Open letter from Ken Livingstone to the taxi trade

Dear Sirs,

I have been using my experience and knowledge of London and its transport system to help launch a new “People’s App” called Maaxi which enables Londoners to share taxis. I support the principles that stand behind Maaxi, principles that have been developed in light of the revolution that smartphones have brought to our transport industry since I left the mayor’s office.

With the introduction of GPS-enabled iPhone and Android devices, easier transport planning and door-to-door transport booking have become more than a reality – they have attracted some of the biggest and most aggressive capitalists in the world including Google and Goldman Sachs.
 These new technologies should be used to improve Londoners’ daily lives by allowing them to book a taxi from the comfort of their homes or offices, increasing safety and giving more people access to taxis.
 Sadly the reality is that the technology is being used to hurt passengers by increasing prices via so-called “surging” or imposing minimum fares and hurting drivers by commoditising prices and taking large commissions from taxi fares. This is wrong since Londoners and its drivers deserve better. As you know, my successor has kow-towed to the new entrants.

Whilst competition has its place, there is no place for de-regulation by stealth which hits taxi drivers who have worked for years to acquire “The Knowledge”. This is where Maaxi can help. It benefits taxi drivers by charging no commissions on their normal fares and giving them the opportunity to increase their trade through shared taxi rides which have the potential to double, triple or even quadruple the taxi business in London and cut private vehicle traffic.

 This App will provide me with door-to-door transport at a fraction of the cost of a minicab, let alone a taxi, and only slightly more expense than travelling by public transport.

This is truly a “saving instead of surging” revolution, and will allow every Londoner to use black cabs. It is what technology should do for the world and I wholeheartedly support it. It will help London and I hope the taxi trade will promote Maaxi among Londoners and ensure that drivers stand behind a company that has created a “People’s App.” And in so doing stop Uber driving the black cab trade into extinction!

Sincerely,

Ken Livingstone

MIlton Keynes

A 61-YEAR-OLD taxi driver has had his licence temporarily taken off him for thefts he did as a teenager.

Meanwhile taxi company, Cybercars, registered in Northampton but operating in Milton Keynes, is trying to cash in on the taxi licensing scandal by tweeting about his ‘more reliable’ CRB checks.

George Turner, from Coffee Hall, was shocked when his school badge, that allows him to take children to and from school, was suspended which he believed was part of Milton Keynes Council’s review into drivers.

He said: “Because of the actions of the mayor, I and other taxi drivers are now having their livelihoods taken away.
“I have a couple of traces of petty theft offences that were committed when I was a teenager over 40 years ago. And I haven’t been told when and if I will get my school badge back.”

A spokesman from the council said: “We have suspended a number of permissions for drivers who had contracts to take children to school, where evidence of a criminal record or caution has been found, and we are in the process of interviewing those drivers.

“We are looking at each individual case on its own merits, and some drivers, for example with minor offences going back many years, will continue to be allowed to drive on these contracts, until we’ve interviewed them.”

In the mean time, Cybercars owned by Clive Pinder based in Deanshanger and registered with South Northamptonshire Council, is trying to benefit from the taxi licensing review by tweeting comments like “

@MKEYNESTAXIS: warning rapist taxi drivers from Milton Keynes but not with our firm licensed by South Northants.”

http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Taxi-driver-licence-taken-away-Milton-Keynes/story-23025891-detail/story.html
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Eire.

Two males in their late teens have been arrested by Gardaí in relation to the assault and robbery of taxi driver John Ford in the early hours of  September 19.

The teenagers are currently being detained for questioning at Mayfield and Gurranabraher Garda Stations under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. They can be held for up to 24 hours.

John Ford sustained serious facial injuries in the attack by two passengers in the Dublin Hill area of the city last month. His Toyota Avensis was stolen and later found crashed near Kileens.

Gardaí state that the investigation is ongoing.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2014/10/01/arrests-taxi-driver-attack-investigation/
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 OLDHAM.  Cabbie jailed for sex with 14-year-old girl

AN Oldham taxi driver who took advantage of a drunken underage girl has been jailed for four years.

Asif Ali’s young victim, who had been given alcohol and cigarettes, eventually managed to fight her way out of the parked car in Alexandra Park. She ran off half-clothed and shoeless but managed to flag down a passing car and was taken home, where she told police she had been raped.

