No doubt many of you will have seen the damaging banner headlines in the Evening Standard of Friday 11th November following the LTDA’s demand for Rate 3 for the duration of the Olympics and other payments. No one can doubt this is a massive ‘own goal’ and as one of our members said: ‘did this come from A****** *** (A well known PH outfit) marketingdepartment?’
Well, it might as well have!

The RMT London Taxi Branch position is as follows:

We have NO proposals to ask for enhanced rates during the Olympics.

Our view is that this hopefully busy event will mean plenty of work, full occupancy and less dead mileage so our takings will increase as a result.
We do have other Tariff & Olympic Concerns such as:•

• Full Access to the Olympic Road Network (ORN)

• Adequate Rank provision

• The proposed £5.00 Rank Levy in addition to our licence fee.

• The Index used to calculate the tariff (RPI/CPI)

All of this is under active discussion at Branch member and Committee level.

If you are not a member of the RMT Taxi Branch, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Has my trade organisation consulted with me on this or anything else?
2.  Do they hold monthly meetings where you as a member make the policy democratically?
3. Are they part of a campaigning union with world leading legal protection plus many other benefits?
4. Did they support the recent successful demonstration against the failure of TfL to protect you and the travelling public?

Don’t listen to rumours from others, if you need any further information or to find out more about becoming a member, contact us now on:
078997 786433 or email   londontaxi@rmt.org.uk

London cabbies have done it again.

This is the second time the ( UCG)  United Cabbies group have arranged taxi’s for transporting War veterans to the cenotaph in Whitehall.

There were so many cabs that they had to have a double queue, it stretched from the centre of Westminster bridge all the way back to Lambeth Palace Road, Past St Thoma’s Hospital.

Once again, I take my hat off to the organizers and marshals and of course the drivers who helped out.

Helping a disabled lady to a waiting taxi.

Above, Marshall Lee, directing people and cabs.

Standing proud and waiting in line for a taxi.These are just a few of many Hundreds that were taken to and from the Cenotaph.

Above a warm welcome from UCG Marshall Mark, holding cab door open.

Sitting comptable and waiting to depart at the Union Jack Club in Waterloo.

Getting a farewell hug from his daughter and then standing proud next to his waiting cab, while  we take his photo.

Marshall Mark helps put a wheelchair in cab.

They are two ex Air Force, Jenny and Angela and one ex Army, David

All members of  WRVS  (Womens Royal Voluntary Service)

All Marching in the Cenotaph parade – Civilian contingent veterans.

I took these four people to Paddington Station and I was proud to be part of the taxi fleet on the day.

The day the UCG and the RMT Union brought London to a standstill, in a united trade demo.

This was a day to remember,the mall facing Buck House

This is what happens when cab drivers are ignored and shown total contempt by those in authority.

Bob Crow being interviewed by the RMT film crew

Whitehall facing Parliment

I for one believe this was a big success for the cab trade.

Above picture courtesy of Kevin portch

The independent press were there  interviewing members of the UCG & the RMT Union

Knowledge Boys and Girls joined in the demo.

Check out what others had to say. London Loves Business

Book your next taxi ride via Halio.

Fact: London has somewhere close to 23,000 black cabs. Question: Why is there never an empty one around when you need it? Enter Hailo, a brand new free app for iPhone and Android, built to link needy travellers with lonely cabbies (of which, we’re told, there are loads). Released earlier this week, Hailo uses your smart phone’s GPS technology to show you the location of the nearest empty taxi. With the click of a button, you can summon it and even keep track of how much longer it will take to reach you. Paying is equally as simple; using a secure credit card service, you’ll only ever pay the meter charge – there are no hidden extras – plus a tip, if you’re feeling generous.

Ironically, it’s all run from the HMS President, moored on Embankment, where the operation currently provides a linkup to around 10% of London’s black cabs (founder Jay Bregman says they’ve signed up 2,000 cabbies so far, making Hailo the biggest system of its kind in the world). The drivers get a great deal, too – the service they receive on their smart phones includes a sharing function and a logging system, so that they can alert crowd hotspots to other cabbies and start to streamline their day more efficiently. It also provides them with a map function, though Jay points out that this only helps them with exact address points – there’s no way an app could out do a London cabbie when it comes to The Knowledge.

For info, see hailocab.com. Want to share your techie tips with other Londoners? Tweet our tech blogger at @Jonniewilks.

