A black cabs boss has said that it is 'essential' for the Government to extend grants for electric taxis. These grants, worth up to £7,500, help drivers buy new electric taxis instead of keeping older, more polluting vehicles.
MyLondon reports that Steve McNamara, the head of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA), warned that without these discounts, a new electric taxi could cost as much as £110,000.
He told PA news agency: "This would be absolutely disastrous because taxi drivers thinking of buying a new vehicle will try to hang on to old vehicles".
"It's bad for us, it's bad for London and it's got to be bad for the Government."
He also questioned if the Government was willing to invest in maintaining the quality of the cab service. Since 2018, new taxis in London have had to be able to travel certain distances using only electric power.
The latest numbers from Transport for London show that 56% of the 14,750 taxis in London as of February 4 were electric.
Mr McNamara said giving more money to help buy electric taxis is good for everyone. He mentioned that taking diesel cars off the road "improves air quality for everybody", drivers get a bit of help buying them, and riders get to use modern, wheelchair-friendly cars.
LEVC TX taxis are made in Ansty, Warwickshire, by the London Electric Vehicle Company, which is owned by the Chinese company Geely.
Mr McNamara said he was worried that if fewer people want these vehicles, the factory's future could be in danger.
He asked: "Are the Chinese going to keep pumping money into it or are they going to pull the factory?
"Are they going to shift production to China? They're obviously going to be looking at all of those things.
"That decision process is not going to be helped if the Government withdraws the Plug-in Taxi Grant."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We're committed to supporting the switch to electric, and through this grant we have provided over £50 million to support the purchase of 7,000 zero emission-capable taxis to date."
"The grant is committed until the end of this financial year, and as always it remains under continual review."
Source: https://www.mylondon.news/news/transport/disastrous-electric-taxi-grants-not-28611988
A taxi driver cried in the dock after a jury found him not guilty of raping a passenger and sexually assaulting the woman as he drove her to Banbury.
Hakmatullah Hotak, 28, cried in the dock after a jury found him not guilty.
According to This is Oxfordshire, lawyers said he pulled his cab to the side of the road to commit the “violent assault” in the early hours of November 1, 2019.
Hotak, from Oxford, denied the charges, claiming the woman made sexual advances towards him instead.
But on Thursday 8 February, Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson told a trial at Oxford Crown Court that his defence was “riddled with lies”.
“He saw a vulnerable young woman scantily dressed and drunk and he decided he was going to take advantage of her,” he said.
The woman had been out clubbing with friends and her boyfriend in the city on October 31, 2019, while dressed in Halloween outfits.
After drinking ten gin and lemonades, she was escorted out of a nightclub just after 1am.
She then argued with her boyfriend before roaming the streets of the city alone for two hours.
Arriving at Oxford railway station at 3am, she found no trains running and instead got in Hotak’s taxi.
“It’s not likely for her to get frisky with a taxi driver in a car 10 or 15 minutes later,” Mr Ward-Jackson said.
“She’s much more likely to be down and depressed at the end of the evening.
“It’s not a very promising starting point for a romantic encounter.”
The woman told Hotak she had no means to pay him when the car reached Kidlington, the court heard.
A short time later, Hotak allegedly pulled over in a wooded area and raped and sexually assaulted her.
Defending, Zoe Johnson KC said the woman made sexual advances towards Hotak while he was driving the cab.
There was no evidence to suggest Hotak, an Afghan refugee, was a “sexual predator out that night looking for a victim”, she said.
She added the woman was “angry with her boyfriend who she believed had let her down” and called him a "d**k" while talking to Hotak in the car.
The woman was “talkative in the car”, revealing “personal” information and choosing to sit next to Hotak in the front seat, the court heard.
Giving his closing remarks, Mr Ward-Jackson said it was for the jury to decide “who is telling the truth”.
“Stripped down, it’s quite a simple case. It’s about two people in a taxi. A young female passenger and a young male driver," he said.
“The passenger says she was raped and sexually assaulted. The driver says she made sexual advances to him.
“So, who is telling the truth, members of the jury? Someone is lying.”
After a week-long trial, Mr Hotak was found not guilty of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault.
As the jury delivered their verdicts, Mr Hotak could be seen crying in the dock and sighing with relief.
He thanked jury members as he was released from the dock, holding his hands together and nodding his head towards them.
A taxi driver is said to have raped a passenger who was coming home from a Halloween night out in Oxford, a court heard.
According to This is Oxfordshire, Hakmatullah Hotak, 28, has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting the woman as he drove her to Banbury.
Lawyers said he pulled his cab to the side of the road to commit the “violent assault” in the early hours of November 1, 2019.
