Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, general manager of Uber Montreal, said the U.S.-based firm would charge clients taxes on every ride — at the source — which he said would provide state coffers with about $3 million a year.
His comments came on the first day of hearings into Bill 100, which would force Uber drivers to conform to the same laws as cabbies with regard to regulations such as permits and taxes.
Uber says the bill, if enacted as is, would mean the end of the company’s operations in Quebec.
Guillemette said Uber would be willing to charge an added tax of seven cents a ride that would go to Quebec’s automobile insurance board.
Additionally, Uber is open to letting traditional taxis have exclusive access to reserved lanes, government contracts and rides hailed from the street.
Guillemette said that if Uber can sit down with the government to talk and find common ground, “we are ready to suspend our operations during that time.”
“We are showing good faith,” he told the hearing.
Transport Minister Jacques Daoust and other members of Quebec’s legislature reacted skeptically to Guillemette’s offer.
“In terms of how much taxi permits represent, it’s very marginal,” Daoust said.
Daoust noted Quebec’s taxi industry was founded on the idea of supply management and that the government enforces a system whereby people have to pay — sometimes as much as $200,000 — for a permit to drive a taxi.
He said that if the government allowed Uber to operate without buying into the permit system, the value of existing permits would erode.
“There is a large population of immigrants often more educated than the job requires, and they bought the right to work in the land that welcomed them,” he said. “The minute we add to (the existing permits) the value of their taxi licence necessarily diminishes.”
Earlier in the day, the head of a Quebec taxi lobby said Uber has the attitude of a “hardened criminal” and is stealing money from the state.
“Just watch them,” Guy Chevrette told reporters, explaining how he believes Uber will try to stall the passing of the bill. “It’s theft. Today, watch them go, with crocodile tears, like hardened criminals. They will pull out all the stops to try and waste time.”
According to Chevrette’s organization, the government has two choices: pass Bill 100, which would force Uber out of the Quebec market, or compensate all the drivers and companies that have paid for taxi licences.
He said paying back drivers could cost as much as $1.4 billion.
http://goo.gl/GmCMyz
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Toyota
Two major automotive brands have independently announced significant investment in two taxi apps.
The first is Toyota, which has entered into a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Uber, alongside a strategic investment in the app business.
Under the deal, a program will be launched enabling drivers to lease vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings from working as an Uber driver, building on Uber’s current Vehicle Solutions program.
Their collaboration will also extend to the development of in-car apps for Uber drivers, establishing a fleet program to sell Toyota and Lexus vehicles to Uber’s drivers, and sharing knowledge to accelerating the research efforts of each company.
For Uber, the motivation seems to be developing driverless cars – and it reportedly wasn’t too fussy about which automaker it partnered with. According to Recode, Uber has been in talks with a number of automotive brands over the past year, including General Motors and Ford, in an attempt to strike a deal like the one it has now announced with Toyota.
The second investment comes from Volkswagen, which has put $300m (£204m) into Gett, an Israel-based ride sharing app currently focused on European cities. The investment is intended to help Gett strengthen its position in the market, and support a joint growth strategy focused on ‘collaborative development and market expansion of on-demand mobility services in Europe and beyond’.
It’s part of Volkswagen’s goal to generate a ‘substantial share of sales revenue’ from ride sharing and other mobility services by 2025.
These services represent a potentially enormous new revenue source for automotive brands, so it’s no surprise that Toyota seems to be looking in the same direction. “Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer of Toyota – and they’re not alone.
General Motors signed a similar partnership with Lyft back in January, investing $500m in the ride-hailing app. Meanwhile, Ford has launched the FordPass app, collecting a range of mobility services under a single umbrella.
Ford’s Consumer experience marketing head Jörg Ullrich recently told Mobile Marketing: “Our core business right now is selling vehicles, but we want to get into that emerging business and build it slowly but steadily. It’s not going to happen overnight, but there’s a lot of those little things which tie together. Car sharing, parking tickets, gas stations – if you add all those revenue streams together there’s a lot of business out there that we’re not even touching at the moment.”
http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/toyota-volkswagen-invest-taxi-apps-uber-gett/?
