Martin Low, Westminster City Council Transport supremo is either very stupid or, as I suspect, a very intelligent and devious man who thinks we in taxi trade are very stupid. First he tells us that the Whitcomb Street minicab rank is not a rank but a pick-up and drop off point and gets the PCO to agree with him, mind you its not to difficult to get them to go against the cab trade. Now he plans to give pedicabs bays and some sort of legitimacy by signing them up to a code of conduct, again with the blessing of the PCO and tells us that it is for our benefit as it will keep the streets of Westminster clear for us. Well thank you Mr Low, we are very obliged to you, but with respect may I point out how very wrong you are and that we are not as stupid as you and the PCO believe we are.

PARK AND HIDE

After Martin Low was mauled on the radio over the Whitcomb Street minicab rank and had to admit that West1 cars were actually ranking up and hanging it up in the surrounding streets. So he came up with a cunning plan, ‘Park and Hide’. Low has hidden the cars in the Whitcomb Street multi-storey car park in the good old tradition of ‘Out of Sight Out Of Mind’. But, what Low forgets is even though the cars are ranked in a Westminster City car park it is open to the public, the minicabs are still illegal. The Law plainly states that if vehicles are available for hire on public or private property that is accessible to the public then that is illegal. The Leicester Square car park in Whitcomb Street is owned by Westminster City Council and open to the public and Mr Low is allowing West1 to rank their cars there free of charge at the Westminster ratepayer’s expense. So not only are the cars available for hire via the Ticket Booth but also very handy for those who park their cars and want a £20 minicab ride to Mama Mia.

As reported in this papers last issue, West One Cars who are a part of the City Sprint group set up a new company and website called West1, now why would they go to all that expense in this financial climate for a one off operation in Leicester Square? Could this be just the start of a string of minicab ranks planed throughout Westminster? I have a suspicion Martin Low and the PCO know all about it, if I am wrong and, and I hope I am, then, perhaps Mr Low and his co-conspirators at the PCO will prove it to the trade.  

LOW-DOWN PEDICABS

Martin Low now plans to reward the pedicab pests with nice bays to rest up in between touting excursions in return for them signing up to a voluntary code of conduct, once again in conjunction with the PCO. As yet we are not told where these pedicab bays will be sited but I can give them a great place; the fast lane of the M4. Does Martin Low really believe that the pedicab riders will sit quietly on their ranks waiting for work and give up openly touting on the streets of Westminster? This is just legalising pedicabs on the cheap and through the back door and once the operators and riders of these death traps think they have bogus legality they will become even more arrogant and prolific. None of us want confrontation but Martin Low seems intent on pushing the cab trade into a fight to save our lawful work. Low states that pedicabs have no vehicle registration numbers to use if or when the council want to take enforcement action by issuing Penalty Charge Notices when pedicab riders contravene parking and moving traffic controls. Well Mr Low neither did the Hot Dog and Burger peddlers who infested Westminster have vehicle registration numbers on their Burger stalls but you eradicated them by crushing the stalls and destroying the food, easy wasn’t it! 

WHERE THERE’S A WILL

When Livingstone was Mayor Almighty he gave himself more powers than God and behaved like one, but that’s another story, so I can’t believe that there’s not some sort of instrument in the Mayors executive powers to ban pedicabs, but there seems to be no will to do so. We have to ask why pedicab riders are openly aloud to tout in every sense of the word that is illegal. Pedicabs openly ply for trade on the street without a trading licence, surely that’s illegal. Pedicab riders form unlawful assembles outside theatres, surely that’s illegal, they must break every Health and Safety law so why is there no will to act? The LTDA proved that pedicabs are unsafe to be used by the public as the Road Transport Research Laboratory refused to allow their vehicle testers to get in the death traps let alone test them.

Why do the PCO think the only way tackle the pedicab problem is have them classified as Hackney Carriages, that is an insult to the taxi trade to have them classed the same as licensed London taxis. The PCO never classified minicabs as Hackney Carriages when they licensed them. If the Public Carriage Office/Transport for London/The Mayor really wants to license pedicabs then they should do it now without delay.

The pedicabs should be tested for public safety and plated with a license for a maximum of 2 passengers who should be compelled to ware head protectors. Pedicabs should be charged a similar test fee to Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, which will give SGS a few bob to make up for the defunct midyear test. The pedicab riders should have an enhanced CRB check and an assurance should be given that they are legally entitled to work in the UK as they often transport minors and lone women in their death traps. Their license fee should be similar to a PHV driver. The riders should be compelled to wear crash helmets and high visibility jackets with their license number displayed on an armband. It really is this simple. So, why is there no will to act? There must be a reason. A hidden agenda perhaps?

