UBER now get Illegal roof Signs.
1980 Transport Act
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Rachel Whetstone, who was head of communications and public policy at Google, has left the role for a job at taxi service Uber.
Rachel Whetstone, the Briton who has been head of communications and public policy at Google for several years, has been poached by Uber for a similar role.
She will become senior vice-president of policy and communications at the taxi company, which is expected to list on the stock market this year and has been valued at as much as $50bn (£31.7bn).
Whetstone will replace David Plouffe, who was Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008 and joined Uber in August last year.
He has been elevated to the role of chief adviser to the company and its chief executive Travis Kalanick, and will also sit on the board of Uber.
Whetstone’s appointment was first reported by Recode. She begins her new job next month.
In recent months Uber has been buffeted on several fronts in a number of cities and countries by regulators, taxi drivers and others who oppose the rise of the smartphone-based service that has proved popular with thousands of users.
In the face of fierce resistance in numerous European cities, Kalanick said in January that he wanted to focus on forging “new partnerships”. Uber’s expansion could eventually create 50,000 jobs, he added.
Whetstone is married to Steve Hilton, who was a senior adviser to David Cameron before quitting in 2012. He now lives in California and is chief executive of technology start-up Crowdpac.
Policy Exchange, a conservative British thinktank, said Hilton would become a visiting scholar and visit the UK several times a year but not be based in London.
Before starting her career with Google in Europe in 2005, Whetstone was Michael Howard’s chief of staff after he became Conservative leader in 2003.
She joined Conservative Central Office after studying politics at Bristol University before switching to Carlton Communications – where she worked with David Cameron – and then went on to co-found the PR agency Portland.
The couple were godparents to Ivan, the Camerons’ disabled son who died in 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/kk5s5ze
Rachel Whetstone, the Briton who has been head of communications and public policy at Google for several years, has been poached by Uber for a similar role.
She will become senior vice-president of policy and communications at the taxi company, which is expected to list on the stock market this year and has been valued at as much as $50bn (£31.7bn).
Whetstone will replace David Plouffe, who was Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008 and joined Uber in August last year.
He has been elevated to the role of chief adviser to the company and its chief executive Travis Kalanick, and will also sit on the board of Uber.
Whetstone’s appointment was first reported by Recode. She begins her new job next month.
In recent months Uber has been buffeted on several fronts in a number of cities and countries by regulators, taxi drivers and others who oppose the rise of the smartphone-based service that has proved popular with thousands of users.
In the face of fierce resistance in numerous European cities, Kalanick said in January that he wanted to focus on forging “new partnerships”. Uber’s expansion could eventually create 50,000 jobs, he added.
Whetstone is married to Steve Hilton, who was a senior adviser to David Cameron before quitting in 2012. He now lives in California and is chief executive of technology start-up Crowdpac.
Policy Exchange, a conservative British thinktank, said Hilton would become a visiting scholar and visit the UK several times a year but not be based in London.
Before starting her career with Google in Europe in 2005, Whetstone was Michael Howard’s chief of staff after he became Conservative leader in 2003.
She joined Conservative Central Office after studying politics at Bristol University before switching to Carlton Communications – where she worked with David Cameron – and then went on to co-found the PR agency Portland.
The couple were godparents to Ivan, the Camerons’ disabled son who died in 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/kk5s5ze
Institute of Economic Affairs support Uber's assault on monopolies.
Last Friday, a colleague and I attended a conference on the plans for a Capital Markets Union in Brussels. I decided to order an Uber to take us to the airport afterwards, because it cost only about half of what regulated taxis charge. A taxi driver spotted us as we were entering the vehicle. He immediately jumped out of his car and approached us, knocking fiercely on the driver’s window. He went on to shout at and harass the driver, threatening to call the police and block our way until they arrived. It was only when the taxi driver’s passenger showed up that he finally relented and went back to his own vehicle, allowing us to get on our way. Saved by the profit motive, once again.
This was not an isolated incident. Media reports show repeated instances of similar reactions from drivers of licensed cabbies. Uber drivers also face a risk of having their cars seized for daring to sign up to the service.