The court heard the girl had been picked up late at night as she walked home from Oldham town centre, where she had been drinking with friends.

She got into a taxi around Keswick Avenue and Honeywell Lane, which shortly afterwards parked alongside a second taxi. 

After a conversation between the drivers, the second man got into the car and they drove to Alexandra Park where the girl was assaulted.

Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, said the girl’s recollections were hazy but remembered lying in the back seat with the man on top of her, and that she fought and kicked before she could wrench open the car door and run. Her underwear and a pair of earrings were found later during a police search.

Ms Crangle told the court: “It is clear that at some time during that night this man did have sex with the girl, who was vulnerable and drunk.”

Manchester Crown Court heard how Ali (41) of Fern Street, would have got away with the attack in August 2006, but for coming to the attention of the police five years later, when his DNA was matched to samples from the girl.

Ali at first denied the attack but later admitted sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Qazi, defending, said his client’s life since being arrested had been “chaotic and difficult,” that he had separated from his wife and young children, had few job prospects and his health had suffered.

Ali will serve half his sentence in prison and he will be subject to the sexual offences prevention order.

http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/88239/cabbie-jailed-for-sex-with-14yearold-girl

Uber makes peace with German taxi drivers

UberTaxi launched in Berlin (Source: Getty)

Uber has launched its UberTaxi service in Berlin and Hamburg after a series of struggles with German courts.

UberTaxi, which operates in London and New York, allows users to hail a licensed cab. Furthermore, Uber will be changing its UberBlack service to comply with Berlin regulations.

The prices are, usually, lower than those of traditional cabs and give taxi drivers additional business when they would otherwise have been on standby.

The San Francisco-based company has been at constant loggerheads with regulators and the German taxi industry, with courts in Berlin and Hamburg upholding bans on the UberBlack and UberPop on Friday.

Uber's Germany spokesman Fabian Nestmann, commented:

Uber is committed to increasing the choice for consumers and drivers and helping them make personal mobility more efficient. Opening our platform for taxis in Germany with UberTaxi, our on demand service, is another step towards that goal

Uber's decision to adjust its service to meet Berlin's regulatory requirements comes shortly after the company's vice president for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Africa Niall Wass softened the firm's tone on regulation.

Wass indicated Uber was ready for a more open dialogue with lawmakers:

We're open for that debate, if they come to us and say we like what you're doing, but here are our concerns for a particular market.

Yesterday, Nestmann echoed Wass's remarks:

As a matter of course we respect the German legal system and work to adapt our services to comply with the regulatory framework.

We remain convinced, however, that there should be an open dialogue on how the current provisions of the German Transportation Act and how it can be adapted to embrace the technical possibilities of the 21st century.

Uber has not given up the fight in Berlin and is appealing the Berlin court ruling. Last week, UberPop launched in Madrid much to the chagrin of Spanish taxi industry.

The ride-sharing company will certainly be hoping to have a smoother ride expanding in Spain than it has had in Germany. 

http://www.cityam.com/1412072621/uber-makes-peace-german-taxi-drivers?

LONDON. CABWISE, Lets hope its a hoax.

www.taxileaks.blogspot.co.uk

                http://cab4now.com/cabwave/

Manchester.


A young woman was sexually assaulted by a thug 

posing as a taxi driver after a night out at a Freshers’ 
Week event.

The 19-year-old left the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union on Oxford Road in Manchester city centre after attending the Pangaea night.

After looking for a taxi, she approached a car outside The Holy Name Church. The man inside said he was a taxi driver, so she got in.

But she was driven to an unknown location and sexually assaulted. The pervert then dropped her off in Fallowfield and drove off.

The terrifying ordeal happened in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, September 21.

The woman is now being supported by specially trained officers.

Thousands of students descended upon the university’s Students’ Union for the event on Saturday 20, one of a number Freshers’ Week nights out.

The man was mixed race, in his 30s, thin with short, shaved hair and wearing glasses. The car was a dark coloured saloon.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward - particularly those at the Pangaea event - and are urging students to only use black cabs or to pre-book licensed taxis.

Det Con Elizabeth Howe said: “This was understandably very distressing for this young woman and she is being fully supported by specially trained officers.

