MANCHESTER

Part of Deansgate is to be closed to traffic - and other city centre streets will have footpaths widened - in response to the coronavirus lockdown, it has been confirmed.

Manchester's roads have been significantly quieter since the order to 'stay at home' came into affect last month.

Campaigners have called for some of them to be closed to motorists so that people have more space to exercise while observing social distancing rules.

Meanwhile, surveys show a majority of people do not want to return to 'normal' once lockdown is over, with many saying they believe the air is cleaner with fewer cars on the roads.

Council officials were already assessing a number of pedestrianisation options in the city centre, including Deansgate, and supporters suggested they should capitalise on the public mood by going further.

Now it has been announced that a part closure will go ahead between King Street West and Blackfriars Street under a temporary 'experimental' traffic order.

No date for the part-pedestrianisation has been given, but it is understood to be happening 'imminently'.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/part-deansgate-close-cars-city-18178175
--------------------------------------------------------

CANADA

A drop in riders during the COVID-19 pandemic has already parked dozens of cabs across Ottawa. Now, the city’s largest taxi company is suspending the insurance policy for its fleet, in a move that could force many cabs off the road.

“No, I can’t drive. My cab is parked. I don’t have insurance,” said Andre Houlahan, a taxi driver in Ottawa for over 40 years.

In a letter to drivers earlier this week, Coventry Connections said “as of May 31, 2020, Coventry has cancelled the taxi fleet insurance policy with Travelers Canada.”

“As of May 31, 2020 you will no longer have insurance on your taxi. You will be responsible for sourcing your own insurance and providing proof of insurance to the City and to the Company."

Coventry Connections operates Blue Line, Capital and Westway Taxi.

The number of taxis operating on Ottawa’s roads has been reduced from 1,192 to 114 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drivers now fear that the number could shrink even more and become permanent.

“I was hurt,” Houlahan said. “Taxi industry brokers, these people that are millionaires today, everything that they made was on the back of drivers.”

Unlike ride-sharing services, taxi drivers are required to have 24-hour commercial insurance.

The union representing Ottawa taxi drivers said there are only one or two companies in Canada that offer the complicated type of insurance required by taxis.

“It’s totally different regulations. If we can have similar regulations as ride-sharing, then it would be easy for us to shop around [for insurance],” said Ali Enad, President of Unifor Local 1688.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Coventry Connections said the insurance cancellation is “due to non-payment of monthly insurance premiums.”

“I have no explanation to this, we were shocked by the letter,” Enad said.

Enad is calling on the City to provide an interim plan while they continue to advocate for looser regulations. 

In a memo to Council, Emergency and Protective Services General Manager Anthony Di Monte says the decision to cancel the insurance policy for drivers “is a business decision taken by Coventry Connections.”

https://tinyurl.com/ycv2xh9p
---------------------------------------------

AMERICA

UberK and Lyft are planning massive layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic hit their ride-hailing business.

With shelter-at-home lockdown orders keeping Americans stuck inside, the demand for ride-hailing services has crashed over the last two months. And while delivery services have seen an uptick in performance since the country virtually shut down in March, the industry leaders in gig-economy driving apps are hitting a brick wall.

On Tuesday, The Information reported that Uber is mulling plans to let go up to 5,400 employees, or 20 percent of its workforce, after global ride bookings plummeted 80 percent in March as compared to March 2019. Although delivery services including Uber Eats, Uber Direct, and Uber Connect saw an uptick during the quarantine, they were far from enough to offset losses in the company’s core ride-hailing business.

According to an SEC filing on Tuesday, Uber’s longtime chief technology officer, Thuan Pham, has already submitted resignation (effective May 16) for reasons unrelated to COVID-19, a significant change that may put the company’s 3,800-person engineering team at risk of severe downsizing. The Information estimated that Uber could slash up to 3,000 engineering positions in the coming weeks.

Uber didn’t confirm any of the reported layoff numbers. A spokesperson said the company “is looking at every possible scenario to ensure we get to the other side of this crisis in a stronger position than ever.”