In a sense, these events are spillovers of the political disputes taking place at Brussels’ city hall and its Ministry of Transport. Licensed cabbies are feeling the competitive pressure, and in turn, they are pushing local authorities to protect their monopoly. Uber’s Brussels service, launched in February 2014, has been in legal limbo for much of its existence. And even though the city administration is expected to come up with a stable framework to bring Uber fully into the formal economy by January 2016, we know little about the conditions – fares, driver and vehicle requirements, waiting times (as in France) etc. – that they will impose on the California-based company.
The episode neatly illustrates the very damaging long-term consequences, both economic and social, that state intervention can give rise to. Indeed, as bad and counterproductive as many government regulations are, few appear as transparently harmful and wrong as the taxi monopoly and the often concomitant ban on alternative services.
What is more, they are outdated. Before the advent of mobile apps, there may have been a case for licensing and regulating prices and vehicle conditions (Matt Feeney at the Cato Institute explains this here). It could be argued that there were substantial informational asymmetries and transaction costs from unregulated prices.
Potential passengers faced uncertainty about the qualifications and professionalism of drivers. Furthermore, they would have been more likely to hop into the first available cab than to bargain and wait for an attractive offer. According to this thinking, government regulation was needed to narrow the information gap by specifying requirements of taxi drivers and their vehicles, as well as the prices they were able to charge per mile and minute (although entry restrictions were still unjustified). Even then, market mechanisms could have coped with the information issue - for instance by encouraging cabbies to form associations or clubs which would set private standards and prices, and enforce them among members. They would rely on reputation for their business, giving them an incentive to demand good service from members, and to punish and expel those who failed to comply. The existence of competing clubs (and indeed companies) along these lines in the absence of government restrictions to entry would, in turn, put downward pressure on prices.
But regardless of what one makes of the above, the fact is that mobile apps have solved the riddle. With Uber, users can find out in advance the name of the driver who will be picking them up, as well as the make and licence plate of their car, and their average star rating from previous users. Those drivers who consistently obtain suboptimal ratings face a warning and, eventually, the end of their contract. Fares are transparent, and surge prices ensure that if demand rises, more cars will hit the road to meet it. Uber and similar apps like Lyft and Addison Lee – which offers fixed prices based on distance – have transformed the market for private transport services, bridging the information gap and offering prices that no regulated competitor can match. The benefit to passengers is clear: greater choice (if one still prefers drivers with The Knowledge, one is free to use them); increased supply of private car hires; and more competitive prices, which have both expanded the market for transport services and introduced some degree of pressure on regulated fares.
Yet, the benefit to drivers shouldn’t be overlooked, either. By its nature, Uber offers contractors a flexible source of extra income – of course, some drivers may be dedicated to passenger transport full-time, but they need not be. This is especially true in the case of Brussels where, because of the app falling into a legal grey area, only UberPOP, the most basic type of Uber ride, is available. This is aimed at individuals with a vehicle who want to work a few hours a week to complement another source of income. (One still obtains the same information about drivers as with other Uber services.) The app is therefore attractive to low-income individuals, often self-employed and immigrants, who like the choice of working hours and the income security offered by market-driven fares and GPS technology to locate rides.
Banning Uber to protect licensed taxi drivers thus has a negative impact on people who are un- or underemployed, recent arrivals with little work experience and basic language skills, and more generally those to whom Uber’s relatively low fares still make a real difference. But these people lack the rent-seeking skills and political clout of the taxi cartel, which has a strong incentive to block any attempt at reform.
When it comes to ending harmful restrictions on the transport market, the most salient stumbling block would appear to be the high price paid by taxi drivers for their licences, which in some European cities reached the hundreds of thousands of euros. Many cabbies took loans in the hope that they might be able to pay them back with their taxi income and by re-selling the licence at retirement. But with entry restrictions removed and fares deregulated, drivers stand little chance of recouping the cost.
Governments – and this decision should be made at the local level – could try to make the change more politically palatable to cabbies by compensating them to some extent for the license costs they incurred. This can be done on a means-tested basis, and/or on a sliding scale. This is not necessarily good economics. Taxpayers, some of whom may never use a taxi, would end up paying for this. Nor would it be legally necessary. When Ireland liberalised entry into the taxi market, thus wiping out the value of the licenses, the courts decided that taxi drivers were not entitled to a compensation, as they did not have a ‘property right’ in the value of their licenses.
