A pilot scheme for taxi drivers to "earn as they learn" is being introduced in Basildon to combat a drop in cabbies since the Covid pandemic.
The Basildon Echo reports that the scheme allows trainee taxi drivers an extended period to pass the "topographical section" of the knowledge test on local routes, as well as being able to work as a private hire driver while training.
The scheme was suggested in response to concerns highlighted by the Basildon Taxi and Private Hire Forum that the trade is experiencing a reduction in the number of licensed drivers, including new applicants, following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Councillor Danny Lawrence, chairman of Basildon Council’s licensing committee, welcomed the scheme to boost the number of taxi drivers in the town.
He said: “We are keen to encourage new driver applicants into Basildon, to boost our driver numbers and help our residents who want to access quality local transport options.
“We hope that by giving drivers the chance to earn while they are learning our local areas, they will be supported to pass the topographical test to achieve the same professional standards as other licence holders.
"This will then mean they can have a licence giving them greater flexibility to drive private hire or hackney carriage vehicles licensed by Basildon Council, with all the benefits that brings.”
In order to become an “Earn as you learn” licensed driver the applicant will still need to meet existing pre-licensing criteria to ensure appropriate passenger safety, including passing a criminal record check, a driving assessment, medical and passenger assistance training, as well as other checks.
The council’s licensing team will continue to engage with the Basildon Taxi Forum and representatives of the taxi trade as the pilot scheme progresses.
Regular updates and a final report will be presented to the licensing committee to monitor progress and consider future options.
“Earn as you learn” is a nine-month pilot scheme.
The application window opens on Monday and will close on March 31.
Source: https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/23367107.basildon-taxi-drivers-earn-learn-new-scheme/
Addison Lee has announced a new cooperation with ChargePoint to install ultra-rapid EV chargers at their West Drayton Fleet Hub.
Located near Heathrow Airport, the hub is a multipurpose centre servicing Addison Lee vehicles, rolling out driver training, and providing drivers with an ideal location to stop and take a break between journeys.
According to Electric Cars Report, the installation of two ChargePoint ultra-rapid EV chargers, with dual charging capability provides a guaranteed location for four drivers to charge their electric vehicles at once.
ChargePoint, which offers access to over 600,000 places to charge globally, will also provide software to allow Addison Lee partner drivers to see if the stations are currently in use, ensuring they don’t waste valuable time travelling to an unavailable charging point.
The drivers will have access to thousands of chargers across London through the ChargePoint app.
With 1,000 EVs already on the fleet, the cooperation with ChargePoint is further supporting Addison Lee’s industry-leading pledge to electrify its fleet by 2023.
On this journey to date, the firm has also provided drivers with support for home charging and has negotiated deals that provide its drivers with access to over 4,000 rapid chargers across London.
The cooperation with ChargePoint will further allow fleet managers at Addison Lee to have complete control over their charging infrastructure as their needs grow.
Once Addison Lee’s passenger car fleet is fully electric, it will save up to 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Liam Griffin, CEO of Addison Lee, said: “We’ve made great strides in transitioning our standard fleet to electric by 2023, recently hitting the milestone of 1,000 EVs on the fleet in just over 14 months. With access to reliable charging infrastructure still the main barrier for drivers switching to electric, we remain committed to investing in these innovative partnerships working together to tackle the ongoing infrastructure challenges across the capital.”
Tanya Sinclair, Senior Director of Public Policy, Europe at ChargePoint said: “We are delighted to further our work in supporting the electrification of road transport in London.
"Our cooperation with Addison Lee makes it easier for drivers to confidently locate, initiate and pay for charging, not only here in Heathrow, but throughout London and the UK using ChargePoint’s own stations and partner stations accessible via roaming.
"Inter network roaming must be encouraged at all levels if we are to enable fleets and commercial drivers to seamlessly transition to EV.
"This cooperation will not only help increase the electrification of transportation in London and the UK, but will help to improve air quality across the capital, whilst showing that it is not only possible, but easy for the UK’s largest fleet providers to electrify their operations at scale.”
Proposed new taxi fare charges have been revealed for Nuneaton and Bedworth. Last year MI Taxis and Crystal Taxis said increases were needed to help with rising petrol and wage costs.
According to CoventryLive, their initial increase pleas were rejected, but the council said that it would review the situation in November.
Increases are now being proposed in some elements of the council's hackney carriage tariff as a result.
If agreed, it would be the first time in seven years since the tariff was last looked at and changed.
The proposed increase in taxi fares as follows:
Councillor Sue Markham, cabinet member for public services at the Town Hall, explained: "Many industries have experienced an increase in overheads in recent months, and the taxi industry is no exception.
“Operators have presented evidence of their rise in running costs from fuel to insurance premiums and other local authorities agreeing to fare increases.
“We understand the financial pressures residents may be facing, however, after careful consideration we feel it is only fair to update the tariffs drivers can charge and we have essentially kept the rise as low as possible.”
Copies of the new fare table can be obtained from the council's licensing team via email licensing@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk or in writing to Licensing, Town Hall, Coton Road, Nuneaton, CV11 5AA.
Anyone who wants to object to the proposed increase, should write or email the licensing team before Monday, March 21.
If no objections are received, then the proposed fare table will come into effect on Monday, April 3.
Source: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/in-your-area/taxi-charges-rise-nuneaton-bedworth-26397728
A new league table has revealed which police forces have been issuing the most speeding tickets in Britain.
Drivers in West Yorkshire are most likely to be caught speeding, according to the league table put together by road safety experts at Road Angel.
Police there issued almost a quarter of a million fines for speeding during 2021 and 2022, far more than any other force which provided its data.
