BRISTOL ARROW CARS

A pilot has claimed a taxi driver who picked him up from Bristol Airport was watching cricket on his phone while speeding at 90mph.

Jon Anson, who works for Eastern Airways, had an Arrow Cars taxi booked for him for a journey from Bristol to Humberside on Monday (July 1).

However, the 54-year-old claims he was forced to endure a nerve-wracking four hours as the driver exceeded the speed limit, struggled to stay awake and watched cricket on his phone.

Arrow Cars has insisted the driver was just "listening" to the cricket and that the company's drivers are "very professional".

"I was picked up from Bristol Airport and we went onto the M5," Mr Anson told Bristol Live.

"The driver was doing about 90mph and eating crisps with one hand.

"I leaned forward to tell him to calm down, we're not in a hurry and that it's making me nervous.

"As I did that, I saw he had a video of the cricket streaming on his phone.

"I was amazed. I said to him I don't think that's appropriate. He told me he wasn't really watching the cricket - just glancing at it."

Mr Anson claims the driver then struggled to stay awake later on in the journey.

"Five or six times it looked like he was losing concentration," he said.

"On the M18 near Doncaster, he closed his eyes for about four or five seconds.

"I shook him and asked him whether he was alright.

"He said he just had to close his eyes for a second - I couldn't believe what I was hearing."

The driver eventually stopped at Doncaster Services for a brief rest.

"We stopped at Doncaster services and the driver had a coffee and stretched his legs," he said.

"We've been all there on long journeys but a professional driver needs to recognise when he's getting tired

"The whole point of having the car booked for me was so I could get some rest before the flight, not so I could babysit the taxi driver.

"I was nervous at the start of the journey but when he closed his eyes, I was really alarmed."

A spokesman for Arrow Cars denied the driver was speeding on the motorway or that he was struggling to stay awake.

"All of our drivers are very professional," he said.

"The driver had just started his shift so couldn't have been tired.

"We provide a very high-standard service.

"Nothing like this has happened before - it's totally not true."

He also insisted the driver in question was just "listening" to the cricket rather than watching it.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/pilot-slams-taxi-driver-watching-3053592

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 UBERK KENT

A 41-year-old Uber driver has been found guilty of inciting prostitution for gain, running a brothel and money laundering.

Romanian Mario Nicolae ran his business from Downs Avenue, Dartford, between April 1, 2017, and September 19, 2018.

Prosecutor Tom Dunn told Maidstone Crown Court that "it was a commercial enterprise" where Nicolae helped sex workers set up their work, organised telephones and assisted in "very sophisticated on-line advertising".

But he added that there was no evidence the women had been coerced and they had had "sought him out".

Nicolae - of West Hendon, London - will be sentenced in September after the preparation of a probation report. He was granted bail until the next hearing.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/uber-driver-ran-prostitute-business-207847/
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OLA LONDON

London is one of the world’s biggest markets for consumers that travel using ride-hailing services. Is it now also becoming one of the most crowded when it comes to the companies offering the transportation, too? 

Today, India’s Ola confirmed that it is the latest of the wave of app-based ride-hailing providers to receive a license to operate in London. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that Ola expects to kick off its services two months from now, in September.

“Ola has been granted a PHV operator license by TFL,” an Ola spokesperson said in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “London is one of the world’s most iconic cities and hosts a progressive mobility environment.  We couldn’t be more excited to bring Ola to London in the time ahead! We are looking forward to building world-class mobility offerings for London, by collaborating with drivers, riders, the government and local authorities.

Londoners will hear more from us closer to our launch in the city, as we get ready to serve them.”
Ola’s international push is an interesting shift for the company, which (like Lyft) was one of the early ride-hailing startups to commit to a strong focus as a regional leader at a time when its arch competitor Uber was burning hundreds of millions of dollars to expand internationally in multiple markets around the world.

And the news of Ola’s London license is not the only international news for the company this week: it comes at the same time that Ola Electric, the company’s spun-out electric vehicle business, has hinted that it will soon be coming to Latin America.

Ola launched in the UK in 2018 and currently operates ride-hailing services in five regions that cover several of the UK’s bigger cities: 

South Wales (Cardiff, Newport and Vale of Glamorgan), the South West (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire), Merseyside

https://tcrn.ch/2NyqN8P