But a partial compensation would be justifiable on other grounds. Current license holders, after all, did not have the option of entering the market without purchasing a license. While they chose to do so on their own volition, it was a choice distorted by previous government interventions. On a more practical note, partial compensation would also smooth the transition to a deregulated system for taxi drivers, making them more amenable to change. In any case, it would be a one-off expense to a pay off the legacy costs resulting from misguided past interventions. An intervention to end intervention, and hopefully for good.
http://www.iea.org.uk/blog/the-havoc-wreaked-by-outdated-taxi-regulation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool.
Liverpool council today bottled the challenge of Delta Cars (Sefton).
The Elections over Liverpool went back on their promises to Trade Representatives and re-instated Delta Cars Liverpool Operators Licence.
The Trade see this as a smack in the face, but, worse may be to come. Liverpool Council have been delaying an application from Uber, for a Liverpool Operators Licence.
The elections now over, Uber can expect an Operators License any day now. If not they only need to pay £300 to Liverpool Crown Court and have the license granted.
You can bet your ar*e Uber know that.
Update 19:00 hours
Delta rub it in and offer new Liverpool drivers 8 weeks half rent.
http://www.deltataxis.net/driversection/newsfeed-34.php
----------------------------------------------------
Last Friday, a colleague and I attended a conference on the plans for a Capital Markets Union in Brussels. I decided to order an Uber to take us to the airport afterwards, because it cost only about half of what regulated taxis charge. A taxi driver spotted us as we were entering the vehicle. He immediately jumped out of his car and approached us, knocking fiercely on the driver’s window. He went on to shout at and harass the driver, threatening to call the police and block our way until they arrived. It was only when the taxi driver’s passenger showed up that he finally relented and went back to his own vehicle, allowing us to get on our way. Saved by the profit motive, once again.
This was not an isolated incident. Media reports show repeated instances of similar reactions from drivers of licensed cabbies. Uber drivers also face a risk of having their cars seized for daring to sign up to the service.
In a sense, these events are spillovers of the political disputes taking place at Brussels’ city hall and its Ministry of Transport. Licensed cabbies are feeling the competitive pressure, and in turn, they are pushing local authorities to protect their monopoly. Uber’s Brussels service, launched in February 2014, has been in legal limbo for much of its existence. And even though the city administration is expected to come up with a stable framework to bring Uber fully into the formal economy by January 2016, we know little about the conditions – fares, driver and vehicle requirements, waiting times (as in France) etc. – that they will impose on the California-based company.
The episode neatly illustrates the very damaging long-term consequences, both economic and social, that state intervention can give rise to. Indeed, as bad and counterproductive as many government regulations are, few appear as transparently harmful and wrong as the taxi monopoly and the often concomitant ban on alternative services.
What is more, they are outdated. Before the advent of mobile apps, there may have been a case for licensing and regulating prices and vehicle conditions (Matt Feeney at the Cato Institute explains this here). It could be argued that there were substantial informational asymmetries and transaction costs from unregulated prices.
Potential passengers faced uncertainty about the qualifications and professionalism of drivers. Furthermore, they would have been more likely to hop into the first available cab than to bargain and wait for an attractive offer. According to this thinking, government regulation was needed to narrow the information gap by specifying requirements of taxi drivers and their vehicles, as well as the prices they were able to charge per mile and minute (although entry restrictions were still unjustified). Even then, market mechanisms could have coped with the information issue - for instance by encouraging cabbies to form associations or clubs which would set private standards and prices, and enforce them among members. They would rely on reputation for their business, giving them an incentive to demand good service from members, and to punish and expel those who failed to comply. The existence of competing clubs (and indeed companies) along these lines in the absence of government restrictions to entry would, in turn, put downward pressure on prices.
But regardless of what one makes of the above, the fact is that mobile apps have solved the riddle. With Uber, users can find out in advance the name of the driver who will be picking them up, as well as the make and licence plate of their car, and their average star rating from previous users. Those drivers who consistently obtain suboptimal ratings face a warning and, eventually, the end of their contract. Fares are transparent, and surge prices ensure that if demand rises, more cars will hit the road to meet it. Uber and similar apps like Lyft and Addison Lee – which offers fixed prices based on distance – have transformed the market for private transport services, bridging the information gap and offering prices that no regulated competitor can match. The benefit to passengers is clear: greater choice (if one still prefers drivers with The Knowledge, one is free to use them); increased supply of private car hires; and more competitive prices, which have both expanded the market for transport services and introduced some degree of pressure on regulated fares.