I’ve been using Halio for a couple of weeks now and find them very easy to use, it’s early days, so even tho they have plenty of drivers, I still struggle to do work but give them time and I’m sure things will change.

Apps

Mitch Winehouse goes back to work for the first time since his daughter’s death.

It’s been three months since his daughter’s death at the age of just 27.

But today Amy Winehouse’s father Mitch bravely swallowed his grief and went back to work.

The 60-year-old looked pained as he drove his black cab in central London, but still managed a smile for his passengers.

Earlier this month the crooner announced plans to pen a memoir of Amy, who battled with addictions to drink and drugs.

The proceeds of the publication will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the charity Mitch set up in the Rehab singer’s name.

His decision to write the book so soon after Amy’s death has drawn criticism however.

The taxi driver took to his Twitter account to assure her fans that all proceeds will go to the charity to help ‘ooo’s of kids’.

He also wrote: ‘I also need to write the book as a part of my recovery. For those people that don’t like it. Tough!’.

The Amy Winehouse foundation was officially launched last month on what would have been the singer’s 28th birthday.

Amy was found dead in her North London home on July 23.

I personally don’t know Mitch but I wish him the best of luck and good luck with his charity work and book.

Boris Johnson promised a ‘Hydrogen Highway’ for London in time for the 2012 Olympics, and we hear the first 15 hydrogen fuel cell London Black Cabs have hit the roads.

Over two years ago London Mayor, Boris Johnson, promised we would have a ‘Hydrogen Highway’ in London in time for the 2012 Olympics, with a small fleet of 150 cars, 20 black cabs and 5 buses all running on Hydrogen.

He also said that London would have half a dozen hydrogen refuelling stations and, in typically ‘Boris’ style, proclaimed that Britain would become a ‘World Leader in Fuel Cell Technology’ and that one in three cars would be powered by hydrogen by 2012.

And although we took Boris’s proclamations with a pinch of salt, we were pleased to see a senior politician seeing the future as something other than plug-in BEVs.

But apart from news last Summer when London Taxis International (LTI) showed off an experimental hydrogen powered Black Cab for London, we’ve had no more news, apart from a handful of hydrogen powered buses.

So just two weeks ago we dropped Boris an email asking what was going on. We asked where the hydrogen powered Black Cabs and fleet of hydrogen powered cars had gone to. And what had happened to the six hydrogen refuelling stations. But Boris was obviously too busy to answer.

However, it seems that there is some progress on the hydrogen powered vehicle front, with news that the HyTEC project has funded a small fleet of 15 hydrogen fuel cell black cabs for London, as well as a handful of hydrogen powered Suzuki motor scooters.

It seems the project is also partly funded by the Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking and apparently there is to be an Air Products hydrogen filling station built in London, which is good news.

What we don’t know is whether this refuelling station is going to be a public facility or whether it is a private one just for the cabs and the few hydrogen powered buses running on the RV1 route. Interestingly, the information we’ve had also says there are currently two hydrogen filling stations in London, but as far as we know they are closed to the public too.

Surely, if you’re going to do something as innovative as creating hydrogen filling stations in London, you’d open them to the public too to get a real interest in hydrogen fuel cell cars buzzing?

Still, it’s progress.

Source Carsuk

money in hand, he was just about to leave my cab, when I asked if I could take his picture. What a nice guy.

Getting ready to leave, Grapham Norton.

He grew up as Graham Walker in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland.

First came to be noticed in the UK with his role as a Priest in the TV comedy series, “Father Ted” (1995).

Auditioned for the part of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Now in the back of my cab, I picked him up in Shaftesbury avenue and took him home, One of my more pleasant and sober customers.

P.S, Thanks for the tip Grapham.

The management of the bbc have decided to slash budgets under the banner of ‘Delivering Quality First’ due to the coalition freezing the licence fee for the term of this parliament which is in effect a cut in real terms due to inflation.

The saddest proposed cuts are the ones that will decimate bbc Local radio services across the UK but especially here in London. The editor of bbc radio London 94.9 fm is a chap called David Robey & although I don’t know him personally I’ve always been amazed at the content he’s managed to fit in to London’s 24/7 licence fee funded radio station. The station hosts shows of general interest but also ensures minority communities get their say & the station has always allowed myself & colleagues from the London taxi trade to air our views, opinions & I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of grievances with TFL & the Mayor of London.

