how long the battery will last (£20,000 to replace), will the technology be obsolete in a few years or will TFL perform another trick and cut short the life of the TXe retrospectively after being bought on the basis of a 15 year lifespan

For these drivers, that means an outlay of £91,460 to basically rent a vehicle for five years and that works out to £350 per week, 52 weeks a year This £350 still has to be paid whether or not the driver actually works

However, TPH Bod, in a comfy office with a nice salary and pension to look forward to, thinks we drivers are exaggerating the problem i e £350 per week before insurance, road tax, licenses and other running costs. Problem, what problem?

“I would also point out that the (London taxi) market is open and

there are no restrictions on new vehicles being brought to market, subject to” COFs

This was Bod’s second, daft quote “no restrictions”? Do me a favour! Well, how about this for a restriction For large manufacturers like, Ford, etc, a new model car costs between one and five billion pounds in R&D and tooling The £1 billion end is for significantly adapting a current model but for a complete new model, it

If you earned £50,000 per year,to reach total earnings of £1 billion, you would have to have started working 20,000 years ago, just as the Earth was starting to thaw out of thelast Ice Age

Bod says that isn’t a restriction of entry to the taxi market for a new player, but this is exactly the reason why no new entrant lasts in the London taxi market

building the vehicle

Ridiculous figure, yes? Of course it is and that is why even if a vehicle was developed from scratch as a taxi, it would still have to be sellable on a world-wide scale or else be suitable to sell in other versions as a private vehicle but still on a global scale.

So, TPH Bod should know the market isn’t open and it was stupid to suggest otherwise The size of the market and the Conditions of Fitness (COF) set by TFL make entering this market virtually impossible

THE SOLUTION

The truth is that under the current COFs, the situation of monopoly, or perhaps duopoly, with the ensuing high vehicle costs, will continue unabated We will continue to pay top-dollar price for Legobuilt vehicles

There really is only one solution and I’m not saying that I like or or would necessarily support it The solution is to remove the “turning circle” requirement from the COF Some modification of the wheelchair (not removal) COF may also be required

moves progressively towards the £5 billion end None of these produce a rear wheel drive that is required to make the “turning circle” possible.

This figure of even £5 billion is not an impediment to developing a new vehicle because new vehicles are developed for huge markets So, a manufacturer would be looking to sell in the region of 2 million vehicles over a span of 5 years or so This brings the R&D/tooling cost per vehicle to £500 per vehicle That’s the top end

Let’s look at the bottom end of £1 billion

A billion pounds - £1,000,000,000 When ordinary people like you and I see numbers like that, we don’t really grasp the meaning of such numbers We hear government talking about spending billions, etc Let’s get it into perspective.

If we change £ to miles, a billion miles is the equivalent of 20,500 return trips to the moon

The only survivor is LEVC and that is only because from the turn of this century they first sold all their assets to keep going, then borrowed money they couldn’t afford and ultimately had to give the company away to the Chinese

Every producer before LEVC, and that includes Mercedes, M&O, LTI or whatever they wanted to call themselves, could not afford proper tooling up and had to produce Meccano sets, adapting existing vehicles for purpose as taxis; it doesn’t work

If a manufacturer spent the low end of £1 billion to bring a taxi to the London market, how many could they sell? Even in our heyday our fleet was only 23,000 cabs That equates to a maximum 2,000 n vehicles per year, spread between a number of manufacturers. Even for a monopoly, £1 billion spread over 10,000 vehicles, works out at £1 million per vehicle and that is without the material and labour cost of actually

With the removal of those impediments to market entry, there are already a large number of standard production vehicles on the market that can easily be adapted for taxi use in London This is exactly how “world cars” are produced A basic model is then adapted for the tastes of drivers in different countries, etc. Adapting for use as a taxi is just another such adaptation

That is why you can see any number of wheelchair accessible taxi models around the country for about two thirds of the price of a TXe I love the TXe but it’s just too damn expensive A word of caution though Unless such change in the COF went hand in hand with a new COF requiring all new taxis to be black in colour and not allow any new PHV to be coloured black or any colour that could be mistaken for black, I think this would work against us. Customers would need to be able to immediately identify a taxi as a taxi on the street and immediately differentiated from a PHV

