Taxi Driver Online

Uber, taxi ranks, licences and out-of-town competition - why more than 100 taxi drivers protested again in Bristol

They have a range of issues, but say the council aren't listening

More than 100 angry taxi drivers gathered outside the council’s main city centre office on Monday to air a range of grievances.

And while the protest outside 100 Temple Street didn’t cause any disruption to traffic, they warned there may be more blockades of the kind, which brought the city to a standstill a couple of weeks ago, if council chiefs don’t listen to them.

The drivers’ campaign began in protest at plans to cut the number of taxi rank spaces at Temple Meads station, but has now expanded to a growing list of issues they say is forcing them out of business.

The drivers are complaining at a late night invasion of ‘out of town’ drivers licensed by local authorities as far away as Cardiff, Taunton and Birmingham as well as more local rivals from North Somerset or South Gloucestershire, who come and compete for fares at busy times.

Other drivers complained the number of taxi ranks in the city centre has been cut, and council officials are not enforcing either the rules which prohibit people from parking in taxi ranks, or the rules about out of town rivals.

The taxi drivers are also complaining about new regulations coming into force next April which stipulate cars must have low emissions – but they claim there are no low-emission alternatives which are fully disabled-accessible.

Drivers are also being driven out of business by the competition from Uber – the app which helps people summon drivers to give lifts using their own cars.

“They don’t have the insurance to do that, there’s no enforcement on what kind of cars they have, while we have to get our cabs MoTd at the official council MoT garage, they can become Uber drivers easily,” said Hanif Aslam.

“Taxi drivers are coming in from all over the region, all over the country. There was one from Manchester picking people up. When we go to the council and say we want to talk about this, we want enforcement on this, they don’t listen and they don’t act,” he added.

The drivers’ campaign began in protest at plans to cut the number of taxi rank spaces at Temple Meads station

“At the taxi ranks outside SWX, in that area,” added Shahbaz Rehman. “There’s always people just parked in there, ordinary cars, not taxis.

When we ask the police to enforce it they say it’s the council’s responsibility, the council say it’s a police matter. We have to park on double yellows, and we get tickets,” he said.

“This is our livelihoods at stake here. There’s not enough taxi ranks and it’s getting ridiculous,” he added.

Other drivers said the issues of unlicensed taxis, Uber and drivers from out of town was one of public safety – taxi drivers have to go through stringent safety checks to get a Bristol licence, but other drivers that are now breaching rules to compete with them don’t.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said some of the issues, like Temple Meads and the competition from Uber were out of the council’s hands.

“We value the work carried out by Bristol taxi drivers and recognise the challenges the trade faces,” he said. “We are disappointed that a small minority have again held a protest which was not sanctioned by their trade body.

“The frustration being expressed is not only about our policies or things which the council can control, but issues which protesters are misguidedly laying at our door.

“We recognise that taxi drivers are small businesses and our licensing policies can impact upon them. We regularly consult the trade and have made many changes and concessions to help drivers.

"However we have a duty to make sure that our licensing framework is fair and delivers a local service which is open, accessible, competitive and meets the needs of residents and visitors,” he said.

“We have maintained regular contact with Stand Against Racism and Inequality and the Taxi Forum to encourage taxi drivers to speak with their representatives to address any issues that concern them. The only way we will engage is through these established forums, so this would be far more effective than unsanctioned protests which achieve nothing,” he added.

source: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/brist ... -out-49282

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

looks like they got a result

Council chiefs vow 'Birmingham-style' crackdown on out-of-town taxi drivers following protest

A crackdown on ‘out of town’ taxi drivers and unlicensed operators has been promised by a Bristol city council chief, just a day after around 100 drivers protested outside the council offices.

Deputy mayor Asher Craig, who is ultimately in charge of taxi driver licences, endorsed a crackdown by colleagues in Birmingham, and said a similar move would be followed in Bristol.

In Birmingham, council chiefs and the police have joined forces to create a new role of a specific police officer whose job is to enforce the rules and regulations involving taxi cabs and private hire vehicles.

The officer is regularly out on patrol on the streets of England’s second city, and tweets pictures of vehicles he has stopped and checked.

One of his most common ‘catches’ are taxis licensed from out of the city who come into the middle of Birmingham and ‘ply’ for trade - by waiting in taxi ranks or drive around the city centre waiting to be hailed.

That offence is one of the biggest complaints made by taxi drivers in Bristol, who have recently mounted a series of protests against the council in recent weeks.

A couple of weeks ago they brought the city centre of Bristol to a standstill by filling the roads around Temple Meads in protest at a cut to the number of taxi ranks at the station.

And on Monday, the drivers gathered at the council’s main office at 100 Temple Street, to air a long list of grievances.

Along with a demand for council chiefs to listen to their concerns more clearly, the issue of business being lost to ‘out-of-town’ taxi drivers, and that not being enforced by Bristol City Council, was high on the taxi drivers’ list.

We are going to be pursuing unlicensed taxi drivers following in footsteps of Bham. Out of town drivers is the next nut which needs cracking
In response, Cllr Craig retweeted one of the tweets from Birmingham’s designated taxi enforcement officer, and said such an initiative would soon be coming to Bristol.

“We are going to pursuing unlicensed taxi drivers following in footsteps of B(irming)ham,” said Cllr Craig.

“Out of town drivers is the next nut which needs cracking.”

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “The issue of out of area taxi drivers is one that has been raised through the Taxi Forum. We have taken this seriously and acted to enforce the rules. So far, 29 drivers have been prosecuted and we continue to work with other licensing authorities to deter out of town drivers. Working with trade representatives via the Taxi Forum and Avon and Somerset Police we have secured funding for a dedicated police officer to begin work this week. Their role will be to ensure that a fair and competitive service is maintained by enforcing the rules and regulations.”

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

What is the matter with Council licensing Enforcement Officers doing their job which after all we pay the fees for them to be employed to do exactly what it says in the rule book,ENFORCE THE LAW or do they along with most elected Councillors not have the bottle to go out and do it,these lot are getting money by false pretences.

They didn't get a result, the council had already acted - and still the drivers protested.

The council aren't the people responsible for Temple Meads station, the rail company is.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

A crackdown on ‘out of town’ taxi drivers and unlicensed operators has been promised by a Bristol city council chief, just a day after around 100 drivers protested outside the council offices.

announced the day after this protest

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Correct edders and well done the drivers So the councilors listend and acted immediately well done the Cllrs

Remember "if you have a fight you might lose but if you do not have the fight you have already lost"

Bristol a Labour Council who listend

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

That was the press release.

I suspect the drivers were told beforehand.

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IDFIMH