A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

CEASE FIRE!

On Tuesday, the Director of Service Operations TfL, Peter Blake handed me the 'Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan 2016', saying "It's all in here. All your demands are being met."

I thought, 'Yeah, right.'

But to be honest, they all are ... almost.

Mayor Khan and Transport for London have put an excellent package together.

The Mayor and Transport for London promise:

• Stringent Hire and reward insurance measures for Private Hire..
• Agreed fare in advance of journey for all Private Hire customers.
• Phone contact for passengers, with all Private Hire customer services.
• More Compliance Officers.
• Private Hire to pay their way, on compliance costs.
• A minimum 3 year UK DBS.
• An intention to revue Fleet Insurance for Private Hire companies.
• A revue on ride-sharing, with the Department for Transport.
• Basic topographical tests for Private Hire applicants.
• Rudimentary driving tests for Private Hire applicants.
• Transparency for cab related criminal offences.
• Transparency for cab related KSI.
• A revue of in-venue Private Hire operators.
• Opening up more Bus Lanes for Taxis.
• Card payment options.
• An increase in Taxi ranks.
• Establishing The Knowledge as a formal qualification.
• Regulating pedicabs and rickshaws.
• Improving engagement between TfL and all Taxi organisations.
• Lobbying for control over cross-border hiring - quite a biggy.
• And the big one, lobbying for a statutory definition of Plying for Hire - the RMT Taxi branch will be pleased.

So is the fight over?

"It's never over, till it's over."

We still need to get the Department for Transport  and Theresa May to set a cap for Private Hire vehicle licenses.

London is a massive choking car park:

600 Private Hire licenses issued every week;
Huge fleets of empty buses;

Massive cycle superhighways;

Works on every road, exacerbated by the lack of cohesion between local councils and TfL;

Most of London's roads frustratingly closed on weekends.

The previous administrations of TfL and the DfT, and Cameron's government are the guilty parties to this madness - which is still ongoing.

Rapes are still happening at an alarming rate in London.

The Government's attitude towards DBS checks must be highlighted.

At least our Mayor agrees with us.

Virtual ply-for-hire will be tested once the Mayor gets the Government revue.

Great news, but hey, let us not forget who sanctioned it.

Although we have been promised more Compliance Officers, they still need to do their job properly.

If they continue to swan around doing nothing, we will have no choice but to close Mayfair and the City.

A Public Enquiry into Transport for London's unhealthy relationship with a huge, well known American IT company, is essential.

Cameron and Osborne, Goldman Sachs, Johnson and Dedring, Mason and Hendy, Daniels and Emmerson, Jo Bertram and Rachel Whetstone, are all suspects.

So it looks as though we have no argument with Mayor Khan, or the present TfL administration.

But our fight continues on a governmental level.

I know we have come off of a decent week, with the help of Eid, but let's not bury our heads in our lolly-bags.
We have won nothing yet.

I would like to thank Mayor Sadiq Khan and Deputy Mayor Valerie Shawcross for their initiative.