GOGO BOJO

Boris Johnson is a mayor who is true to his word; he pledged to get tough on touts, he gave us One Tout and Your Out. (Although the PCO got it wrong where to direct the Mayors policy and have been forced to make an apology to taxi drivers, you should have received your letter by now) He pledged to get rid of the unnecessary Mid-Year Inspection, which is now history. He pledged to beef up TOCU to fight on street touting, he has delivered on that. Boris cut out the excessive spending and time wasters of the Livingstone regime at City Hall, he also cleared out and gave back some respectability to The London Development Agency. Now he needs to turn his attention to the Public Carriage Office that seems to be operating in the same old Livingstone way of empire building. I have never known such a small agency with so many people with so many titles; every other person is a manager of something pointless. The Mayor urgently needs to investigate the way the PCO are dishing out Private Hire driver licenses without obtaining an enhanced CRB check. It is outrageous that a person can enter this country and be issued with a PH license without a full check on his character because he has not resided here for 3 years. TfL urge women to only use minicabs from a PCO licensed operator but these lone women are given false security and placed in danger as the licensed driver of that licensed minicab could be a convicted rapist in his homeland.  A perfect example of the danger posed by the PCO’s lack of security was highlighted by Ken Burns of the LCDC who reported in the Badge newspaper about a minicab tout who was arrested at Heathrow. The tout was a PCO licensed Private Hire driver who was also an illegal alien from Afghanistan who had no right to be in the UK let alone licensed to driver a minicab that had been given clearance to work airside and park next to aircraft. What if this guy had been a Taliban fanatic just waiting for a chance to wreak havoc, would the PCO have been held responsible?  Boris should insist that any person wishing to obtain a Private Hire license must be domicile in the UK for at least 5 years so a full CRB record can be produced, the public have a right be protected and the PCO have duty of care to the public.

A REMINDER

Mary Dowdye is Head of Standards & Regulations at the PCO; you may not know her as she keeps a low profile and doesn’t mix with the taxi trade that often. Mary recently issued a PCO notice warning us of a number of recent thefts from licensed taxis near to Marylebone Station at Harewood Avenue, Hayes Place, and Baker Street. Mary gives us some good advice such as:  Be vigilant and remove property and cash bags from the vehicle, items hidden under seats and badges in glove boxes have been taken, as well as property such as mobile phones left openly on display, and a reminder to remove the sat-nav: think to remove the cradle too. It shows a thief there may be a sat-nav inside the car

Notice the word car! Well that proves we are all the same to Mary Dowdye and most of the other managers at the PCO.  She should know better as she has a close relative who is a licensed taxi driver. Mind you she did look stunning in her ball gown at the Private Hire Dinner and Dance I hope she wears it at the Taxi Driver of the Year Dinner and Dance, nah that would mean mixing with taxi drivers wouldn’t it.

Be Lucky John-Paul Pace

I read recently that TfL have applied to the High Court for a declaratory judgement regarding pedicabs.  This is because they are of the opinion that an earlier judgment that stated that pedicabs are stagecoaches was wrongly decided.  TfL are hoping that the decision will fall in their favour and that pedicabs will be declared as hackney carriages.  On this issue I have to agree with TfL; pedicabs are in fact hackney carriages.  Having been to and sat through the hearing when the judgement was made, I have always been confident that the judgement was wrong. It is quite plain that the pedicab does come within the scope and definition of a hackney carriage. The first case to come before the High Court was Simon Lane v Cambridge City Council. This is the man who wanted to operate them in Cambridge but ran into a problem with the council.  The council stated that his riders would have to undertake a ‘knowledge’ as the pedicabs were hackney carriages.  Simon Lane did not agree and the case went to the High Court and finished in the Court of Appeal.

The case came before The Vice Chancellor Sir Richard Scott, the second highest judge in the land.  His judgement was that the pedicab came within the scope and definition of a hackney carriage.  So TfL are correct to ask for a declaratory judgement on the grounds that the decision in the case involving the LTDA were wrong.  However, if the court does decide in favour of TfL what does that mean for the cab trade?   It opens up a can of worms as TfL want to licence the pedicab as a hackney carriage. 

We have to go to back to Cambridge, which stated that if pedicabs were to act as hackney carriages the riders would have to do the knowledge.  Will TfL then insist upon the same – for if they do not then why should cab drivers have to?   Further all licensed hackney carriages in London must conform to the Metropolitan Conditions of Fitness.  If TfL decides to allow them to operate as hackney carriages they will have to review the Conditions of Fitness.  The problem faced by TfL is how would they be able to have two different forms of hackney carriages operating under different rules?  If this were to be the case, then it would be most unfair on those drivers who have the purpose built cab.  Why should we have to pay £35K to ply for hire when pedicabs only cost about £4K?  Would the present licensed taxi trade be able to use an ordinary saloon car, which would cost a lot less to purchase?   Obviously this would cause a problem, as they would clash with the PHV vehicles.  We would then have the prospect of the Private Hire Trade then starting to demand the right to ply for hire if pedicabs are allowed to do so.

I have to agree with the LTDA who have campaigned against this form of transport for some time.  The only way that TfL can deal with this problem is to ban them from the streets of London, and save themselves a big headache.

PHV AND WHITCOMB ST

I have been informed that since the demo on the 5th February that the cars are no longer allowed to stand in Whitcomb St.  They now have to wait in the car park at the end of the street.  It seems to me that TfL have been looking at the case of Cogley v Sherwood 1958, at Heathrow Airport.   In this case it was decided that there was no plying for hire, as the cars were not on view to the public.   The most important issue with this case was that the public did not have access to where the cars were parked.  However, the car park in Whitcomb Street is different, as the public do have access, therefore the cars are plying for hire.  So where do the cars go from here?  I am convinced that TfL by allowing this situation is a preconceived plan to spread this around London.  As you know it has been going on in Kingston for the last four years.  A TfL official in the last Mayor’s administration told me that TfL were looking at allowing PHVs to ply for hire after 8pm. So it seems to me that he was right.  I have to ask what are the trade organisations going to do about it?

It’s all very well to have a demo but the situation will not change until a legal challenge is made.  The trade will only stop this nonsense when the trade take the initiative and invest some money in a court action, which I’m sure, will be successful.

By Alan Fleming