Still, corporate cutbacks barely reflect the true impact of the pandemic. Many Uber and Lyft drivers have run out of work for weeks. But since the millions of gig workers are not counted as full-time employees, they don’t qualify for unemployment benefits or even a mention in regulatory filings. Meanwhile, Uber investors are taking issues with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s $42.4 million pay package amid a company crisis, which is expected to be a key item to discuss at Uber’s upcoming shareholders meeting.

Coronavirus and the national quarantine has halted all transportation, not just on-demand taxi cabs. Uber’s and Lyft’s smaller transportation peers (and often targets of acquisition) are scrambling to deal with plummeting road traffic as well. Electric scooter startup Bird, for example, slashed 30 percent of its workforce in late March as the pandemic pushed scooters out of major cities. Its scooter-sharing rival, Lime, is planning to lay off over 100 employees, adding to a 14 percent downsize just two months ago.

On Thursday, fresh data from the Labor Department showed that another 3.8 million Americans had lost jobs in the past week, pushing the total headcount of coronavirus-induced unemployment past 30 million over the six weeks of national quarantine.

https://observer.com/2020/04/uber-lyft-coronavirus-layoff-ride-sharing-plummet/
----------------------------------------------------

Lincolnshire County Council is looking for taxi firms to help transport key workers with suspected coronavirus to the Lincolnshire Showground for testing.

The authority is considering how to help people who may have difficulty getting to the site - and says taxi companies may be the solution.

Anita Ruffle, head of transport services at the council, said: “We have begun looking into the possibility of providing transport to the temporary test site at Lincolnshire Showground for those who would otherwise be unable to get there.

“Alongside home testing and mobile testing, this is just another option we are assessing to make sure keyworkers who needs tests can access them.”

Vladimir Kubjatko, who owns A2B Cars, is thinking of offering his services to the council but said he needs more information on how it would work first. 

He said the firm does have its own valet bay which can be used to disinfect vehicles.
The showground testing site opened over the weekend with the aim of conducting 1,000 tests a day by Friday.

Tony McGinty, assistant director of public health at Lincolnshire County Council, said capacity across the county was still being ramped up – helped by the military operation of mobile units going between Boston, Skegness and Grantham.

He said that even if lockdown ended, without a vaccine “we will be testing a lot of people for some time to come yet”.

However, he said that despite still seeing a significant number of cases and deaths the county was “holding our own”.

He said the county could still avoid a second surge of cases as long as people did not get “demob happy” as the lockdown continued.

Deputy Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police Jason Harwin said that 429 testing slots had been booked at the showground on Wednesday, April 29.

Mr Harwin, who leads Lincolnshire Resilience Forum, told Lincolnshire Live: "Across the county we were doing 60 to 70 tests a day so this is a big increase.

"The eligibility is key workers, care home staff and residents, people aged over 65 and workers who have to be out and about in their jobs."

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/search-taxi-firms-take-keyworkers-4089920

LONDON

Three teenage boys have been sentenced to a total of nine-and-a-half years detention after they attempted to rob a private hire driver, who they Tasered and stabbed in the leg three times.
A mini-cab driver in his 30s picked up the trio, two aged 16 and the other 17, from Betstyle Road, in Enfield. 

During the journey they asked him questions about the car and when he parked up to drop them off in Ivy Road. in the Southgate area of North London, they demanded he hand over the car keys.
One of the teenagers attempted to wrap the driver’s seatbelt around his neck, while another Tasered him.

Although the driver managed to escape from the car and run away, the suspects quickly caught up with him and stabbed him three times in the leg before stealing the keys.

The trio, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then fled the scene without taking the vehicle on the afternoon of October 11, 2019.

The victim was helped by a member of the public until emergency services arrived. He was taken to hospital where his injuries required surgery.
Detectives from North Area Command launched an investigation and on October 16, two of the defendants were caught after they were arrested in connection with an unrelated robbery.

The third teenager, one of the 16-year-olds, handed himself in on October 21.

He was the last of the three to be sentenced in connection with this investigation.

On Wednesday (April 29) he was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to three years’ in a young offender institution for causing grievous bodily harm with intent and attempted robbery.