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GUIDE DOGS
Hundreds of people who use guide dogs lobbied Parliament today - calling for tougher sentences for taxi and minicab drivers who illegally refuse to take the animals in their vehicles.
The charity Guide Dogs claims some are let off with a £50 fine and a warning, which they call "woefully inadequate".
Under the Equality Act, it's illegal for taxis and minicabs not to let Sue and Conway in.
Refusals can lead to a driver having their licence removed and fines up of to £1000 pounds. But a report by the Guide Dog charity shows prosecutions are rare and some local authorities are fining as little as £50 pounds.
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2016-05-25/guide-dog-owners-protest-against-taxi-discrimination/?
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LONDON
The world's first amphibious taxi service could be set to hit London's highways and waterways as state-of-the-art vehicles took to the Thames to show how they can offer another option for public transportation.
Amphibian vehicle experts Gibbs Technologies demonstrated its high-speed amphibian (HSA) fleet in front of taxi company executives and potential licensees in London in a bid to showcase how road-to-water cabs could revolutionise the capital's transportation scene.
An open-top, four-wheel-drive vehicle called the Humdinga was presented as the best application for a viable taxi option. Able to carry up to nine passengers it drove from the roads around North Greenwich straight into the choppy waters of the Thames where it transformed in five seconds into a sea-faring vessel capable of hitting 30mph. From there it took passengers down the Thames at speed, seemlessly returning to dry land up a designated ramp where it continued its journey on the road.
Not many cities in the world benefit from having a river cutting through it but London is an ideal set-up to offer an alternative option to congested roads and packed public transport by taking to the water highway. A high-speed amphibious vehicle would not only be a useful option for taxis but also emergency services, which could offer rapid response for bypassing city traffic.
"We are delighted to have had the opportunity to show our vehicles here as it really does allow us to demonstrate the technology in all of our vehicles and shows their value to potential licensees," said Neil Jenkins, CEO of Gibbs Technologies. "We are very excited to be in talks with a number of potential licensees worldwide, but particularly, businesses in the UK with a view to developing the first-ever high-speed amphibian river taxi which could truly revolutionise transport in London," he added.
London already offers public transportation on the Thames in the form of its Thames Clipper boat services, however these are an interval service rather than a hail-and-ride offering. They also only depart from certain points along the Thames and are not as fast as the Humdinga demonstrated by Gibbs. The amphibious vehicle also has the advantage of being able to drive back onto dry land to reach the customer's destination, meaning in theory they could reach almost any destination in London via a combination of road and water.
As well as the Humdinga, Gibbs Technologies also showed off other HSA vehicles including a quad bike called the Quadski as well as an off-road buggy called the Terraquad. Its sports car has been around for a few years now.
With Uber looking at the possibility of rolling out self-driving taxis could we also be seeing an Uber Amphibian popping up on our smartphone app in the future? It is a tantalising thought and certainly something customers would not say no to – especially those who get caught up in the chaos of train delays and strikes. The question is whether the likes of Uber, Addison Lee or TfL were to jump on-board the amphibious route how much a ride would cost. At least, if none of the above are interested maybe they might want to stop off at Vauxhall and knock on the door of James Bond's MI5.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/worlds-first-high-speed-amphibious-taxi-service-could-revolutionise-londons-public-transport-1562015
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CARLISLE
A furious taxi driver has vowed to appeal against a parking ticket he was issued while picking up a disabled passenger.
A traffic warden issued Jimmy Shankland a £70 parking ticket as he waited for Jack and Jean Hood outside the post office on Scotch Street, Carlisle city centre, just before 11am on Friday.
Although Mr Shankland, 61, told the warden he was waiting for a disabled customer, his appeals made no difference.
“I have never been so angry and I could feel my heart pumping with anger,” said Mr Shankland, “I have never felt anything like it.”
Mr Hood, 88, is the sole carer for his 85-year-old wife, who is blind and has been in a wheelchair for two and a half years because she has difficulty walking.