The vehicle does not define the difference between a taxi and a PHV but it is what makes the difference immediately visible to the customer

Heathrow Airport Update Stop Press

On the 24th of January, Taxi trade Representatives met with TfL Compliance Officer, Dean Giannasi Heathrow Airport’s Head of Landside Kap Jhuti was also in attendance The Police sent their apologies for not having anyone available but have assured us that someone from Aviation Policing would be in attendance in future Sarah Finlay from TfL Policy was delayed but joined us for the second half of the meeting

Dean gave us a presentation, which included the latest Compliance figures There were 15,000 checks last year, which when broken down is less than one check per vehicle and about 40 checks a day

That’s for the whole of London and not just Heathrow The Airport has recorded record movements through the Feeder Park (since records began in 2010) and HAL hope that their business will return to normal in

A irp or t mat ter s

by M ark W hite

2023 The Compliance checks, prior to the pandemic, had been operating 7 days a week, 365 days of the year after years of neglect TfL need to get back to something approaching that and more given that it’s getting busier and busier

HAL have said that they would like to eliminate all criminality at Heathrow in the Terminals -

including touting However, both they and TFL say that touting by unlicensed drivers is

a matter for the Police

Ironically, HAL and TFL fund the Police

The second half of the meeting was dominated by a discussion on Credit Cards and the use of hand held card machines Last year, there were 30 complaints regarding all manner of handheld complaints Sarah explained that some were more

serious (and extreme) than others, but the Reps relayed incidents whereby customers feel they are entitled not to pay for fares should the machine in the back fail - often due to signal issues. These are not £5 fares, but often in excess of £100 It was pointed out that TfL have not reviewed the issue since the mandate came in in 2016 and that life has moved on Machines that have to be in the back are now being replaced by links and QR codes on the partition that customers can use on smartphones, but that we are still reliant on phone signals that often do not work in certain areas

Airport Reps also asked that the signage and approved CCTV cameras be looked at as the cost of the ones complying with TfL’s regulations are extremely expensive compared to those available on the High Street Sarah said that signage is currently being consulted on (which seems to have been the case since 2008!) and an announcement is due soon

Both Dean and Sarah said they would take our comments away and relay them to the appropriate departments/people

Alan’s Angle

TF L to move forw ard with Nine Elms acti ve travel improvements

TfL has published a consultation report that confirms it is moving forward with plans to make it easier and safer to walk and cycle on Battersea Park Road in Nine Elms.

The eastern end of the Nine Elms area has seen significant development in recent years, including a new station on the Northern line TfL says the changes will help to connect the new and existing neighbourhoods in the west of Nine Elms to London’s growing network of Cycleways

The changes are being funded by Wandsworth Council and local developers, with funding from both playing an important role in making recently developed areas better places to live

The plans for Battersea Park Road will deliver:

• 150m of protected cycle tracks with physical segregation, in response to feedback on earlier designs which had a mix of advisory and mandatory cycle lanes with no physical protection

• Improvements at Queenstown Road junction, including:

• early release on all arms

of the junction, so people cycling can move off before general traffic

• dedicated cycle lanes guiding people cycling across the junction going both east and west

• a cycle gate for people cycling eastbound

• New 20mph limits along the whole of Battersea Park Road

• Improved ‘straight across’ pedestrian crossings at the junctions with Queenstown Road and Prince of Wales Drive

Feedback from people who responded to the consultation showed that 67% believed the scheme would encourage many or some more people to cycle, with 53% saying the same about walking.