The other 16-year-old boy appeared at Wood Green Crown Court in February where he was sentenced to four years and two months’ in a young offender institution having pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, possession of a prohibited weapon and aggravated vehicle taking.

The 17-year-old boy appeared at Wood Green Crown Court in February where he was sentenced to 32 months in a young offender institution having pleaded guilty to attempted robbery.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/watch-teenage-boys-taser-taxi-18173239

(click for Video)
-------------------------------------------------

London-based taxi service Green Tomato Cars, which operates a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, has seen a rise in demand for its services during the coronavirus outbreak.

Toyota Mirai driver Peter Jones said since restrictions were implemented just over a month ago, he has been a lot busier.

“I have been busier because a lot of people don’t want to use public transport,” he said.

“I’ve noticed more NHS staff are using our services and many key workers live quite a way away from London so I’m covering more miles than normal.”

“I had one person who works for one of our corporate clients travel from Southend to west London which is quite a long journey.”

Some companies are paying for employees to get to work from home in private hire vehicle to avoid contamination and maintain social distancing measures.

Jones notes that these journeys make up for the shortfall in the regular trips to airports while planes are grounded and holidays cancelled.

Green Tomato Cars operates 50 Toyota Mirais as part of the ZEFER project that demonstrates a viable business cases for fleets of fuel cell electric vehicles.

(rise in demand my arse)

https://www.h2-view.com/story/london-hydrogen-taxi-fleet-sees-rise-in-demand-during-coronavirus/

-----------------------------------------------------------

SCOTLAND

A taxi driver has admitted sexually abusing a young girl when he was a teenager.

Lee Weir carried out a sex act on the child at a house in Aberdeen more than 16 years ago.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard the 30-year-old used lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards the girl, involving an act of oral penetration.

Advocate depute Jane Farquharson QC, prosecuting, said the victim had struggled to breath during the incident, which happened between early 2003 and early 2004.

She said the girl had not told anyone at the time, but later told her mother she had been abused. A family member contacted the police in June last year, with her consent.

The court heard Weir, of Smithfield Road, Aberdeen, had told a woman he had abused the girl and wanted to go the police as he was ashamed and embarrassed.

Judge Lord Uist told him: “You have pleaded guilty to a serious offence involving sexual abuse of a child.

“Because of the present circumstances effecting the courts and everyone else I am going to adjourn this case for a longer period than normal to enable the social work department to provide a full report on you.”

Weir, who stopped work as a result of the case, is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Aberdeen in July. His bail was continued and he was put on the sex offenders’ register.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/2179141/aberdeen-taxi-driver-admits-to-sexually-abusing-young-girl-more-than-16-years-ago/

THIS WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

Edward Davey Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Treasury), Acting Leader, Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Social Justice)

I welcome the micro-loans scheme, but may I press the Chancellor to do more for the self-employed—in particular the self-employed who are not in his scheme, many of whom have only modest incomes, such as cleaners, builders, taxi drivers and musicians? Such self-employed people often work through limited companies, relying on dividends for income, and are getting little or no help, with devastating consequences.

 I know that the Treasury is worried about fraud, but I wrote to the Chancellor on 8 April with a Liberal Democrat proposal to help those self-employed people and protect the taxpayer. Will he please now help self-employed people who are dependent on dividends, before it is too late?

(Citation: HC Deb, 27 April 2020, c114)

Rishi Sunak The Chancellor of the Exchequer
The right hon. Gentleman mentioned groups that I engaged with specifically in the design of the self-employed scheme, and who I am fairly certain released reasonably positive comments on the day it was released, notably the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association and, I believe, one of the musicians’ federations. I spoke to them both personally as we developed the scheme, and I believe that they were very supportive at the time.

We have designed these schemes at pace to get support to as many people as we can in the time available, and the decisions that we have taken enable that. At this point, complicated changes to the schemes would just mean delay in getting support to millions of people who are either already in receipt of it or very shortly about to receive it.

Rishi Sunak The Chancellor of the Exchequer


------------------------------------------------------

LONDON

The advertising placed on the bodies of black taxis working in the capital now has its own green credentials thanks to one marketing company in the industry.