Yet, the benefit to drivers shouldn’t be overlooked, either. By its nature, Uber offers contractors a flexible source of extra income – of course, some drivers may be dedicated to passenger transport full-time, but they need not be. This is especially true in the case of Brussels where, because of the app falling into a legal grey area, only UberPOP, the most basic type of Uber ride, is available. This is aimed at individuals with a vehicle who want to work a few hours a week to complement another source of income. (One still obtains the same information about drivers as with other Uber services.) The app is therefore attractive to low-income individuals, often self-employed and immigrants, who like the choice of working hours and the income security offered by market-driven fares and GPS technology to locate rides.
Banning Uber to protect licensed taxi drivers thus has a negative impact on people who are un- or underemployed, recent arrivals with little work experience and basic language skills, and more generally those to whom Uber’s relatively low fares still make a real difference. But these people lack the rent-seeking skills and political clout of the taxi cartel, which has a strong incentive to block any attempt at reform.
When it comes to ending harmful restrictions on the transport market, the most salient stumbling block would appear to be the high price paid by taxi drivers for their licences, which in some European cities reached the hundreds of thousands of euros. Many cabbies took loans in the hope that they might be able to pay them back with their taxi income and by re-selling the licence at retirement. But with entry restrictions removed and fares deregulated, drivers stand little chance of recouping the cost.
Governments – and this decision should be made at the local level – could try to make the change more politically palatable to cabbies by compensating them to some extent for the license costs they incurred. This can be done on a means-tested basis, and/or on a sliding scale. This is not necessarily good economics. Taxpayers, some of whom may never use a taxi, would end up paying for this. Nor would it be legally necessary. When Ireland liberalised entry into the taxi market, thus wiping out the value of the licenses, the courts decided that taxi drivers were not entitled to a compensation, as they did not have a ‘property right’ in the value of their licenses.
But a partial compensation would be justifiable on other grounds. Current license holders, after all, did not have the option of entering the market without purchasing a license. While they chose to do so on their own volition, it was a choice distorted by previous government interventions. On a more practical note, partial compensation would also smooth the transition to a deregulated system for taxi drivers, making them more amenable to change. In any case, it would be a one-off expense to a pay off the legacy costs resulting from misguided past interventions. An intervention to end intervention, and hopefully for good.
http://www.iea.org.uk/blog/the-havoc-wreaked-by-outdated-taxi-regulation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool.
Liverpool council today bottled the challenge of Delta Cars (Sefton).
The Elections over Liverpool went back on their promises to Trade Representatives and re-instated Delta Cars Liverpool Operators Licence.
The Trade see this as a smack in the face, but, worse may be to come. Liverpool Council have been delaying an application from Uber, for a Liverpool Operators Licence.
The elections now over, Uber can expect an Operators License any day now. If not they only need to pay £300 to Liverpool Crown Court and have the license granted.
You can bet your ar*e Uber know that.
Update 19:00 hours
Delta rub it in and offer new Liverpool drivers 8 weeks half rent.
http://www.deltataxis.net/driversection/newsfeed-34.php
Monday, 11 May 2015
BRADFORD
A CRACKDOWN has started on a licensing loophole which Council bosses believe could leave some minicab drivers not fully insured.
Bradford Council's licensing officials have become growing increasingly concerned at the number of cabbies in Bradford who are getting their licenses from other local authorities.
Council bosses were worried that the move was being used as a way to avoid Bradford’s notoriously high insurance premiums, so earlier this year they decided to tighten the rules around the practice.
Now, private hire operators who take on such drivers must prove the cabbies have told their insurers they will be predominately based in Bradford – or the operators risk losing their own licence.
But with the new regulations coming into effect, some private hire firms say the paperwork burden is proving a nightmare for them.
Azad Khan, owner of 1st Choice Private Hire, Keighley, said: "Bradford Council is trying to put the burden on us.
"The Council is trying to tell us to do their dirty work. It's nothing to do with us.
"They can't stop these drivers from working in other areas. It's not up to me to tell them they can't work. The Council should try to change the law."
Under the law, cabbies can get a hackney carriage licence from one area and then work as a private hire driver throughout the country.