Hotak, from Oxford, has denied the charges, claiming the woman made sexual advances towards him instead.
But on Thursday 8 February, Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson told a trial at Oxford Crown Court that his defence was “riddled with lies”.
“He saw a vulnerable young woman scantily dressed and drunk and he decided he was going to take advantage of her,” he said.
The woman had been out clubbing with friends and her boyfriend in the city on October 31, 2019, while dressed in Halloween outfits.
After drinking ten gin and lemonades, she was escorted out of a nightclub just after 1am.
She then argued with her boyfriend before roaming the streets of the city alone for two hours.
Arriving at Oxford railway station at 3am, she found no trains running and instead got in Hotak’s taxi.
“It’s not likely for her to get frisky with a taxi driver in a car 10 or 15 minutes later,” Mr Ward-Jackson said.
“She’s much more likely to be down and depressed at the end of the evening.
“It’s not a very promising starting point for a romantic encounter.”
The woman told Hotak she had no means to pay him when the car reached Kidlington, the court heard.
A short time later, Hotak allegedly pulled over in a wooded area and raped and sexually assaulted her.
Defending, Zoe Johnson KC said the woman made sexual advances towards Hotak while he was driving the cab.
There was no evidence to suggest Hotak, an Afghan refugee, was a “sexual predator out that night looking for a victim”, she said.
She added the woman was “angry with her boyfriend who she believed had let her down” and called him a "d**k" while talking to Hotak in the car.
The woman was “talkative in the car”, revealing “personal” information and choosing to sit next to Hotak in the front seat, the court heard.
Giving his closing remarks, Mr Ward-Jackson said it was for the jury to decide “who is telling the truth”.
“Stripped down, it’s quite a simple case. It’s about two people in a taxi. A young female passenger and a young male driver," he said.
“The passenger says she was raped and sexually assaulted. The driver says she made sexual advances to him.
“So, who is telling the truth, members of the jury? Someone is lying.”
The trial, which is being presided over by Judge Michael Gledhill KC, continues.
Source: https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/24106810.oxford-cabby-accused-raping-passenger-way-banbury/
Uber drivers in Bristol will be going on strike on Wednesday 14 February, for Valentine's Day.
According to BristolLive, the drivers will be striking across the country to demand higher pay and an improvement in working conditions.
App users are being asked to support the strikers by not using the Uber app while the industrial action is taking place.
A Bristol driver, who will be joining the walkout, said they expect many drivers will take part in the industrial action.
A leaflet shared by the organisers explaining their demands states: "Join our strike and our protest to demand a decent livelihood and job security for all.
"Our demands are a higher rate per mile, 15 per cent maximum commission, transparency of charges on customers, no fixed rate trips, 50 per cent surcharge on out of area trips and customers below a certain rating not being allowed to rate drivers.
"No more unfair deactivation."
Dad-of-three Florin Talos - who has been an Uber driver for three and a half years - said: "I work many hours for little pay. I am working 50 to 60 hours every week and I am earning about £700.
"I still need to pay for fuel then and my car insurance, which has gone up by 50 per cent.
"I do not earn minimum wage when I take into account the costs of the car."
If working 60-hour a week, this would take his hourly rate to £11.60, before running costs. The current minimum wage for people aged 23 and over is £10.42, but this will go up to £11.44 in April.
Mr Talos - who has been on strike on three occasions already - claimed that Uber is taking a commission of up to 50 per cent, adding he now gets holiday pay but that prices are lower than two years ago.
The driver said Uber doesn't tell them how much a customer is paying for the ride, but that he now regularly asks them.
The 36-year-old claimed that a customer recently told him he was paying £30 for the ride, while he was only going to earn £16.
"But we need to take them [the rides] because otherwise we would not make money," Mr Talos continued.
"Drivers are very angry so that is why we are organising this protest. We expect there will be quite a lot of people there as people are angry. I feel I have no option but to work for Uber - it is the one that most people use."
The Uber driver, from Kingswood, claimed that the company takes a much smaller commission on Friday and Saturdays, adding they would like this to be rolled out to other days of the week.
Mr Talos said he often works up to 15 hours every Friday and Saturday.
Source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-uber-drivers-go-strike-9085810
A new study has revealed the parking fine hotspots of the UK, with Manchester taking the top spot.
The study, by Claims.co.uk, analysed Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) data from 2020 to 2021, to find which areas have been the hardest hit with motoring fines. They also looked at which areas residents have been most successful at appealing these notices.
In first place in Manchester, with an eye-watering rate of 99,348 PCNs issued per 100,000 people, which is 901.33% higher than the national average of 9,922 notices per 100,000 people.