Ubiquitous who are one of the leading players in the taxi advertising market have developed a three point plan to ensure that their advertising strategies are green for both the trade and their clients going forwards.

Their first step is a simple and somewhat expected one; recruit as many cabbies that own a zero-emission capable taxi to place their adverts on.

A spokesperson from Ubiquitous said via their website: “Since the arrival of the hybrid LEVC TXe black taxi in London, we have seen a number of brands choose taxi advertising because the channel now offers a ‘green’ solution, and for many brands this is either already extremely important, or is growing more so.

“The advent of the TXe cab represented a watershed moment for Londoners; black taxis account for 20% of the NOx emissions in London – there is no doubt that having more TXes on the road (and fewer diesel cabs) will improve the quality of the air we breathe. 

“Historically our campaigns have been on diesel taxis, but this has rapidly changed - hundreds of TXe drivers have already joined our media fleet. Ubiquitous sees this vehicle as the future of taxi advertising and we’re significantly invested in maintaining and building on the number of electric cabs that are available for brands.”

The second step focuses on the rest of the London taxi fleet currently driving around in diesel taxis. There are currently around 3,400 zero-emission capable taxis on London’s roads which make up the 18,000 vehicles in the capital.

As a result, Ubiquitous decided they needed to address the issue of diesel emissions from the classic TX taxis in its fleet and created an offsetting programme.

For as little as £1,000 brands can off-set the diesel emissions from a 4-week, 400-taxi advertising campaign.

So that’s the vehicles themselves turned green. What about the advertising wrapped on to the taxi?

Last winter Ubiquitous started and continue to test biodegradable vinyl, to assess its suitability for the exterior of hard-working, rain-or-shine, black cabs.

 However, the type of vinyl currently used during taxi campaigns goes into a landfill and can take centuries to degrade.

So, while Ubiquitous wait for a suitable biodegradable option to become available, the firm have found a unique alternative solution to bypass the landfill option.

Ubiquitous explained: “After conversations with the local authority that collects waste for Ubiquitous, they discovered that the council simply contracts-out the waste management to a third party, but under that agreement, just a limited number of waste solutions are available – only landfill for vinyl.

“So, our Ops Team took it up a notch and spoke directly to Veolia (the contracted provider) and guess what? They do offer a better solution for vinyl disposal: ‘waste-to-energy’ incineration. So, we quickly struck a direct deal with Veolia and committed to this greener strategy.”

Waste-to-energy incineration involves a high temperature burn of vinyl products that results in a zero-emission, zero-landfill output.

The energy is then cycled into power for the local community and the waste ash left is recycled as road surface aggregate.

Ubiquitous finally added: “We’re proud to have achieved our goal, and in doing so, to have created a new ’out of home’ (OOH) opportunity: Iconic black taxi advertising - now available in green.”

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/black-taxi-advertising-turns-green-ubiquitous-finds-solution-to-offer-eco-friendly-campaigns

------------------------------------------------

GLASGOW

TWO men charged with committing separate knifepoint robberies against taxi drivers within minutes of each other have been locked up. 

Michael Glancy and Lee Gray are accused of carrying out the alleged hold-ups in Port Glasgow on Saturday April 18.

 

Detectives were hunting suspects following raids on two cabs at around 4am in different parts of the town. 

Police said that the drivers of the vehicles had been left 'badly shaken' following the incidents.
Glancy, 35, and Gray, 37 — both of Port Glasgow — appeared separately in private on petition at Paisley Sheriff Court and made no plea.

It's alleged that a man wearing a black and white Halloween-type mask threatened one cabbie with a knife and grabbed a two-figure sum of money in Grampian Road at 3.50am.
 

In the other reported incident, police say the driver was robbed after taking a man from an address in Greenock to the Port. 

A knifeman is alleged to have pulled a blade on the driver and then fled with the taxi's keys and a piece of equipment from the vehicle following a physical struggle. 

Accused Gray appeared in court charged with two counts of alleged robbery and one of possession of a sharply pointed or bladed item.

 

Glancy is facing one charge of robbery, one of blade possession and another of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. 