If these proposals go ahead the station will lose the overnight show presently hosted by Nikki Beddi who took over after the death of ‘BiG George Webley’ (Have I Got News For You theme tune composer). Nikki has brought a new perspective to overnight radio with intelligence, laughter & another culture (Indian), she’s filled the void left by my friend George remarkably well.

George was a friend but also a mentor to me & at his vigil I told those present that the bbc would have a battle on its hands if they sought to destroy local radio. Well the bbc they have decided to threaten shows/slots like Robert Elms, Danny Baker, nearly all the sports coverage & the late show which Joanne Good presents. Tune in & you’ll hear new bands/young energetic talent & the UK’s only radio show dedicated to dog’s on Thursday evenings.

I’m saddened that the management of the corporation can’t hear the voices of people who rely on radio, people who are elderly, infirm & those of us who are working late at night in taxi-cabs, hospitals, emergency services or simply stacking shelves.

So next Friday at 6pm on the 28th of October 2011 some of us will return to Portland Place outside Broadcasting House & demonstrate our disgust at a budget cut of 25% they will destroy bbc Radio London 94.9 fm.

If you can attend please do & bring a torch & wrap up warm. We have a blog www.savebbclondon949.blogspot.com or join the facebook community Save BBC Radio London & tweet @savelocalradio you can help by contacting the bbc trust and asking them to reverse this sad decision at www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust you have a few more weeks to get involved in the consultation.

The bbc has an annual revenue stream of nearly £5 billions are the management so celebrity obsessed that they can’t protect the crown that holds the Jewels which is bbc radio broadcasting.

John Kennedy.

The United Cabbies Group are organising a

MASS TRADE DRIVE-IN DEMONSTRATION

As voted for by our members, to be held on…

4PM – WEDS 9TH NOVEMBER at TRAFALAGAR SQUARE.

Everyone is invited to attend no matter what representative group you belong to.

This is in protest at the illegal practices of Private Hire which continue unabated EVERY day & night of the week in London.

As we suspected, The Public Carriage Office’s (LTPH) Private Hire Consultation is nothing more than a smokescreen to stall us whilst they continue with their STaN Agenda.

Though some might have fallen for it, the UCG most definitely have NOT.

We intend to gridlock this city and expose Transport for London and The Public Carriage Office’s condoning of Private Hire’s LAWBREAKING to the world’s media.

ENFORCE THE LAW!

We ask each and every one of you to support this action.

Suburban drivers have had their areas devastated by over licensing, the removal of Licensed Taxi Ranks and the implementation of Private hire ranks as licensed by TfL.
Protect the future of your sector,
come along and demonstrate.

Are you on the knowledge?
All  “Knowledge of London” Students are welcome to attend.
This is your future – Be There at the Square.

Its Time to stand up and be counted.

See what London loves business says about the protest.

London taxi drivers are planning demonstrations they say will “bring London to a standstill” in an ongoing row over Olympic traffic.

Cabbies are angry that the Games Lanes, which will be for the exclusive use of Olympic officials, athletes, sponsors and media, will be closed to public transport during the Games.

Jonathan Myers, of the United Cabbies Group told Sky News: “I think they’ve got to allow taxis into these lanes.

“If you think about when the Tube goes down, suddenly taxis become really, really important. That’s going to be a daily occurrence for 100 days.

“The Tube is going to be closed. It’ll be too crowded, it won’t cope.

“I’m not just talking about getting (people) to the Olympic Games. I’m talking about getting people around London.”

The Olympic Route Network is 109 miles of dual and triple carriageway. A third of one of the lanes will be set aside for the exclusive use of the so-called Olympics family.

United Cabbies Group has already staged a number of flash demonstrations, and is planning to escalate its action in the run-up to the Games.

“We don’t plan to bring London to a standstill,” said Myers, “but we think that the anger out here is that so many people are going to protest, that it is going to bring London to a standstill.”

Transport has consistently been the biggest headache for the organisers of the 2012 Games and a major cause for concern in the International Olympic Committee.

Last week, the London Mayor Boris Johnson told Olympic inspectors: “Our venues are ready, our park is ready, our transport system is being transformed.”

However, Denis Oswald, chairman of the IOC’s Co-ordination Commission, said that transport was an issue it will “have to follow very closely until the end”.