The couple, who have been married for 63 years, were so upset by the incident they gave Mr Shankland £20 towards the fine.
Mr Hood said: “I thought it was very, very unfair for him. You couldn’t be there long because we came right down. He was just getting the door open.”
Once or twice a week, the couple, who live at Newlaithes Avenue, Morton, Carlisle, get dropped off at Marks & Spencer and picked up outside the post office by taxis so that they can do their shopping.
“I have never had any bother there before and we go there often,” said Mr Hood.
Mr Shankland has driven taxis in Carlisle for 16 years but said he has never known anything like it. He said you might expect such things to happen in London but not in Carlisle.
He said: “In my mind, in my estimation, [the warden] was discriminating against that disabled person.”
Mr Shankland argued that taxi drivers can wait for disabled passengers on double yellow lines and have a duty to their disabled customer to ensure they do not discriminate against them.
He said: “If I hadn’t picked the customer up, I would have been in breach of my licensing badge, then I’d have been discriminating against a wheelchair user. I would have been suspended with no pay.”
Wayne Casey, the chairman of the Carlisle Taxi Drivers’ Association, supported Mr Shankland.
He said: “I think the driver is entitled to wait as long as it takes to get a customer in and out of a vehicle. There’s a bit of a difference between parking and waiting.”
By law, taxi drivers cannot refuse to give disabled people in wheelchairs a lift or charge them extra.
Mr Shankland said he would be appealing against his ticket to Cumbria County Council.
He was issued a parking ticket last month when he nipped into the bakers for a roll but he paid the fine as he admitted it was his fault for parking on double lines.
A spokesman for the county council said: “The council carries out on-street parking enforcement in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and prevent inconsiderate parking.
“In this particular case, if Mr Shankland wishes to challenge the ticket, he can do so through the council’s normal appeals process.
“The council investigates every challenge on its own merits and mitigating circumstances will be taken into account. In instances where the council decides there is no case for a ticket to be cancelled, drivers still have the opportunity to make a further appeal to the independent adjudicator at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.”
http://goo.gl/rCQx9V
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HAMPSHIRE
TAXI drivers have spoken of their anger after a string of attacks on their vehicles.
Nearly 20 cars have had their windows smashed in a spate of vandalism between May 8 and 17.
Police have linked several of the crimes and are still investigating further incidents of damage.
Faizul Fahim, 37, had his City Wide taxi windows smashed overnight twice, first one window then two.
Both happened in Hanway Road, in Buckland.
Speaking to The News Faizul said: ‘It’s really bad, it’s cost me £200 and £115 the first time – it’s really frustrating.
‘I was absolutely shocked. It’s not just my taxi, there were four broken on Monday.’
Stuart Hogg, 40, of Paulsgrove, co-owns a fleet of 20 taxis – of which 11 have been vandalised in two weeks.
He said: ‘It’s a nightmare and all 11 of ours didn’t have a single thing stolen.
‘It’s been happening over and over again.
‘Our insurance is going to go up and fares are going to go up. It does affect everybody.’
He added he does not think the culprit is anybody connected with the taxi trade.
Hampshire police have confirmed about 17 reports but are investigating more that could be linked.
In most cases nothing was taken but £200 was stolen from one taxi in Brownlow Close, in Buckland, overnight between May 8 to 9.
On the same night, windows were smashed on cars parked in Hanway Road and Crown Street.
More vehicles were targeted overnight on May 16 to 17 in Washington Road, Buckingham Green, George Street, Outram Road, Little George Street and two were taxis targeted in Nutfield Close.
Five taxis had their windows smashed in Northern Parade, Hilsea, on May 18.
Driver Forhad Mahmud, 38, of Southsea, added his car was damaged in Clive Road overnight on May 10 to 11.
He said: ‘I had the MoT booked for the next day and couldn’t go to the MoT.
‘I had to pay for the windows, it’s very frustrating. I’ve got two windows broken, they’re smashed for no reason.’
A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: ‘I can confirm police are investigating a number of linked incidents.’
n A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of theft from motor vehicle and criminal damage and was bailed until June 20.
http://goo.gl/xERJWz
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