However the experts were keen to stress that only 23 out of 44 police forces provided figures.
Number of speeding tickets issued by Police forces in Britain from (Jan 21 to Jan 23).
The police forces who responded to a Freedom of Information request showed huge differences in the number of speeding tickets issued.
Some of these differences may be accountable by varying population within the regions but it also suggests that some forces are targeting drivers more than others.
For example a driver is three times more likely to be caught speeding in West Yorkshire than he or she would be just over the border in South Yorkshire.
Collectively, 224,160 speeding tickets were issued to drivers in West Yorkshire during the two year period with almost all offenders caught on speed cameras.
Around 98% of the speeding drivers in West Yorkshire were caught on fixed speed cameras, while the rest were fined directly by police officers.
Police in Avon and Somerset issued 173,428 tickets, the Thames Valley force fined 151,501 drivers while their police colleagues in the West Midlands issued 95,093 tickets
Even rural counties such Hampshire and Lincolnshire appear in the table with police there issuing 62,514 and 59,525 tickets respectively.
Gary Digva, founder of Road Angel said: “There are major discrepancies around the UK in how the police target speeding drivers.
“These figures reveal that motorists are much more likely to fall foul of speeding limits in some police force areas than they are even in neighbouring authorities.
“We doubt the motorists in these regions are worse drivers than those in other parts of the country so we feel the differences are more likely to be explained by a variation in use of cameras around the country and other policing issues.
“While all sensible drivers condemn speeding we would call on the police to adopt a more uniformed approach so that drivers can be confident of being treated the same way around the UK.”
A project to create a blueprint for the future of driverless vehicles in UK cities - including “robotaxi” services - has been backed by Nissan.
According to businessLive, the ServCity scheme, led by a consortium of industry players, has completed 1,600 test miles in a bid to help autonomous vehicles integrate with city infrastructure.
A Nissan Leaf was fitted with specialist technology allowing the vehicle to detect an object not within the line of sight of the vehicle, for trials on London roads. Trials took place in Greenwich where the Smart Mobility Living Lab scheme allows for testing of emerging technologies, safely in a real urban environment. The Lab’s network of roadside sensors and data processing capabilities helped the ServCity vehicle improve its situational awareness and manoeuvre through traffic.
David Moss, senior vice president, region research and development for Nissan AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe, and Oceania) said: “We are extremely proud to be a part of the ServCity project and our 100% electric Nissan LEAF has proven to be the ideal test vehicle.
“Through our Nissan Ambition 2030 long-term vision, we are committed to supporting greater access to safe and exciting mobility. Advancing our autonomous drive capability and expertise is critical to this effort and research projects such as ServCity are vital to the evolution of technology.
“Through our world-class R&D base in Cranfield in the UK, Nissan is continuously innovating to bring cutting-edge, purpose-driven technologies that benefit our customers. ServCity’s achievements contribute to our efforts to usher in a future where we hope to see zero fatalities on the road while providing customers with the added comfort and convenience that come from advanced autonomous drive technologies.”
ServCity is a connected and autonomous vehicle project backed by the Government and akin to the projects taking place in Sunderland and involving Nissan’s factory there. During the three year scheme, the consortium of Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, TRL, Hitachi Europe, the University of Nottingham and SBD Automotive has created a blueprint to help manufacturers, transport providers and city planners to prepare for driverless vehicles.
Robert Bateman, manager, Nissan Technical Centre Europe and Nissan project manager for ServCity said: “Not only has Nissan provided the 100% electric Nissan LEAF as a test vehicle, our talented group of engineers have also contributed to the research and development of cutting-edge autonomous drive technology for use within the project. This has enabled the development of a test vehicle that is able to autonomously navigate the busy streets of London alongside other road users – both stationery and moving – while connected with city infrastructure.
“With more than 115 people involved and almost 16,000 working days clocked up across the consortia during the lifetime of the project, ServCity represents an important step towards future deployment of autonomous mobility.”
Source: https://www.business-live.co.uk/technology/nissans-role-three-year-autonomous-26358585
A council report proposes increasing charges to keep up with soaring vehicle expenses, including fuel, maintenance, and purchase prices.
Police targeting anti-social behaviour made a significant drug bust after stopping a taxi in the city.
A week-long trial of new AI cameras on the A1(M) near Newton Aycliffe has exposed a shocking scale of phone use and seatbelt offences.
A former paratrooper turned pet taxi driver is in the running for an Animal Star Award for his work in Wakefield and Pontefract.
Tariq Rehman, 75, from Stechford, had his licence removed by Solihull Council in November last year following a complaint from a passenger.
A taxi firm boss has branded the criminal justice system "broken" after new figures revealed almost a third of offenders in the town reoffended within a year.
Dramatic CCTV footage has captured the moment a hooded figure set a taxi alight on a residential driveway.
A Drongan taxi driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female passenger after offering to waive her fare in exchange for sex.
Artur Nowostawski has been jailed for six years and nine months after he attacked a taxi driver earlier this year.
Taxi drivers in the city are facing significant financial losses after a series of electric vehicle charging point failures left them unable to operate.
Police are appealing for help to trace a man who disappeared after getting into a taxi bound for the Otley area of Leeds.
The company’s operator licence includes a condition ordering all drivers to undergo the same training as those from other companies.
Police have stopped a private hire driver who was driving the wrong way on the M1 close to Junction 8 at Hemel Hempstead.
Newcastle City Council is set to introduce strict new measures to tackle illegal and inconsiderate parking near Newcastle International Airport.
West Mercia Police is appealing for information following a rape that took place in Malvern's Priory Park early on Sunday, August 4th.
Glasgow taxi users could be facing a near-10% fare increase and extended night-time charges.
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.