The consultation also showed that 60% of respondents strongly supported the proposed new cycling infrastructure the scheme would deliver

Helen Cansick, TfL’s head of healthy streets investment, said: ”We’re determined to ensure that everyone in London is able to walk and cycle safely and these changes will be an important new addition to the capital’s network of high quality Cycleways, as well

City Of London looks to make Beech St all Electric vehicles only again

as making it easier to walk and cross this busy road

“I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation for their feedback and we’ll continue to work on our plans for Nine Elms to ensure people have even better options for accessing the area sustainably and affordably ”

Cllr Clare Fraser, Wandsworth Council cabinet member for transport, said: “These plans help support this key area of Battersea and will provide transport improvements to cycling and bus infrastructure as well as pedestrian crossings

“I’m also pleased to see that the whole of Battersea Park Road will be 20mph under this scheme

“TfL has developed these plans in response to feedback from local residents, businesses and schools, which is crucial to shape the future of our streets We want better local walking and cycling routes so that people feel confident about choosing more sustainable travel options, which are also healthier and cheaper to use ”

Traffic restrictions introduced on Britain’s first 24/7 ‘zeroemission street’, described by the City of London Corporation as ‘pollution busting’, could return permanently under new plans.

Beech Street was closed to all petrol and diesel vehicles in March 2020, in an 18-month experiment aimed at cutting levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide

Now, the Square Mile’s governing body is consulting on proposals to ban polluting vehicles from the street permanently, except for deliveries, access to car parks and forecourts and rubbish collection

Graham Packham, chairman of the City of London Corporation Streets and Walkways SubCommittee, said: “As an enclosed, tunnel-like thoroughfare, Beech Street has long had the unenviable record of being one of the most polluted streets in the City, with unacceptably high levels of nitrogen dioxide

“Like the previous trial, the scheme we’re proposing would have a significant effect on reducing pollution levels and improving air quality in this part of the Square Mile

“Doing nothing is not an option – we need to take radical action to ensure residents, workers and visitors to the City can breathe clean, healthy air ”

The 18-month trial saw nitrogen dioxide levels drop 61% and contributed towards a 42% drop in the city as a whole since 2016

The City of London Corporation believes permanent restrictions in Beech Street would reduce current nitrogen dioxide levels

by around 25%

In a change to the previous experiment, all traffic – including petrol and diesel vehicles –would be allowed to turn left into Beech Street from Golden Lane, in response to feedback from Islington Council

Meanwhile, the City Corporation and Islington Council are also working together on plans to make the Bunhill, Barbican and Golden Lane area a healthier neighbourhood Both authorities are seeking views on how to cut pollution and through traffic, and improve the quality of streets and public spaces in the neighbourhood Feedback will help them develop a plan, which will then be subject to a formal consultation

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s executive member for environment, air quality, and transport, said: “We know that the climate emergency is critically urgent, and that we must take action now to adapt our streets so that they are cleaner, greener, and healthier

“Through the creation of a Bunhill, Barbican and Golden Lane Healthy Neighbourhood, we hope to create streets that are more attractive and welcoming for local people, communities, and businesses, that help improve air quality, climate resilience, and biodiversity ”

People can find out more and take part in the Beech Street consultation online at www cityoflondon gov uk/beech street and the Bunhill, Barbican and Golden Lane Healthy Neighbourhood engagement at www cityoflondon gov uk/health yneighbourhood – both run until Monday 6 March

Uber deactivates account of London driver accused of sexually assaulting rider

Uber says it has terminated a driver’s account after learning that a passenger alleges an Uber driver locked her inside his vehicle and sexually assaulted her on the side of a road in London

London police announced charges this week against a 67-year-old London man after a woman who requested a pickup from a ride-sharing service on Saturday night alleged she was locked in the vehicle and touched in a sexual manner by the driver, police said

The woman, who wasn’t injured, eventually escaped the vehicle and flagged down a passerby, police

said, adding the driver left the area in the vehicle but was arrested a short time later

Police didn’t name the ridesharing service, but an Uber spokesperson confirmed that one of its drivers was charged

“What’s been reported by the rider is terrifying and we deactivated the driver as soon as we became aware of the incident,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement

“We are grateful for the quick actions by police officers in arresting the suspect ”

The man is charged with forcible confinement and

sexual assault He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug 15

Uber has a range of safeguards to protect passengers, says the San Francisco-based company that operates in more than 10,000 cities across the world

All drivers must undergo background checks before they’re hired and then be subjected to annual screenings A team of safety agents is available 24 hours a day to take complaints, while another team works with police investigations, the company says

Courtesy of London Free Press

South London council blocked from fining drivers caught breaking 20mph speed limit

A trial scheme which saw South London drivers become the first in England to face being fined by a local council for speeding has been blocked The Department for Transport (DfT) has stopped Wandsworth Council contacting drivers caught breaking 20mph limits and said the way the authority used its powers to enforce it was "unlawful".