But the practice has sparked concerns locally, as other local authorities have different standards for drivers' criminal records, vehicle safety and other licensing criteria including knowledge tests.
The tighter operators' regulations were brought in after the Council’s regulatory and appeals committee debated the issue in January. Operators also have to prove the vehicles have undergone safety checks.
Khurram Shehzad, chairman of Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, said: "I'm disgusted that the Council are using the operators to get these out-of-town licensed drivers out.
"I think they are doing it because the money for the licensing is going out of Bradford.”
But Councillor David Warburton, chairman of the regulatory and appeals committee, refuted this claim and said the resolutions were brought in to protect the public by making sure all drivers were properly insured to work in Bradford.
He said: "It's about safety and security.
"It's not a clamp down, it's making sure the public are safe. We have a duty of care to the public. If anything untoward happens, the public are safe.”
He said the authority did “not want to stop people working” and drivers were still free to get their licenses from other areas if they wanted to.
A Council spokesman added: "These conditions to private hire operators’ licenses were introduced to ensure the safety of the public by providing proof that all taxis operating in Bradford are properly safety checked and insured, wherever their licence is issued."
And not all private hire bosses are against the move.
Stuart Hastings, boss of private hire firm Metro Keighley, said he backed Bradford Council's tightening of the rules “absolutely, without a doubt”, as all drivers should be properly insured.
Mr Hastings, who also heads up Keighley Private Hire Association, said: “If you said to your insurer you work in a different area and it is proven you work in Bradford, then there's a reason they have not to pay out.”
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said cab drivers who misled their insurer about where they did the majority of their work “may find that they will not be covered if their vehicle is stolen or damaged”.
She said: “However innocent third parties, such as passengers or other drivers, would be covered if they are injured in an accident, either by the taxi owner’s insurer or through a fund which compensates the victims of uninsured drivers.”
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/12942056.Cabbies_face_insurance_crackdown_amid_concerns_over_licensing_loophole/
------------------------------------------------------------------
CRIMINAL gangs plan to target Glasgow cabbies with fake bank notes, the Evening Times can today reveal.
It is feared fraudsters will palm off piles of counterfeit money on unwitting taxi drivers across the city.
Cabbies were today warned to be on their guard for criminals who will go to astonishing lengths to dupe them.
A recent Evening Times investigation revealed fake Clydesdale Bank £20 notes were being used in scam deals in Glasgow.
Authorities, including taxi firm bosses, insist they are not aware of any influx of counterfeit currency.
But taxi drivers are being urged to be vigilant when they handle currency.
One cabbie told the Evening Times he won't hand over any change to a customer without testing the bank notes they have paid him with.
Stephen Flynn, vice chairman of Glasgow Taxis Ltd, said: "We've had no recent feedback from our members and drivers that the issues of fake bank note use is a significant one at present.
"However we are grateful to the Evening Times for bringing this to our attention and will be contacting our full fleet of drivers this week to remind them to continue to be vigilant on this front.
"Any incidents, which do seem to be irregular and sporadic, we continue to take seriously and will report to police."
Fake cash leaves taxi drivers - the majority of whom are self-employed - with the worthless currency and out of pocket after having given real cash back as change.
Police previously vowed to track down criminals printing and using dud bills.
Genuine Scottish bank notes have a watermark that is hardly visible until it is held up to light.
A metallic thread is embedded in the paper of all bank notes and appears as silver dashes on the back of the note.
When held up to the light, the metallic thread appears as a continuous dark line.
Each note also has an individual serial number and fluorescent features, which show up only when they are exposed to ultraviolet light.
During last summer's Commonwealth Games, we told how criminals were targeting Glasgow with fake bank notes.
Fraudsters were also using counterfeit £20 notes in scam deals in parts of the city.
Officers were forced to warn both locals and visitors to be vigilant when handling currency, after reports of fake £20 notes circulating in Maryhill.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/warning-over-fake-cash-scam-to-cabbies-206264n.125470034
A CRACKDOWN has started on a licensing loophole which Council bosses believe could leave some minicab drivers not fully insured.
Bradford Council's licensing officials have become growing increasingly concerned at the number of cabbies in Bradford who are getting their licenses from other local authorities.
