
Rachel Dale from Swanlands Consultancy shares her thoughts:
So yesterday I got an invitiation to sign up to Waymo and learn more about their entry into London.
SO WHAT DID I FIND OUT?
• Waymo is owned by Google - their infrastructure division - Alphabet
• They are trialling in London and Oxford and advertising it
• They have contracted 20,000 Jaguar i-Pace for this
• Infrastructure is managed by MOOVE, owned by Uber
• Accidents from driverless cars they claim are 92% lower
• Social Value; they train thousands of people in a community to be first responders ensuring there are people on hand if an accident or incident occurs
• The DFT and TFL are working to support them
• Convinced the 20mph on roads is to accommodate them
ITS not IF but WHEN… ITS not on the horizon, ITS HERE
WHAT CAN DRIVERS AND OPERATORS DO?
• Connect with your community
• Review your service levels and up your game, make every booking and journey experience a pleasure
• Reward loyalty
• Collaborate
• Door to door not kerb to kerb
• Offer additional services ie escorted assistance for health appointments etc
• Night Owl Service
• Be the 4th emergency service
• Give back to your community, add social value
• Get a grip and face it head on

GMB union representatives Kevin Thomas and Fazlul Haque recently led a deputation to Hove Town Hall, warning that the number of locally licensed drivers has plummeted by 40% since the pandemic.

In a move that aligns him with Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, Bristow is lobbying the Government to strip city/borough councils of licensing powers and hand them to regional Mayoral Authorities.

A new report to the Executive Board on January 8 recommends all local taxis must continue to use the council’s own Motor Vehicle Service Station for their MOTs, rather than private garages.

Just days after a citywide power outage left its fleet paralysed, the company was forced to suspend all Bay Area operations as a severe storm approached.

Licensing officers inspected 55 drivers and vehicles during the operation last month alongside South Yorks Police and enforcement from Sheffield, Leeds, Kirklees and Wolverhampton councils.

Cabbie Alex Verdin, 29, turned drug courier to pay off a cocaine debt has been jailed after leading police on a dangerous late-night chase and dumping packages of drugs in residential gardens.

A Scunthorpe cabbie who was caught speeding and watching videos while driving with a passenger has lost his appeal against the revocation of his licence.

An Uber driver who crashed his car while carrying passengers was more than double the legal drink-drive limit, a court has heard.

Road Policing Officers from Elgin worked alongside Moray Council Licensing and the DVSA to carry out joint taxi and private hire vehicle checks across Moray, before Christmas.

Rob Finlayson operations manager City Cars Glasgow shares his thoughts.

Blaby District Council licensing officers teamed up with Wolverhampton colleagues, Leicestershire Police and the DVSA to carry out the surprise inspections. 

Taxi drivers currently pay £2.00 when using the taxi rank at the airport but this cannot be added to the metered fare and passengers are not charged extra.

Hello drivers, in the early hours of Sunday morning I found this PHV illegally plying for hire. 

Local taxi and private hire drivers have secured a major victory as Hyndburn Council announced it will finally outsource vehicle safety inspections to private garages.

The ADCU has condemned Uber’s decision to force private hire drivers to accept deeply unfair new Terms and Conditions by 5 January or lose access to the platform.

The draft policy reflects government guidance and aims to ensure standards remain high and passengers in Walsall can travel with confidence.

Gavin Jeavons, 33, appeared before Chester Magistrates Court on December 23, where he pleaded guilty to making off without payment and using threatening or abusive words. 

A joint enforcement operation between Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire Constabulary has resulted in a wave of penalties and suspensions for local taxi and private hire drivers.

Jake Neaves and Jenson Seal, both 19, were passengers in a white Tesla, where travelling from Oxted train station when the vehicle crashed on Holland Road in Hurst Green.

A veteran minibus driver with 22 years’ service, working for Mi Taxis, was attacked in the early hours of this morning.