The Labour-run council put up speed cameras to catch drivers breaking 20mph limits on two roads in the borough where residents often complain about speeding in November

2022 The eight-month pilot scheme meant drivers caught breaking the rules on Wimbledon Park Road and Priory Lane faced up to £130 fines from the council - with the penalty charge notice slashed to £65 if paid in 14 days - with no points added to their licences

The council previously said the scheme could be made permanent and extended to other roads in the borough if successful, as well as being

rolled out across the capital But the DfT told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it has asked the DVLA to stop sharing details of drivers caught speeding under the scheme with the council

A DfT spokesperson said: "Wandsworth Council is carrying out this experimental

speed enforcement trial using powers in a way that is unlawful We have therefore taken immediate action and asked DVLA to stop sharing registered keeper details with Wandsworth Council for the purpose of enforcing this scheme."

The council said it has dished

out warning letters to drivers caught breaking the rules on the trial roads so far but has not handed out any fines. The authority said it is disappointed with the DfT's decision and is in ongoing talks about the future of the trial

The council announced the crackdown after a string of complaints from residents about speeding drivers on Wimbledon Park Road and Priory Lane Traffic studies conducted over eight weeks revealed one in four vehicles broke the speed limit in Priory Lane while in Wimbledon Park Road it was one in five, according to the council

Speeding offences are usually enforced by the Met Police but the council said officers tend to concentrate on main roads and dual carriageways The authority announced it was stepping in after revealing most of the complaints it receives are about drivers speeding on quieter residential streets The council said the number of vehicles travelling over 25mph on the roads has fallen from 13per cent to 6 6pc on the

roads since the introduction of the scheme

A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said: "We began this trial as part of our efforts to support the police and TfL with their speed enforcement work, and as our contribution to wider London efforts on Vision Zero

"Since the start of the trial we have seen a 1mph reduction in speeds and the number of vehicles travelling over 25mph dropping from 13pc to 6 6pc on the trial roads and up until this point have notified motorists who have been found to have breached the speed limit with a warning letter but have not issued any fines

"The Department for Transport has taken the decision to restrict access to details of registered vehicle keepers meaning we are now unable to contact drivers who are found to have been speeding Naturally, we are disappointed with this decision and are having ongoing conversations with the Department for Transport regarding the future of the trial

Do

We

We

Have

This month’s boxing news...

expected to take on Tyson Fury this year, the fight provides a good opportunity for Joyce to bolster his own heavyweight credentials and prepare for a potential bout against Usyk or Fury Joyce added: 'He bangs so I will have to watch out for it It will be carnage in the centre of the ring!

EUBANK JR LIKELY TO TRIGGER LIAM SMITH REMATCH

Chris Eubank Jr is expected to trigger his rematch clause against Liam Smith - with 'a bout at Anfield in May a possibility' - as promoter Ben Shalom insists the fighter's 'pride is HURT' after suffering a knockout defeat in Manchester last month.

He told Sky Sports: 'We're hearing all indications that they are going to trigger We know Chris really wants to fight again His pride is hurt, he definitely wants a rematch from what I hear and ultimately Liam wants the biggest names and the big nights

'He wants Golovkin It's in Eubank's hands and we can't really look past that until the time has elapsed and we expect him to want a rematch.