Sheriff Sukwhinder Gill has remanded both men in custody and has continued their cases for further examination.

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/18403059.pair-charged-committing-separate-knifepoint-robberies-taxi-drivers-locked/
--------------------------------------------

LIVERPOOL

A DRUNK driver who killed a taxi driver and his passenger after speeding through a red light has been jailed for nine years.

Ryan Howard, 27, from Windermere Avenue in Clinkham Wood, was more than twice the drink-drive limit when his BMW collided with the taxi driven by David Sherwin, 51, who was taking mother-of-two Michelle Jennings, 35, to work at Greggs in Liverpool just after 5am on February 27 last year.

Sentencing Howard at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Andrew Menary QC said cases of dangerous driving "do not get much worse than this".

Addressing the court, Mr Sherwin's daughter Kirsty said Howard had made "selfish choices" which would affect her, her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and many others for the rest of their lives.

She said: "It is because of his recklessness that my dad will never be there to walk me down the aisle."

In a moving statement which he read to the court, Mrs Jennings' husband Ged said she was kind, bubbly and funny.

He described breaking the news of her death to their children Sophia, who was then eight, and Harry, who was approaching his seventh birthday at the time.

He said: "My life has changed immeasurably and the lives of my kids will never be the same.

"I lost my best friend and the world has lost a shining star."

The court heard Howard, from St Helens, had driven to Liverpool with friend Lewis Heyes the previous evening and been drinking in pubs and clubs until about 4.30am.

Keith Sutton, prosecuting, said Howard "insisted" he would drive the pair home when they returned to the car.

Mr Heyes described the defendant driving at speeds of up to 75mph as they passed Everton Football Club's ground, Goodison Park, on their way out of the city.

The court heard there were stationary vehicles in two lanes as Howard approached traffic lights on the junction of East Lancashire Road and Bridgehouse Lane in Croxteth.

Judge Menary said: "Rather than slow down and stop yourself, you pulled over into the offside lane and accelerated through those red lights. You made no effort to stop at all."

The lights had been red for 16 seconds when Howard drove through them, travelling at 83mph before crashing into Mr Sherwin's Ford Mondeo as it pulled out of Bridgehouse Lane, the court heard.

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/18407940.dangerous-driver-jailed-nine-years-crash-killed-taxi-driver-young-mum/

-------------------------------------------------------------

UBERK

A long-serving Uber executive is leaving the company amid reports of sweeping job cuts.
Technology chief Thuan Pham is set to resign from the firm next month. Filings with US regulator the SEC show that his last day will be May 16.

Meanwhile, the ride-sharing giant is reportedly considered laying off 20pc of employees. The engineering division could lose 800 of its 3,800 employees, Silicon Valley website The Information said.

Mr Pham has been at the company for seven years, working with former chief executive and company co-founder Travis Kalanick until he was ousted in 2017.
  
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: "As the leader of our engineering organization for the last seven years, Thuan has made important contributions that have helped make Uber into the global technology platform it is today."

Mr Pham said: "While the work is never done, I feel comfortable hanging up my hat at a time when the Uber Engineering team is at peak productivity, we have built robust system scale and stability, and are well prepared to face the future."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/04/28/uber-technology-chief-executive-quits-amid-reports-could-cut/

Edward Davey Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Treasury), Acting Leader, Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Social Justice)

I welcome the micro-loans scheme, but may I press the Chancellor to do more for the self-employed—in particular the self-employed who are not in his scheme, many of whom have only modest incomes, such as cleaners, builders, taxi drivers and musicians? Such self-employed people often work through limited companies, relying on dividends for income, and are getting little or no help, with devastating consequences.

 I know that the Treasury is worried about fraud, but I wrote to the Chancellor on 8 April with a Liberal Democrat proposal to help those self-employed people and protect the taxpayer. Will he please now help self-employed people who are dependent on dividends, before it is too late?

(Citation: HC Deb, 27 April 2020, c114)
Rishi Sunak The Chancellor of the Exchequer

The right hon. Gentleman mentioned groups that I engaged with specifically in the design of the self-employed scheme, and who I am fairly certain released reasonably positive comments on the day it was released, notably the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association and, I believe, one of the musicians’ federations.