Manchester saw the most penalty charge notices issued of any area in the UK, with 546,270 fines issued overall. Considering the population of the area that the City of Manchester covers is only 549,853, that’s almost one penalty charge notice for every person. Of those fines, only 660 were appealed, with just 478 being successfully overturned.
Close behind in second place is Brighton and Hove, which saw fines issued at a rate of 98,583 per 100,000 people – 893.62% higher than the national average of 9,922 per 100,000 people. Brighton and Hove saw a total of 286,280 PCNs issued throughout the timeframe, with only 878 being appealed and 631 being successful.
Third on the list is Reading, with a PCN issuance rate of 76,593 per 100,000 people. While this is lower than the top two contenders, it still surpasses the national average by a massive 671.98%. Reading Borough Council dealt with 132,636 fines during the analysed period relative to its population of 173,170 residents.
Fourth place goes to Cambridgeshire, where PCNs were issued at a rate of 67,935 per 100,000 people. The Cambridgeshire County Council issued a total of 98,311 penalty charge notices within the timeframe, which was 584.71% higher than the national average.
In fifth place is Nottingham with a PCN issuance rate of 58,723 per 100,000 people. Overall, Nottingham City Council hit motorists with 187,660 fines during the time period, and only 308 of these were successfully appealed.
Bristol secures the sixth position, with 56,047 PCNs issued per 100,000 people, or 264,045 in total.
Ranking in at seventh place is Cardiff, where the Cardiff County Council issued 46,231 PCNs per 100,000 people.
Slough takes the eighth spot, with a fine issuance rate of 44,376 per 100,000 people.
In ninth place is Portsmouth, experiencing a PCN issuance rate of 35,654 per 100,000 people.
Rounding out the list in tenth place is Derby, where Derby City Council issued PCNs at a rate of 34,335 per 100,000 people.
Across each area of the UK, the average number of PCNs issued over the period worked out to be 26,512 – or 9,922 per 100,000 people.
Carmarthenshire, Wales had the highest successful appeal rate of any UK area, with a successful appeal rate of 93.75%. Bath and North East Somerset follow with a successful appeal rate of 87.64%.
Hyndburn, Lancashire comes in as the UK area least likely to be hit with a PCN, seeing just 46 fines issued – working out to a rate of just 56 fines per 100,000 people.
An unlicensed taxi driver who picked up two vulnerable women in Aberdare has been ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in fines and costs.
Cleethorpes taxi drivers are breathing a sigh of relief after council enforcement officers cracked down on vehicles illegally parked in designated taxi ranks.
A Barry man has avoided jail after launching a drunken attack on a taxi driver who refused him entry to his vehicle.
Jersey’s taxi service is in crisis, with driver numbers plummeting by more than a quarter since 2014, a new report has revealed.
On Wednesday 27 July, more than 300 vulnerable youngsters were taken on an all-expenses paid trip to Southport.
Taxi drivers in the town will be able to charge passengers more following a decision by the borough council on 31 July.
A taxi driver has been sentenced to a community order after admitting causing the death of a pedestrian by driving at excessive speed.
A joint operation by council, police, and DVSA officials has seen three taxis taken off the road in Oldham due to safety concerns.
Taxi drivers licensed by Mid Sussex could soon be forced to accept card payments, following a surge in complaints about cash-only services.
Two men have avoided immediate jail time after a high-speed race left a taxi driver with serious injuries.
BYD, manufacturer of new energy vehicles and power batteries, has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Uber, designed to bring 100,000 new BYD EVs onto the Uber platform across key global markets.
Ways of increasing the amount of wheelchair-accessible taxis across the city are set to be explored to make it easier for those who need one to get one.
Cumbrian taxi drivers are fighting back against proposed licensing changes they fear will cripple their livelihoods.
Bolton taxi drivers are urged to sign up for free safeguarding and disability awareness training before the deadline on October 31st, 2024.
A Conwy Council meeting on Monday revealed a critical failing that allowed a taxi driver whose license had been revoked to continue transporting children to school.
Worcester City Council is seeking public opinion on a proposal to make safeguarding training mandatory for taxi and private hire drivers.
A proposal to increase driver, vehicle and private hire operator licences was discussed on Friday 19 July 19 at Sheffield City Council’s waste and street scene committee.
Through this collaboration, FREENOW willl provide additional benefits giving drivers up to 25% off pay-as-you-go rates across the entire bp pulse electric charging network and discounted fuel at all UK bp branded sites.
Wakefield Licensing, working alongside West Yorks Police Roads Policing unit, NPT, Off-Road Bike Team, Police Intercept Team, DVLA & DVSA, held a Partnership Day of Action at Thornes Park.