Unroadworthy taxis found in York

Poorly-maintained taxis have been taken off the road as part of a joint safety operation.

Fourteen out of 16 taxi and private hire vehicles that were inspected were issued with legal notices. The drivers also had their taxi licence suspended.

Faults included tyres that were so worn the inner cords were exposed, fuel leaks and doors that wouldn’t open.

The defects were so unsafe that immediate prohibition notices were issued on seven of the 16 vehicles, meaning they must not be driven.

Issues with brakes, wheel nuts, exhausts suspension components were also found on a further seven vehicle during the vehicle inspections in York at the weekend. They were issued with delayed prohibition notices, meaning the faults must be fixed and the vehicle re-inspected.

The vehicles were from various local authority areas, including York and West Yorkshire.

They were stopped by police on roads in York and taken to a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) inspection site.

It was part of a joint road safety operation involving North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, the DVSA and licensing enforcement officers from City of York Council and local authorities in West Yorkshire.

Similar operations are planned in the near future.

Traffic Constable Mark Patterson, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said: “It’s shocking that seven of the 16 vehicles we checked were so poorly maintained, we had to use immediate prohibition powers to ensure they didn’t go back onto the road.

“Proper vehicle maintenance is always important, especially for professional drivers who the public trust to transport them safely. There is simply no excuse for neglecting this.

“By working with the DVSA and local authorities, we can ensure anyone who doesn’t maintain their vehicle to the correct standard is detected and dealt with robustly.”

Electric only taxis move by York Council

TX-electric-taxi — More electric taxis may be coming to York

A Council report suggests that most taxis and hire cars in York will become battery powered over the next couple of years. The major change would see new taxi plate applicants advised to secure a electric vehicle although hybrid options would be acceptable.

The report also suggests that the existing number of taxi plates (183) should be retained for the City and that there would be no change to taxi ranks. 24% of vehicles are regarded as wheelchair accessible. There is no restriction on the number of private hire vehicles in the City.

There are 151 people on the waiting list for taxi plates in the City.

The plan to move to low emission vehicles is seen as a way of reducing emissions around the City. The report acknowledges that such vehicle are more expensive to purchase.

A concession is suggested for large wheelchair accessible vehicles.

The average age of the taxi/private hire fleet is currently 7 years. The Council is now proposing that 7 years should be the maximum permitted age of a taxi or hire car.

The report says, “there are many cars in the fleet that do not meet the latest Euro standards and there is still a large number of vehicles operating in the city which are Euro 5, Euro 4 and even some Euro 3 vehicles – including hackneys. It is well documented that Euro 5 diesels are a problem in respect of their emissions of harmful particulate matter”.

The report goes on to say new hackney carriage vehicles licences will only be issued to the following type of vehicles:

· Fully electric wheelchair accessible vehicles
· Plug in electric petrol hybrid wheelchair accessible vehicles (These vehicles are purpose-built taxis and have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 112km (70miles) without any emissions)

From 1st January 2021 new private hire licences will only be issued to the following type of vehicles:

· Fully electric vehicle
· Plug in electric petrol hybrid vehicle
· Petrol hybrid vehicle – Euro 6 class or better (less than 7 years old)
· Wheelchair accessible vehicles – Euro 6 diesel/petrol or better (less than 7 years old)

The Council is offering financial support to eligible CYC licensed hackney carriage and private hire drivers/vehicle licence proprietors to upgrade their vehicles to low emission variants.

There may be a concern that the proposals are ill timed.

Taxis – along with other types of public transport – have suffered reduced use because of the pandemic and lockdown.

Air quality levels are currently good in all parts of the City.

While passengers will welcome the move towards improved standards, some will argue that the current health situation suggests implementation of the new rules be delayed. New compliant vehicles can cost around £50,000. That is a big outlay against the background of a declining market.

Many will also argue that hire cars, registered outside York but operating in the City, should be subject to the same rules.

Taxis may have crucial role in current health crisis

A Council meeting which was to have taken place next week (now cancelled) would have considered the high costs of home to school transport. The council has a budget for this service of #2.78 million although the meeting would have heard that this is overspent by #525,000.

Free transport is provided for pupils who are attending their catchment school, and who live more than 2 miles (primary pupils) or 3 miles (secondary pupils) from home. Most of these pupils use dedicated bus services. Those in receipt of free school meals may also benefit from the use of a bus pass.

Special Educational Needs (SEN) children also get free transport. This includes those with an Education Health Care Plan. Many of these journeys are provided by taxis companies.

