Tony Mullane runs A&J Taxis and since May 2011 has been using his fleet of vehicles to ferry passengers to Anfield from the city centre for Liverpool FC home games for £2 each.
Using more than 10 black cabs he claims that he can carry between 400 and 500 people each matchday. In January this year he started a similar service between Skelhorne Street in Liverpool city centre and LJLA.
Mr Mullane claims larger bus operators are unhappy with the competition. In August he appeared before a traffic commissioner and was accused of illegally “touting” for passengers. However, the commissioner ruled he was entitled to actively seek out passengers.
On Friday last week he walked over to the bus stop at LJLA, where he has a timetable displayed, and met two Wirral residents who he agreed to take to Lime Street station.
As he accompanied them to his vehicle he claims an official from Arriva shouted at him to stop. This man was then joined by an airport official who Mr Mullane insists was also hostile to him. Mr Mullane told ECHO Business: “The man from the airport said to me ‘don’t come back – you won’t be doing that again’.
“We are allowed to engage with the public to let them know about the service that we offer and when we do that we are not breaking the law – and the airport should be aware of that.”
Arriva spokesman Derek Bowes said: “We refute the allegation of aggressive action by one of our inspectors. We believe that our employee took the correct action in speaking to the taxi driver and reporting the matter to the officials at the airport, who are now investigating the full circumstances of the incident.”
And a spokesman for LJLA added: “We are aware of an altercation between the operator of the Taxi A1 service, an Arriva employee and an employee of a contractor working on behalf of the airport company and this is currently being investigated.
"The Taxi A1 service continues to be permitted to operate at the airport, however the exact operational procedures for this service on site are yet to be agreed, which we will subsequently be seeking to clarify with the operator.”
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/taxi-bus-operator-clashes-arriva-7935478
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BIRMINGHAM
A new pollution-busting project will see the city council work with taxi operators to convert up to 80 Hackney Carriage cabs to run on Liquid Propane Gas (LPG).
Funding of £500,000 from the Government’s Clean Vehicle Technology fund has been secured for the scheme – overwhelmingly supported at a meeting of Hackney Carriage drivers, operators and the RMT union.
It is hoped the converted vehicles will help the council’s effort to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions, which have been reported to be above EU target levels in certain hotspots across the city.
The Birmingham Air Quality Management Area action plan focuses on Broad Steet, Navigation Street and New Street Station – all areas where taxis frequently operate.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for a Green, Smart and Sustainable City, said: “This is a great boost for the council’s ambition to promote the uptake of low and zero carbon vehicles.
“We know there are some hotspots that need to be addressed, but these cabs will act as a showcase for cleaner technologies which could be used on a much wider basis.
“Many visitors, residents and those working in Birmingham pass through the hotspot areas, so it is only right to do everything we can to protect them from pollution that is known to be a contributory factor in hundreds of premature deaths every year.
“I hope the fact that so many cabs will be converted will act as inspiration to other fleet operators to consider making a similar investment into their vehicles. We will also continue exploring all other avenues as part of the effort to tackle the challenges we face on emissions.”
The scheme will be marketed through the council’s existing licensing networks with the taxi community. The focus is on 300 older vehicles in hotspot areas.
It is expected that the 80 selected vehicles will all be fitted with the LPG technology by the end of March 2015.
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/10/pollution-busting-taxi-scheme-announced/?
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UBER, LONDON
Taxi service Uber's tax affairs have been referred to HMRC by London's taxi and minicab regulator Transport for London (TfL).
The move follows a complaint from senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge that Uber was "opting out of the UK tax regime".
London mayor and TfL chair Boris Johnson said TfL had no powers over where a company pays tax.
The app's Dutch operating firm, Uber BV, does not pay tax in the UK.
"TfL has raised this issue to the appropriate body, the HMRC, for them to consider," Mr Johnson wrote in a letter to Ms Hodge.
Ms Hodge said she was "pleased".
"I hope that HMRC will carry out a rigorous and thorough investigation to ensure that Uber is paying an appropriate level of tax in the UK, rather than constructing artificial structures to get out of paying its fair share," she said.
An Uber spokesman said it complied with all applicable tax laws and "pays taxes in all jurisdictions, such as corporate income tax, payroll tax, sales and use tax and VAT".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29632646
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NOTTINGHAM
Taxi driver jailed for seven years for sex attack
Taxi driver Gurpal Singh has been jailed for seven years for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old and stealing her SIM card.
He touched her intimately and performed a sexual act on himself in his taxi in the early hours of November 1 last year.
The 34-year-old, of Prestwood Drive in Aspley, was jailed for seven years for sexual assault by penetration and given nine months, to run consecutively, for theft.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that Singh had also stolen from other customers - taking cards from young people in his taxi.
He admitted those thefts and received nine month concurrent prison sentences on each.
Judge James Sampson told him on Wednesday, October 15, he had sexually assaulted the woman, who cannot be identified, when she was alone at night, away from home and heavily under the influence of alcohol.
“You took advantage of her vulnerability, when it was in fact your job and your duty to take her home,” she said.
“She had the right to be safe and secure in your taxi and she had the right to be able to trust you. This was a serious and significant abuse of trust.”
The woman’s taxi journey should have taken 20 minutes from Nottingham but lasted more than one hour, after Singh sexually assaulted her and pinched her phone.
The judge said he had put the victim at risk of infection and she was particularly vulnerable and entirely defenceless.
But Singh received ten percent credit for pleading guilty on the first day of his trial.
References were also put forward to the judge from his family and friends.
The judge said: “You have no previous convictions. You are a family man.
“You are thought of highly within the community.
“You have shown at least some remorse by entering a guilty plea, albeit very late in the day.”
A proceeds of crime hearing was adjourned for mention at court on February 13.
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