Council bosses were worried that the move was being used as a way to avoid Bradford’s notoriously high insurance premiums, so earlier this year they decided to tighten the rules around the practice.
Now, private hire operators who take on such drivers must prove the cabbies have told their insurers they will be predominately based in Bradford – or the operators risk losing their own licence.
But with the new regulations coming into effect, some private hire firms say the paperwork burden is proving a nightmare for them.
Azad Khan, owner of 1st Choice Private Hire, Keighley, said: "Bradford Council is trying to put the burden on us.
"The Council is trying to tell us to do their dirty work. It's nothing to do with us.
"They can't stop these drivers from working in other areas. It's not up to me to tell them they can't work. The Council should try to change the law."
Under the law, cabbies can get a hackney carriage licence from one area and then work as a private hire driver throughout the country.
But the practice has sparked concerns locally, as other local authorities have different standards for drivers' criminal records, vehicle safety and other licensing criteria including knowledge tests.
The tighter operators' regulations were brought in after the Council’s regulatory and appeals committee debated the issue in January. Operators also have to prove the vehicles have undergone safety checks.
Khurram Shehzad, chairman of Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, said: "I'm disgusted that the Council are using the operators to get these out-of-town licensed drivers out.
"I think they are doing it because the money for the licensing is going out of Bradford.”
But Councillor David Warburton, chairman of the regulatory and appeals committee, refuted this claim and said the resolutions were brought in to protect the public by making sure all drivers were properly insured to work in Bradford.
He said: "It's about safety and security.
"It's not a clamp down, it's making sure the public are safe. We have a duty of care to the public. If anything untoward happens, the public are safe.”
He said the authority did “not want to stop people working” and drivers were still free to get their licenses from other areas if they wanted to.
A Council spokesman added: "These conditions to private hire operators’ licenses were introduced to ensure the safety of the public by providing proof that all taxis operating in Bradford are properly safety checked and insured, wherever their licence is issued."
And not all private hire bosses are against the move.
Stuart Hastings, boss of private hire firm Metro Keighley, said he backed Bradford Council's tightening of the rules “absolutely, without a doubt”, as all drivers should be properly insured.
Mr Hastings, who also heads up Keighley Private Hire Association, said: “If you said to your insurer you work in a different area and it is proven you work in Bradford, then there's a reason they have not to pay out.”
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said cab drivers who misled their insurer about where they did the majority of their work “may find that they will not be covered if their vehicle is stolen or damaged”.
She said: “However innocent third parties, such as passengers or other drivers, would be covered if they are injured in an accident, either by the taxi owner’s insurer or through a fund which compensates the victims of uninsured drivers.”
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/12942056.Cabbies_face_insurance_crackdown_amid_concerns_over_licensing_loophole/
------------------------------------------------------------------
CRIMINAL gangs plan to target Glasgow cabbies with fake bank notes, the Evening Times can today reveal.
It is feared fraudsters will palm off piles of counterfeit money on unwitting taxi drivers across the city.
Cabbies were today warned to be on their guard for criminals who will go to astonishing lengths to dupe them.
A recent Evening Times investigation revealed fake Clydesdale Bank £20 notes were being used in scam deals in Glasgow.
Authorities, including taxi firm bosses, insist they are not aware of any influx of counterfeit currency.
But taxi drivers are being urged to be vigilant when they handle currency.
One cabbie told the Evening Times he won't hand over any change to a customer without testing the bank notes they have paid him with.
Stephen Flynn, vice chairman of Glasgow Taxis Ltd, said: "We've had no recent feedback from our members and drivers that the issues of fake bank note use is a significant one at present.
"However we are grateful to the Evening Times for bringing this to our attention and will be contacting our full fleet of drivers this week to remind them to continue to be vigilant on this front.
"Any incidents, which do seem to be irregular and sporadic, we continue to take seriously and will report to police."
Fake cash leaves taxi drivers - the majority of whom are self-employed - with the worthless currency and out of pocket after having given real cash back as change.
Police previously vowed to track down criminals printing and using dud bills.
Genuine Scottish bank notes have a watermark that is hardly visible until it is held up to light.
A metallic thread is embedded in the paper of all bank notes and appears as silver dashes on the back of the note.
When held up to the light, the metallic thread appears as a continuous dark line.
Each note also has an individual serial number and fluorescent features, which show up only when they are exposed to ultraviolet light.