Although it remains unclear how many pupils will be continuing to attend their local school (the children of key workers certainly will), it is likely that some free taxi capacity will be available over the coming weeks.

Hopefully this capacity might be used to ease the burden of those restricted to their own homes as a result of the current corona virus threat.

The delivery of proscriptions and shopping are important services which might usefully be provided by taxi

NB. On a similar level, local supermarkets are now advertising for temporary staff to supplement their shelf stacking and home delivery teams. Possibly good news for some self employed workers who might need a short term job?

Crackdown on unsafe taxis in York

A series of checks on taxis and private hire vehicles in York has been carried out in a multi-agency operation to ensure the vehicles are providing a safe service to passengers.

Officers from partners including City of York Council, Leeds City Council, North Yorkshire Police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) supported the operations.

The operation ran throughout the evening and into the morning of Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March. A total of 21 private hire vehicles and hackney carriages which were operating in the city were stopped and checked. Vehicles licensed by York, Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees and Wakefield were inspected.

All vehicles underwent full mechanical examinations for defects by the DVSA at the council’s MOT test centre at Hazel Court or at the roadside. Checks were also made to ensure that the drivers were properly licensed, insured and that the vehicles they were driving were safe to carry customers on the roads.

As a result, three vehicles were ordered off the road by the DVSA and/or suspended by council enforcement officers due to the faults found including:

defective tyres
defective or inoperative lights
illuminated engine warning lights

A further 14 drivers were advised to repair minor vehicle defects and several others were also warned by licensing enforcement officers about breaches of taxi licensing rules. Two York private hire drivers were issued with formal written warnings for breach of licence condition.

Anyone with concerns about the conduct of drivers or the condition of their vehicles should email public.protection@york.gov.uk so that the council can investigate.

Criminal record checks on York taxi drivers

Council releases latest figures

The York Council is reporting that 917 (93.2%) of York Taxi drivers have successfully completed their Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks. The checks were introduced to reassure passengers that drivers were “fit and proper” to hold a licence. A committee report goes on to say;

“There are 14 (1.4%) drivers with checks in progress with the DBS.
There are 22 (2.2%) drivers with whom we are checking ‘positive’ results. Please note that the DBS process flags all previous convictions and other matters which we may already be aware of.
Some 18 (1.8%) of drivers have indicated their intention to surrender their licence as they are no longer driving.
There are ten (1.0%) drivers who we have been unable to contact or begin the process for good reason (for example because they have a long-term illness) &
three (0.3%) drivers are refusing to co-operate”.

A report to the same meeting – which is taking place tomorrow (Monday) attempts to deal with the issue of UBER drivers operating in York. Last year the Council refused to grant a licence to UBER to operate locally. The issue now concerns UBER drivers, with licences are issued by other authorities,
are still serving the City .

The report says that the Council is satisfied that having regard to the independent Legal Opinion, the settled legal position remains as follows:

“Provided the three licences required in relation to a private hire vehicle (operator, vehicle and driver) have all been issued by the same authority, then the private hire vehicle (PHV) can undertake journeys anywhere in England and Wales. That is irrespective of where the journey commences, areas through which the journey passes and, ultimately, the area where the journey ends”.

An alternative legal opinion has been provided by local taxi operators.

Pretty much a “BREXIT” style stand off then which only leads to confuse potential customers.

UBER York private hire license up for renewal

A meeting taking place on 12th December will determine whether to renew Ubers operating license in York.

Uber London recently lost a similar license on the grounds that they are not a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold
a licence.

Over the last year the Authority has received 155 complaints relating to Uber vehicles/drivers. There were also 141 complaints about non Uber vehicles/drivers.

Uber driver complaints

A majority of the complaints about Uber related to matters such as alleged plying for hire,to many out of town vehicles operating in York, dangerous driving, smoking in vehicles and fares charged.

The majority of Uber drivers were from Bradford and Leeds.

Only 4 of the Uber complaints related to York registered vehicles/drivers

If the license application were refused, Uber drivers licensed in other local authority areas would still be able to operate in York.

Council officials say there is no obvious justification for not renewing the Uber York licence

Renewed call in York for lower public transport fares

Petrol prices down again August 2016 compared to July 2016:

Fuel proce gra[ph as at Aug 2016 According to government figures released today petrol prices reduced by 2.4 pence per litre whilst diesel prices were down 1.6 pence per litre. Click for details

The figures are likely to increase calls for taxi and bus fares in York to be reduced.