 I spoke to them both personally as we developed the scheme, and I believe that they were very supportive at the time.

We have designed these schemes at pace to get support to as many people as we can in the time available, and the decisions that we have taken enable that. At this point, complicated changes to the schemes would just mean delay in getting support to millions of people who are either already in receipt of it or very shortly about to receive it.
-------------------------------------------

GLASGOW

TWO men charged with committing separate knifepoint robberies against taxi drivers within minutes of each other have been locked up.
 

Michael Glancy and Lee Gray are accused of carrying out the alleged hold-ups in Port Glasgow on Saturday April 18. 

Detectives were hunting suspects following raids on two cabs at around 4am in different parts of the town. 

Police said that the drivers of the vehicles had been left 'badly shaken' following the incidents.
Glancy, 35, and Gray, 37 — both of Port Glasgow — appeared separately in private on petition at Paisley Sheriff Court and made no plea. 

It's alleged that a man wearing a black and white Halloween-type mask threatened one cabbie with a knife and grabbed a two-figure sum of money in Grampian Road at 3.50am. 

In the other reported incident, police say the driver was robbed after taking a man from an address in Greenock to the Port. 

A knifeman is alleged to have pulled a blade on the driver and then fled with the taxi's keys and a piece of equipment from the vehicle following a physical struggle. 

Accused Gray appeared in court charged with two counts of alleged robbery and one of possession of a sharply pointed or bladed item. 

Glancy is facing one charge of robbery, one of blade possession and another of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. 

Sheriff Sukwhinder Gill has remanded both men in custody and has continued their cases for further examination.

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/18403059.pair-charged-committing-separate-knifepoint-robberies-taxi-drivers-locked/

-------------------------------------------

LONDON

The advertising placed on the bodies of black taxis working in the capital now has its own green credentials thanks to one marketing company in the industry.

Ubiquitous who are one of the leading players in the taxi advertising market have developed a three point plan to ensure that their advertising strategies are green for both the trade and their clients going forwards.

Their first step is a simple and somewhat expected one; recruit as many cabbies that own a zero-emission capable taxi to place their adverts on.

A spokesperson from Ubiquitous said via their website: “Since the arrival of the hybrid LEVC TXe black taxi in London, we have seen a number of brands choose taxi advertising because the channel now offers a ‘green’ solution, and for many brands this is either already extremely important, or is growing more so.

“The advent of the TXe cab represented a watershed moment for Londoners; black taxis account for 20% of the NOx emissions in London – there is no doubt that having more TXes on the road (and fewer diesel cabs) will improve the quality of the air we breathe.

“Historically our campaigns have been on diesel taxis, but this has rapidly changed - hundreds of TXe drivers have already joined our media fleet. Ubiquitous sees this vehicle as the future of taxi advertising and we’re significantly invested in maintaining and building on the number of electric cabs that are available for brands.”

The second step focuses on the rest of the London taxi fleet currently driving around in diesel taxis. There are currently around 3,400 zero-emission capable taxis on London’s roads which make up the 18,000 vehicles in the capital.

As a result, Ubiquitous decided they needed to address the issue of diesel emissions from the classic TX taxis in its fleet and created an offsetting programme.

For as little as £1,000 brands can off-set the diesel emissions from a 4-week, 400-taxi advertising campaign.

So that’s the vehicles themselves turned green. What about the advertising wrapped on to the taxi?

Last winter Ubiquitous started and continue to test biodegradable vinyl, to assess its suitability for the exterior of hard-working, rain-or-shine, black cabs. However, the type of vinyl currently used during taxi campaigns goes into a landfill and can take centuries to degrade.

So, while Ubiquitous wait for a suitable biodegradable option to become available, the firm have found a unique alternative solution to bypass the landfill option.

Ubiquitous explained: “After conversations with the local authority that collects waste for Ubiquitous, they discovered that the council simply contracts-out the waste management to a third party, but under that agreement, just a limited number of waste solutions are available – only landfill for vinyl.