“We would like to hear from anyone who was out in the area or at the Pangaea event itself last Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning, who may have any information that could assist our investigation.

“We would also like to remind the public to use licensed taxi companies by either pre-booking or going to a designated taxi rank.

“Stay together on a night out, and never get into an unknown car without checking it is a licensed taxi first. If unsure, go to a taxi rank
 particularly if you are on your own.”

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/woman-sexually-assaulted-bogus-taxi-7842821?

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This is dreadful, first week here for the freshers and first victim reports sex attack.

Kier Starmer Q.C. is on record as saying 90% of sex attacks go unreported.


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2177524/Director-Public-Prosecutions-Keir-Starmer-Nine-rapes-unreported.html

Manchester Students Union, along with S.U. around the Country try their best to protect "Fresher's", but this is Manchester, a lack of enforcement means it is a Green Light to perverts. 


http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/safetaxi


www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studenthub/taxis.htm

www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/news/article/6001/safe-lift-home-after-a-night-out1/

www.ubuonline.co.uk/advice-and-welfare/advice-a-z/taxis.php

www.liverpoolsu.com/articles/safe-taxi

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Courts in Berlin and Hamburg upheld bans on online transportation service Uber on Friday, saying the company did not comply with German laws on the carriage of passengers.

U.S. start-up Uber had appealed against the bans in Germany, the latest front in its global battle to win regulatory approval in the face of stiff opposition from taxi services under threat from Uber's business model.

Uber said it had not yet decided whether to appeal against Friday's rulings by administrative courts in Berlin and Hamburg, which said Uber's drivers lacked the commercial licences to charge passengers for rides.

"Uber is reviewing the court documents in detail before commenting on today's decision but will continue to comply with German law," said a spokesman for Uber, which was recently valued at $18 billion (11.03 billion pounds).

He declined to say whether Uber would continue to operate services in the two cities pending any appeal.
Uber has been shadowed by skirmishes with taxi operators and local authorities in many cities where it operates, starting in its home base of San Francisco. It is active in 43 countries and has pulled out of only one city: Vancouver, Canada.

The Berlin and Hamburg rulings go against a previous reprieve given to Uber by a Frankfurt court, which ruled last week there were no grounds for a temporary injunction against its services.

The disparate decisions underline ambivalence in Germany about how to deal with challenges from U.S. technology firms ranging from Google to Amazon to Uber.

The German Economy Ministry said last week the country needed to make room for new, digital business models alongside existing businesses, and called for a hard look at laws governing transport and competition.
The Berlin court said on Friday there was no way of telling whether private drivers using the UberPop mobile phone app, which connects them to potential passengers, were fit to take on the special responsibility of carrying passengers.

It said the Uber Black service, which allows users to summon limousines using an app, did not meet the legal requirement for taxis to return to their service centre and so fell between regulations for taxi and rental car services.

"The ban serves to protect the existence of taxi services, their ability to function, in which there is an important public interest," it said in a statement.

The Hamburg court rejected Uber's arguments that the ban violated Uber's professional freedom or European freedom to offer services.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/german-courts-uphold-ban-uber-ride-share-175503073--finance.html#TBNzAhA

The newly-launched GLiiDE is an all-electric taxi service in London that will be ran soley on Tesla cars in a move which could undercut the UK capital’s black cab service by as much as 50 percent.

GLiiDE will base its sustainable chuaffer offering around a smartphone app and corporate portal that incorporates booking, tracking and payment.

The service is emissions-free and thus escapes Central London’s congestion charges, and offers customers the chance to ride in the Tesla Model S, one of the most highly-commended electric cars to be produced to date.

The company claims to be presenting one of the safest cars on the road with fixed taxi prices and no hidden extras.

For now the service is invitational only as it looks to iron out any issues before full rollout.

London is not actually the first UK destination to trial such a service, for nearby Kent has seen a similar idea launch while tests on the Model S are also underway in the United States and Norway, arguably the green capital of Europe.

This news follows the announcement from Google that it is to pilot its driverless cars in selected cities across the UK, applications for which are being taken.

Combined with Tesla’s intention to enter the lucrative London taxi arena, the future of UK transport could be taking a green and automated turn. 

http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/technology/165/GLiiDE-Tesla-Taxi-Service-Launches-in-London-as-Rival-to-Traditional-Black-Cabs