During last summer's Commonwealth Games, we told how criminals were targeting Glasgow with fake bank notes.
Fraudsters were also using counterfeit £20 notes in scam deals in parts of the city.
Officers were forced to warn both locals and visitors to be vigilant when handling currency, after reports of fake £20 notes circulating in Maryhill.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/warning-over-fake-cash-scam-to-cabbies-206264n.125470034
Sunday, 10 May 2015
North East.
The arrival of UBER in Newcastle has caused quite a stir.
Several of the PH Companies have joined together to form an action group called 'CAUTION' ( Campaign Against Unlawful Taxis In Our Nation Limited).
Ironically one of the main players here is believed to be the owner of Blueline PH, North Tyneside. You Remember, the one who flooded the North east with Berwick Hackney's.
A word to beleaguered PH Companies.
"You reap what you sow"
Any further information on the group would be welcome, reply to:
acnedriver@gmail.com/
I will of course keep you posted.
The arrival of UBER in Newcastle has caused quite a stir.
Several of the PH Companies have joined together to form an action group called 'CAUTION' ( Campaign Against Unlawful Taxis In Our Nation Limited).
Ironically one of the main players here is believed to be the owner of Blueline PH, North Tyneside. You Remember, the one who flooded the North east with Berwick Hackney's.
A word to beleaguered PH Companies.
"You reap what you sow"
Any further information on the group would be welcome, reply to:
acnedriver@gmail.com/
I will of course keep you posted.
CHELMSFORD
A taxi driver has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man he suspected of being his estranged wife’s new lover was mown down by a car in a residential street.
The victim, a man in his 60s, was killed after being struck by a Mercedes S Class car shortly before 8.30pm on Saturday night in a cul-de-sac in Chelmsford, Essex.
Residents of the street where the incident took place claimed the man arrested was the owner of a local taxi firm whose wife had recently left him.
One local said: “They were a lovely family. The parents split up and the woman had been telling us only yesterday about how happy she was with her new chap. The police told us there were two men involved and one knocked the other down.”
Neighbour Dave McCraig, 46, an HGV driver, said: “It was about 8 or 8.30pm in the evening when I heard a thud. After a couple of seconds I could hear a car roar off up the road.
“I was told the guy drove up onto the pavement and hit him before backing up over him.”
Mr McCraig, who has lived in the street for 18-years, said paramedics attempted to resuscitate the victim on the pavement where he lay.
But the man, who had suffered horrific injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
A police spokesman would not speculate whether the victim had been on the pavement or in the road when they were struck by the vehicle.
A short time after the accident officers from Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said a 63-year-old man from Chelmsford had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
He was arrested at Chelmsford Police station but it was not clear if he handed himself in.
Locals said the family used to live in Osea Way, where the incident took place, but had moved to another part of Chelmsford several years ago.
It is understood the couple’s daughter and son-in-law still lived in the street and the estranged wife had been seen visiting her family earlier in the evening.
Appealing for witnesses, DCI Marina Ericson, who is leading the investigation, said: “My team would like to speak to anybody who may have witnessed what happened last night and I would urge anybody that has not already spoken to officers to come forward.
“We will be continuing with our investigation today and part of Osea Way will remain cordoned off whilst our forensic examinations continue.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11596027/Taxi-boss-arrested-on-suspicion-of-murdering-a-man-he-hit-in-his-car.html
-------------------------------------------------------
A taxi driver has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man he suspected of being his estranged wife’s new lover was mown down by a car in a residential street.
The victim, a man in his 60s, was killed after being struck by a Mercedes S Class car shortly before 8.30pm on Saturday night in a cul-de-sac in Chelmsford, Essex.
Residents of the street where the incident took place claimed the man arrested was the owner of a local taxi firm whose wife had recently left him.
One local said: “They were a lovely family. The parents split up and the woman had been telling us only yesterday about how happy she was with her new chap. The police told us there were two men involved and one knocked the other down.”
Neighbour Dave McCraig, 46, an HGV driver, said: “It was about 8 or 8.30pm in the evening when I heard a thud. After a couple of seconds I could hear a car roar off up the road.
“I was told the guy drove up onto the pavement and hit him before backing up over him.”
Mr McCraig, who has lived in the street for 18-years, said paramedics attempted to resuscitate the victim on the pavement where he lay.