“So, our Ops Team took it up a notch and spoke directly to Veolia (the contracted provider) and guess what? They do offer a better solution for vinyl disposal: ‘waste-to-energy’ incineration. So, we quickly struck a direct deal with Veolia and committed to this greener strategy.”

Waste-to-energy incineration involves a high temperature burn of vinyl products that results in a zero-emission, zero-landfill output.

The energy is then cycled into power for the local community and the waste ash left is recycled as road surface aggregate.

Ubiquitous finally added: “We’re proud to have achieved our goal, and in doing so, to have created a new ’out of home’ (OOH) opportunity: Iconic black taxi advertising - now available in green.”

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/black-taxi-advertising-turns-green-ubiquitous-finds-solution-to-offer-eco-friendly-campaigns

INSTITUTE OF LICENSING

The MP for Eltham has written to the Transport Minister urging him to take measures to save taxi drivers from "financial ruin".

It has been reported that Clive Efford, MP for Eltham, said in his letter that, whilst he supports the Government's Covid-19 lockdown, the measures have "severely impacted the livelihood of many self-employed people" who are currently in financial hardship and face ruin.

Mr Efford recommended in his letter that emergency interim payments are made, wages are supported straight away and running costs such as licence plate fees and rental fees are suspended.

Finally, he said: "Even more importantly, the Government must look to the taxi industry as part of the solution to this crisis, not part of the problem" proposing that taxi drivers should be sub-contracted out to perform a number of tasks, including transporting patients to and from emergency appointments, delivering shopping to the elderly and transport NHS and care staff to work and testing centres.

https://tinyurl.com/ycx7vlqs

LAST WEEK IN PARLIMENT

Wes Streeting Labour, Ilford North

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) licensed London taxi drivers and (b) other taxi and private hire drivers are classified as key workers for the purposes of Government guidance during the covid-19 pandemic.

(Citation: HC Deb, 21 April 2020, cW)

Rachel Maclean Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) 

Taxi and private hire drivers should not generally be considered Critical Workers.

 Those undertaking Home to School transport or the transport of ‘extremely vulnerable’ people may be considered Critical Workers on a case-by-case basis. 

Critical Workers should also whenever possible make suitable arrangements for their children to stay at home; requests for children to attend school should be discussed with the school.

SINGAPORE: Cabbies with ComfortDelGro will get another month of full taxi rental waivers, in line with the Government's extension of the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period.

The rental waiver will be extended to Jun 1, said the company in a media release on Wednesday (Apr 22).

ComfortDelGro had previously announced a one month rental waiver for drivers, after the Government said on Apr 3 that it would implement measures such as closing schools and most workplaces.

In a televised address on Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the circuit breaker period, which was supposed to end on May 4, will now be extended by four weeks until Jun 1.

“With the circuit breaker period being extended by another month and further tightening of the existing circuit breaker measures, our cabbies will continue to be hard-hit and find it difficult to make ends meet," said ComfortDelGro Taxi CEO Ang Wei Neng.

"Times like these, we have to band together and face the challenges together.”

The further rental waiver is expected to cost the company an additional S$17 million, said ComfortDelGro, bringing the total relief package given to its cabbies to S$116 million.

The taxi operator added that more than 680 cabbies have been deployed to take on other jobs, with nearly 110 of them providing delivery services for food outlets such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Cedele, as well as delivery platform foodpanda.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/comfortdelgro-extend-taxi-rental-waiver-covid-19-12666720

Oxford City Council have introduced bold new licensing measures welcomed by taxi drivers in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The council will relax new incoming Zero Emission Zone rules allowing taxi drivers with existing LTI TX1 taxis to become exempted from the scheme. Cabbies will be able to make a written request to the licensing authority for an exemption when renewing the vehicles licence, which can last for up to 12 months.

Taxi drivers in Oxford were required to change to a minimum of a Euro 4 standard vehicle this year, but due to the financial effects of COVID-19 owners can now request the exemption.

Further help was supplied in the form of licence payment deferrals. Anyone who has either a driver or vehicle licence due to expire before the 30 June 2020, may request a deferral postponement of payment until the 1 October 2020. Licences will be issued until 1 October and then extended for the full duration upon receipt of payment.