Renewable energy use down in UK for the 3 month period April to June 2016, compared to the same period a year earlier

Also according to the government Energy imports August 2016

Primary energy consumption in the UK on a fuel input basis fell by 0.3%, on a temperature adjusted basis consumption fell by 1.8% continuing the downward trend. (click for details)
Indigenous energy production fell by 3.4%, due to reduced coal output, though both oil and bioenergy production increased. Click for details
Electricity generation by Major Power Producers down 0.9%, with coal down 72% but offset by increase in gas up 57%.* click for details
Gas provided 50.9% of electricity generation by Major Power Producers, with nuclear at 24.2%, renewables at 18.1% and coal at a record low of 6.8%.* click for details
Wind generation by Major Power Producers down 14.5%, with offshore down 9.0% and onshore down 20%, due to lower average wind speeds.* click for details
Low carbon share of electricity generation by Major Power Producers down 1.6 percentage points to 42.3%, as rise in bio-energy not enough to offset falls in nuclear and wind generation.* click for details

*Major Power Producers (MPPs) data published monthly, all generating companies data published quarterly.

Crackdown on cross border private hire car operators in York

TaxiPrivate The York Council is joining forces with neighbouring authorities in West Yorkshire in an attempt to root out rogue private hire vehicle operators.

Licensing standards in different authorities vary. It has been alleged that some companies exploit these differences to operate with minimal standards.

Currently York Council officers have no powers to conduct any enforcement activity on taxis or private hire drivers or vehicles not licensed by the authority. Operators may choose to be licensed by authorities with less rigorous licensing standards and simply transfer bookings from the York district to that operating base. There may be significant difficulties in verifying whether a pre booking was in place, when investigating plying for hire concerns.

A report to a Council committee details the objectives of having a common policy across York and West Yorkshire

Safeguarding- child sexual exploitation – human trafficking – a common minimum training standard for the trade.
Driver application process – improved common minimum standards
English comprehension – common minimum standards for new applicants, it would only apply to existing licence holders where there was an identified need, with the focus being on training and development within an agreeable timeframe.
Convictions Policy and Convictions Criteria – standard criteria be adopted.
Decision making-scheme of delegation – all local authorities introduce a scheme of delegation to Officers for decision making.
Private Hire Operator Conditions – a common standard across the Combined Authority.
Private Hire Vehicle Conditions – all West Yorkshire and York licensed vehicles have similar recognisable door livery which deforms when removed.
Common Byelaws – Hackney Carriages – a common standard across the Combined Authority.
Authorised Officer status – Licensing and Enforcement Officers able to carry out inspection and suspension powers on a vehicle licensed by any Combined Authority, through the scheme of delegation of powers being coordinated across all the authorities to enable more efficient enforcement action.

While steps to safeguard the public interest will be welcomed in the City, the current proposals do not appear address cross border issues concerning vehicles from other parts of North Yorkshire or Teesside.

FOI response confirms that taxi fare reduction is needed in York

20% drop in fuel costs over 2 years.

How taxi fares are calculated. click to enlarge

A freedom of Information response has confirmed that a reduction of taxi fares in York is necessary to reflect falling fuel prices

In 2014 fuel costs fell by 8% while last year the drop was a further 13%.

An overall reduction in taxi fare levels of 0.77% was due from April 2015 (which was never implemented) with an further 0.96% drop now required.

The reductions do not reflect only the drop in fuel prices as other factors including wage increases (+4.5%) and the costs of maintenance and insurance, are included in the fare calculation.

No statements on taxi fares – or indeed bus fare costs on subsidised services – have been made by the York Council.

Public transport users have a legitimate expectation that they will benefit from the lower fuel prices.

York Council set to adopt new taxi licensing policies

Users expecting fares to go down in wake of fuel cost reduction

Click to read

The York Council is expected to produce a new licensing code for taxi and private hire operations when it meets on 8^th February. The proposed regulations include little that is new and will be subject to a consultation period.

Private hire licences will be available for 5 years and some “cross border “working will be allowed.

Compulsory training on child sex exploitation is also being introduced.

Most passengers will be looking with anticipation at the new fares stricture due to be introduced in April.

Fare levels are worked out using an index agreed by the taxi trade several years ago. A Freedom of information request at this time last year revealed that there should be a small reduction in fare levels, but this was never introduced.

Sustained low fuel cost levels over the last 12 months should mean a more significant reduction is due this year.

NB The same meeting will consider an application to renew a sex establishment license at 53 Micklegate (Mansion club)