Last night was another night of misery for licensed Taxi drivers trying to use the new rank on Clapham High Street. The new rank is of the shared loading bay type and runs from 132-162, basically, McDonald's to just short of Stonehouse Street.
Minicab drivers are refusing to move when challenged saying "there is no taxi rank it is our waiting and collection point".
So far their has been no visit to the site by TfL and even after Taxi drivers made repeated calls to the police on the non emergency number 101, no one has been sent round to assist.
The signage is pretty poor. Consisting of an extention to the board on a post which reads:
Red Rout: No Stoping at any time: Except 10am-7pm Loading 20 mins: Disabled Max 3hours: 7pm-7am Taxis Only.
This is the same type of signage we saw go up on the bus stand at the junction of Coventry Street and Wardour Street. At first the minicabs were reluctant to move on as this was a popular touting area. But the local the constabulary have been very helpful and now the rank is fully utilised at night by a steady stream of Taxis and the touts have gone.
Clapham needs enforcement and the company refusing to move (Greyhound Cars) should be contacted by TfL.
If they don't comply, then their licence variation (satellite office licence) should be revoked.
Where's the enforcement:
Where are the compliance officers that were in such great supply in the months leading up to the rank going live?
Representatives from TfL visited shopkeepers on Whitechapel Road without warning on Wednesday, to tell them to remove A-frames from pavements within the next seven days as part of a trial. This should be of great comfort to the passengers of illegal touts who have suffered sexually motivated attacks.
Dana Skelley, Director of Asset Management at TfL, said: “Removing unnecessary clutter from the capital’s roads and footways helps create a safe and accessible street environment and contributes to improving the public realm for London’s visitors, residents and workers.
“To support this objective, we have recently begun a trial of more robust enforcement against unauthorised advertising (‘A’) boards on Whitechapel Road. This approach is supported by many important stakeholders and especially benefits our more vulnerable road users.”
So there you have it. TfL see A boards as a menace to public safety, but continue to turn a blind eye to the touts and sexual predators that infest the night streets on the capital.
