OXFORD

RESIDENTS at the scene of a major police incident yesterday have spoken about what they saw and heard.

Saunders Road in Cowley was blocked off by police for most of the day and one resident said a relative was shouted at by police when they stepped outside for a cigarette.

One resident reported seeing six undercover cars, two riot vans, three normal police cars and officers in balaclavas.

They said: “My kids were playing in the garden and all we heard was really loud shouting, it was like people were fighting.

“The kids ran in the house and I could see a taxi being boxed in.

“The taxi driver had come from the top of the road and police boxed him in, they had tasers and guns and were shouting for him to get down.

“They dragged him out the car and arrested him, he was quite young, maybe in his 30s – he was just smiling.

“I heard some residents asking the officers if they had found a firearm.

“Police then took the taxi after they took him.”

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18462610.taxi-boxed-in-police-major-incident-oxford/
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SINGAPORE: ComfortDelGro will install plastic shields in 400 taxis in a trial that aims to minimise contact between cabbies and passengers, reducing the spread of COVID-19, said the firm on Wednesday (May 20).

Dubbed the V-shield, it covers the driver's cabin entirely and is locally made using "an unbreakable material", said ComfortDelGro in a media release, adding that the shield also serves as added protection against "violent physical harm".

Installation of the shields has begun and the taxi operator will continue to roll them out in 50 taxis every week.

It said the shield will be extended to more taxis if the trial is successful.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-precaution-taxi-comfort-plastic-shield-coronavirus-12751394

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Ola To Lay Off 1,400 Staff, CEO Says Pandemic Hit Revenues


https://www.ndtv.com/business/ola-cabs-layoff-news-ola-to-lay-off-1-400-employees-ceo-says-covid-19-lockdown-hits-revenue-2232047

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LONDON

Uber has hired the AA to install screens in cabs as part of a social distancing trial

Commercial and private drivers of passenger vehicles have been among the groups worst affected by the disease due to the difficulties of social distancing in a confined space.

This has led to minicab companies taking safety measures such in response to the UK’s government’s easing of some coronavirus restrictions and people return to work. Taxi companies are distributing free personal protective equipment (PPE) to drivers and installing screens inside vehicles.

London’s largest private hire car operator, Addison Lee, is fitting perspex partition screens between drivers and passengers across its 4,000 vehicles next week. The screens need to be flame-retardant and shatter-proof.

Liam Griffin, chief executive of Addison Lee, said: “We know there is significant demand from drivers, passengers, businesses and the general public for more to be done to make transport cleaner and safer as we go back to work, including calls for the introduction of partition screens into private hire vehicles. That's why we have taken the decision to begin rolling out the installation of safety screens between drivers and passenger seats.”
The company is using an electrostatic antimicrobial cleanse of vehicles and aims to facilitate social distancing by encouraging passengers to use the rear seats of its seven-seater vehicles.
https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/local-transport-today/news/65543/how-to-protect-cab-drivers-from-covid-19-/