Every night the whole of the West End and City is awash with unlawfully parked, illegally plying for hire, LTPH licensed minicabs.
Bus lanes blocked, fire exits block, cars parked on pavements causing serious problems to emergency service vehicles.
Virtually, every night venue in central London has a line of illegally plying for hire minicabs outside.
After 4 years of constant complaints to LTPH from the trade about the lack of night time enforcement, past and present directorate's have ignored requests to clear the streets of these licensed touts.
Over the last four years, LTPH have used the same old sound bite: "We are waiting for an open and shut test case". Personally, I think the case has been loaded and the train has left the station.
Have we had a single TfLTPH Notice instructing PH drivers to cease and desist....NOT ONE.
The temporary General Manager of LTPH Helen Chapman, has now taken to insulting working taxis drivers, who are trying to give a service to one of the busiest air/rail terminals in London. Yet not one word from her on the more serious problems, caused by the illegally plying for hire by touts and sexual predators.
Serious sexual assaults including rape are currently at an all time high. The met police have recently estimated, 25 sexual attacks are carried out by minicab drivers every week.
NO ONE HAS BEEN RAPED BY LICENSED TAXI DRIVERS OVER RANKING AT PADDINGTON.
Because of ongoing works to the entrance of the taxi rank at Paddington, drivers are being held back by marshals who show little knowledge of how to keep the rolling rank moving at a sustainable rate of access and exit.
Instead of victimising working Taxi drivers LTPH should get on site and sort out acceptable temporary feeder rank facilities. More marshals should be used at intersections to stop any blockage of access.
If cost is a problem (until the station ranks is complete) they could use the marshals from Charing Cross Road and Old Street, who are a complete waste of money anyway. Surely this is common sense.
If drivers were to be dissuaded from using the station rank by enforcement, action taken by trade Orgs could cripple the HEX and the smooth transfer of passengers all the way back to Heathrow.
As for drivers queuing on Harrow Road waiting to join the rank at Paddington, as long as there is a vehicle in front of them and their engine is running (so much for the mayors cleaner air strategy) then they are just sitting in traffic and not parked, so no contravention of parking regulations is taking place.
I'm almost sure the LTDA have already been to the adjudicators to fight action from Westminster Council on this and won. Wasn't it splashed all over the front page of Taxi Mag.
In the notice signed by Ms Chapman, it is stated :
Drivers are reminded that they are expected to comply with the requirements of the Highway Code and their taxi licence at all times.
Could you tell us why this statement only applies to licensed Taxi drivers, while PH drivers are given a free hand to form illegal ranks wherever they like, without affecting or contravening the terms and conditions of their LTPH license
This again is an unacceptable example of LTPH harassment towards the Licensed Taxi trade, while turning a blind eye to Private Hire.