Sajad Khan, Secretary of City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Association (COLTA), said: “The taxi trade up and down the country is going through very challenging times.

“Here in Oxford, our union has been in close communication with our licensing authority throughout this pandemic.

“Our members are very grateful for their involvement and the decision they have taken to assist the trade during these times of hardship.”

An Oxford City Council spokesperson wrote on the council’s website: “As the current situation with the Covid-19 outbreak continues to develop, the council is constantly keeping the matter under review, following government advice and looking at its own business continuity arrangements to ensure we can continue to deliver the service and to enable firms, vehicles and drivers to continue providing vital public transport where it is safe to do so.”

https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20087/taxi_licensing/1307/taxi_licensing_-_important_news_for_licence_holders

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GERMANY


The COVID-19 outbreak has forced taxi companies in Germany to get creative, with many offering food and medicine delivery services. Drivers worry it won't be enough to avert a "wave of bankruptcies" in the industry.

Leszek Nadolski couldn't believe his eyes when he recently pulled into a parking lot near Berlin's Tegel Airport. Hundreds of taxis and vans filled the lot — all out of service due to a steep drop in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"I thought to myself: this is terrifying," Nadolski, who heads the Berlin taxi guild, told DW.

An estimated 3,000 of the nearly 8,000 taxis in Berlin have now been taken out of service. The rest of the vehicles still operating in the German capital aren't able to make much money under the current circumstances.

Over a 10-hour shift, drivers are earning an average of €50 ($54), Nadolski said, falling well-below Germany's €9.35 per hour minimum wage.
The situation is "catastrophic," he said. "We've seen a drop in revenue of 80% to 90%."

Nadolski is not the only one to describe the situation in such drastic terms. In the western German city of Cologne, taxi companies logged "at least an 80% reduction" in business in recent weeks, with over half of the 1,100-vehicle fleet staying home.

Taxis form part of Germany's local public transportation systems and have a legal obligation to operate unless told otherwise.

"No matter what's going on outside, no matter what type of disasters, terror attacks or severe weather — you can always rely on taxis. We'll continue to stay out there and offer our services," said Aleksandar Dragicevic, spokesman for Cologne's taxi association.

Adapting to stay afloat

In a bid to offset the financial damage, taxi companies across Germany have started broadening their services.

In Cologne, taxi companies are now offering to pick up groceries or medicine for clients who have already paid for the goods and deliver it to their homes. Taxi drivers can also pick up a customer's shopping list and money and go shopping for them for a set price.

"We're trying to help people who aren't in a position to go shopping," Dragicevic said.
Read more: What's in Germany's emergency coronavirus budget?

Taxis in Düsseldorf and Hamburg are also providing similar delivery services for set prices. In Munich, taxis are offering to drive medical workers to work for free to minimize the risk of infection.

Berlin's taxi guild worked out a deal with the city-state government that allows cab drivers to offer lower prices for grocery and pharmacy deliveries than they would normally charge for a regular passenger fare. They also offer to pick up takeout food from restaurants and other items from shops.

"Most of the people who reach out to us are the elderly who don't want to leave their homes," Nadolski said.

With the public taking extra precautions and wary of close contact, taxi companies emphasize they're doing everything possible to reduce the risk of infection to passengers.

Each driver has their own supply of disinfectant and thoroughly cleans the car seats, door handles and other areas after every passenger. The vehicles are also entirely disinfected at the end of the driver's shift.

In Berlin, the guild has secured a supply of masks for drivers and located a manufacturer who is outfitting the city's taxis with plastic screens. Nadolski said their initial protective barrier solutions were decidedly less impressive.

"My first screens were handmade in the kitchen with a saw," he said with a laugh. "They looked like crap."

The taxi association in Cologne hasn't been as lucky. They've had to rely on homemade solutions so far.

"At the moment we've all been forced to improvise," Dragicevic said. "Some have constructed barriers out of plexiglass, while others have used protective foil."

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germanys-taxi-drivers-face-catastrophic-situation/a-53225593

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