'I can't see a better option for Eubank Jr right now We'll expect it formally in writing from Wasserman ' With Smith being an avid Liverpool supporter, Anfield has been put forward as a possible host stadium, although the rematch would have to be organised for the end of the football season in May

Shalom has indicated that the 33-year-old's team have no more than a fortnight to activate the rematch clause, which seems very likely at this stage according to the promoter

JOYCE TAKES ON GIANT ZHANG

Joe Joyce will defend his WBO Interim World Heavyweight title for the first time when he takes on Chinese fighter Zhilei Zhang in April at the Copper Box Arena Joyce was last in action when he beat Joseph Parker in thrilling fashion in September last year with the 37-year-old now possessing a 15-0 (14 KOs) record But 6ft 6ins Zhang will not be an easy opponent on April 15, with the Chinese fighter suffering his first defeat of his career in August when he lost to the Croatian Filip Hrgovic by ruling of the judges' scorecards - despite many believing he had won the fight

'Zhang is a big, strong southpaw who is massive, and he has been to the Olympics and all that So, he has the experience and I think it will be a great fight ' With Oleksandr Usyk - the current unified world heavyweight champion -

'It will be good preparation for Usyk or Fury, plus I haven't fought a southpaw since I won the Commonwealth title against Lenroy Thomas ' The pair both competed as amateurs in the Olympics

announcement and fight night as both fighters put their undefeated records on the line

“Jake Paul’s boxing career ends on February 26th and I can finally move on with mine,” Fury said “Every time I go out right now, everybody asks me about the Jake Paul fight. After this fight is done, everybody will be asking me how it felt to knock Jake Paul out The world is about to see what happens when a proper boxer faces a YouTuber I am a professional boxer, I have had 8 undefeated bouts,

Saturday, 25 February

Where is Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury taking place?

The fight has been confirmed for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia No arena has been announced, but Anthony Joshua fought Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 at the Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, which is on the outskirts of the city, making it a prime candidate to host the fight How can I watch Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury in the UK and USA?

The television information is already agreed and announced, with UK fight fans able to watch the fight

before turning professional and Zhang was equally excited at taking on someone with whom he could see several career parallels with He said: 'It's a new chapter in my career I am always up for the challenge and when the opportunity rings the bell 'Joe Joyce and I share a lot in common - we are both Olympic silver medalists, both are big punchers, and are nearly the same size 'This is going to be an explosive, epic and tremendous fight '

TOMMY FURY V

JAKE PAUL FEUD

Jake Paul finally fights Tommy Fury after the rivals agreed to meet in the ring and settle their feud at the third attempt.

The rivalry has lingered after Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, pulled out of a fight with the YouTube star turned boxer on two occasions

But now the fight looks closer than ever with minimal time between the

soon to be 9! Jake Paul will regret ever thinking he could take me on ”

Here’s everything you need to know about the fight:

When is Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury and what is the start time and expected ring walks?

Jake Paul takes on Tommy Fury on Sunday, 26 February

The main card is scheduled to begin at 7pm GMT, with the main event and the Jake Paul and Tommy Fury ring walks tentatively lined up for just after 10pm GMT

You can expect the ring walks to occur at approximately 10pm GMT in line with past fights in the middle east, slightly earlier than fights taking place in the UK and USA

The unusual date, on a Sunday, is could be linked to a busy weekend of fights and not wanting to clash with Floyd Mayweather vs Aaron Chalmers and KSI’s next Misfits Boxing event, both of which take place on

by buying the PPV with BT Sport Box Office A price is yet to be confirmed for UK fans

American fans can purchase the PPV on ESPN+ PPV for $49 99

Why was Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury cancelled twice before?

The first date for the fight was scheduled for December 2021, but Fury pulled out, citing an infection and broken rib, leading to Paul battling Tyron Woodley instead

Both men attempted to reschedule in the United States in August last year, but travel and visa issues scuppered hopes of the pair meeting

Paul is the much more active fighter and has even confirmed his move into mixed martial arts with his debut coming later in 2023 Who is on the Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury undercard?

While Paul and Fury are relatively inexperienced in boxing, the undercard will involve a big fight between two seasoned veterans and champions

or: 9 Church Road, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 4AR