Editorial Comment:
The statement below is from the Mayor's office and it proves that Boris has always known where the troubles that affect the London Taxi trade lay.
He has done nothing about these issues before.
TfL are worried that militant action being planned will escalate and eventually the truth will start to drip feed into the main media. By their own rules, if you throw enough mud, eventually it will stick.
Yesterday's statement was no more than a scripted PR stunt to try to appease and put off demonstrators.
Prepare for more spin to come out over the next week or so, which will try to fragment the trade even more than has been managed in the past.
We are at present very close to full trade unity and Hendy's administration are bricking it.
It has recently been alleged TfL may have acted unlawfully and evidence is now surfacing to back up these claims.
The GLA enquiry has bought us forward to a point, but as the only power the GLA have is to make recommendations, we now need to take this further. TfL needs fully investigating at Parlimentary level by people who have power to bring top TfL brass to book.
Boris's Official Satement On GLA Website.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, yesterday pledged to push for new powers to enable him to cap the number of Private Hire Vehicles in the capital.
The Mayor has also confirmed he will be seeking powers over unsafe and unregulated pedicabs and rickshaws on the streets of London’s West End.
The Mayor, who has received clear advice from Transport for London, will be pressing for Primary Legislation from the Government to enable TfL to cap the number of Private Hire Vehicle drivers operating in the capital, which are rising by more than 1,000 each month.
Currently there are 78,690 minicab drivers in London and over the past year that number has risen by 12,268. At this rate, over the next two years, there will be an additional 26,526 minicab drivers – bringing the total number to more than 105,000.
The growth of private hire vehicle drivers in the last 18 months (from December 2013 to date) is approximately 18%. The Mayor is concerned that this unprecedented rise in numbers is causing increased congestion, particularly in central London, as well as more pollution and problems of illegal parking.
The Mayor is of the firm view that London must be able to cap the number of minicab drivers – however, currently Transport for London does not have the ability to do so. He will, therefore, be seeking legislation to give the capital that power.
In a separate move, the Mayor will press to obtain powers over the regulation of pedicabs. The Mayor believes these vehicles jam up roads in the West End and unnecessarily and consistently fail to ensure the safety of their passengers. Uniquely, London is not currently able to restrict or regulate pedicabs in any way, unlike the rest of the country.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “We must be able to take action against the threat posed by the massive increase we are seeing in the number of private hire vehicles. There are only 25,000 black cabs and 8,000 buses in London and yet there are already over 75,000 minicabs and rising. We’re starting to see a threat to free movement of traffic on the roads.
“What we are proposing therefore is legislation, which I will be looking to take forward in Parliament, to restrict the number of minicabs that can come on the streets.
“We will also be seeking powers for TfL over pedicabs – which so far have been completely immune from regulation. These vehicles jam up the roads and consistently fail to ensure the safety of their passengers.”
Increase in private hire driver numbers in recent years:
Examples of traffic/parking congestion spots include:
West End (Piccadilly, Mayfair, Leicester Square) during Thursday, Fridays and Saturday nights and residential streets around Heathrow.
Particular streets/locations include:
St Pancras International
Dover Street
Berkeley St/Dover St
Piccadilly/Shaftesbury Avenue/Swallow Street and Wardour Street
Portman Square and Grosvenor Place
Knightsbridge/Hyde Park Corner
Edgware Road/ Marylebone (includes both Praed Street (Paddington Station), Star Street, Bryanston Sq and Marylebone Road).
Charing Cross Road/ Leicester Square
Camden High Street
Greenwich around 02
Clapham High St
The Mayor is seeking to include the legislation in a London Bill in this year’s Queen’s speech.
TfL currently has a major private hire review ongoing and will start making changes later this year. This includes an English language requirement and better geographic knowledge requirements for minicab drivers.
Tfl is also increasing its enforcement against touting and other illegal activity, working with the Metropolitan Police Service to target known hotspots and better responding to real-time information to take swift action against touting, for example.
Ends.