But the man, who had suffered horrific injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
A police spokesman would not speculate whether the victim had been on the pavement or in the road when they were struck by the vehicle.
A short time after the accident officers from Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said a 63-year-old man from Chelmsford had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
He was arrested at Chelmsford Police station but it was not clear if he handed himself in.
Locals said the family used to live in Osea Way, where the incident took place, but had moved to another part of Chelmsford several years ago.
It is understood the couple’s daughter and son-in-law still lived in the street and the estranged wife had been seen visiting her family earlier in the evening.
Appealing for witnesses, DCI Marina Ericson, who is leading the investigation, said: “My team would like to speak to anybody who may have witnessed what happened last night and I would urge anybody that has not already spoken to officers to come forward.
“We will be continuing with our investigation today and part of Osea Way will remain cordoned off whilst our forensic examinations continue.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11596027/Taxi-boss-arrested-on-suspicion-of-murdering-a-man-he-hit-in-his-car.html
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Passengers taking trains from Paddington can now arrive at the London station in style - and with zero emissions.
Under a "UK first" partnership, ticket holders with First Great Western services can pre-book a transfer to and from the station in a Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model S through taxi service eConnect cars.
"This is the first time a train operator has partnered with an electric vehicle operator in London to create a transport solution that truly represents smarter, greener travel for those coming to and from London," said Alistair Clarke, owner and managing director of eConnect cars.
The company, established in London in January 2014, delivered over 10,500 passengers last year, driving over 93,000 miles in the process. eConnect cars calculates that its fully electric fleet helped to save over 40 tonnes of CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere in London during last year.
The deal with eConnect forms part of First Great Western's commitment to reducing its impact on the environment. The company has also brought in new engines for its high speed trains that it claims reduce CO2 emissions by 64 per cent and fuel use by 15 per cent, introduced on-board waste recycling schemes, and is working to encourage more biodegradable and recyclable packaging.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2407042/electric-taxi-firm-offers-first-class-ticket-to-paddington
-------------------------------------------------------------
Two of the biggest taxi firms in Sheffield announced today that they are set to merge.
From 1 June, City Taxis will acquire Mercury Taxis, which will increase the combined business’ fleet to more than 1,400 drivers. Existing fare structures will remain unchanged.
This deal comes after City Taxis recently switched to a state of the art new 10,000sq ft headquarters and offices at Waterside Court, Attercliffe, Sheffield, from previous premises at Manor Top in the city.
Completing 75,000 per week, City Taxis currently has 1,000 public and private sector accounts, employs 85 people at its offices and will acquire 39 staff from Mercury in the merger.
The total combined average job count will hit 110,000 per week. City Taxis aim to become a benchmark for private hire operators in the UK through use of technology, enhanced customer service, improved safety and higher driver standards.
city Taxis has recently introduced one of the world’s most advanced booking and dispatch systems. Other features include an intelligent phone system and an innovative and informative online booking portal.
Arnie Singh, managing director of City Taxis, said: “At a time when competition for business within the taxi industry is increasing, this merger and consolidation is a significant and important move for both companies. It also provided a suitable exit route for the shareholders of Mercury Taxis in light of their desire to retire from playing an active role in the business."
“Our drivers will be able to access fares across the entire city and well into the surrounding areas such as Rotherham, North Derbyshire and Barnsley. City Taxis will strengthen its position as everyone’s ‘local’ taxi company and provide a very strong service in every Sheffield postcode and beyond."
“We are all looking forward to this exciting chapter in our company’s development. City Taxis believe that by facilitating this merger and by all working together it can provide the public in the Sheffield City Region with an enhanced standard of service”.
https://bdaily.co.uk/finance/05-05-2015/sheffield-taxi-merger-set-to-become-one-of-the-biggest-operators-in-the-country/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LEEDS
A TAXI driver was caught with heroin worth more than a quarter of a million pounds in his car, a court heard.
Police arrested Basharat Hussain, a driver with Leeds city centre-based Aireline Taxis, as he headed along the M62 on his way to deliver seven kilogrammes of the class A drug worth £272,600.
Hussain, 28, was jailed for five years, nine months after pleading guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/leeds-taxi-driver-had-250-000-of-heroin-in-car-1-7245391
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)