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Green future in sight for London’s black cabs
2008-05-08 09:47:00
London taxi drivers could soon have one less thing to complain about - or one more. The capital’s black cab drivers, who are famous for their opinions on all aspects of life, may begin next year helping to reduce pollution in the city with the introduction of plug-in electric taxis. Manganese Bronze, the Coventry-based maker of the black cabs, plans to ramp up its green credentials by working on an electric version of its TX4 cab. The company will work with Tanfield, the specialist electric car designer and developer. The plug-in taxi is planned to be available by the middle of 2009. The green version of the black cab will be able to run for at least 100 miles on one charge of its lithiumion battery. The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) estimates that the average driver clocks up between 120 and 150 miles a day. The upside for the drivers will be the running costs. At today’s electricity prices, the green taxi will cost about 4p per mile to run. According to the ...
More About: London , Future , Green , Black , Sight

Taxi Cab Driver Shot in Neck Wants Justice
2008-05-08 09:45:00
It was a rainy night in July of 2006 - that forever changed the life of taxi driver Yuku Kim. "It still gives me nightmare," he says. Today - kim stood before a circuit court judge looking for closure. And to learn the fate of the man accused of shooting him. According to police - Kim picked up Gregory Kaahanui that night in Kailua, and then drove him to pearlridge. That’s where Kim says Kaahunui pulled out a gun and shot him in the neck. "Because of this incident, this bullet happened and took my life upside down," said Kim. Kaahanui then fled in Kim’s taxi van, leaving Kim bleeding in a bank parking lot. His van was later picked-up by police still running on the likelike highway onramp. Bloodstained clothing was found nearby. "My life has been changed so much from this incident. Even today I’m thinking about this in my head and it’s part of a nightmare," said Kim. Kim spent three months in the hospital recovering. "At leas...
More About: Justice , Driver , Shot , Taxi , Neck

Nigeria - Ibom Taxi Scheme for launching soon
2008-05-08 09:44:00
To ensure the immediate launching of the Ibom Taxi Scheme, Akwa Ibom State government has inaugurated the Ibom City Taxi Scheme. Performing the ceremony, at the new executive chambers of his office, the state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio explained that the gesture is aimed at alleviating poverty among the people of the state. The ten man committee which is headed by the commissioner for Economic Development, Dr Chris Ekong has two weeks to submit its report to the state government. which the state government in conjunction with the private sector, the organized transport sector can immediately lunch the taxi scheme, advise government on how to zone Urban Towns particularly Uyo into taxi and bus drops to ensure uniform in payment of fares. Other terms of reference of the committee include, bringing suggestions on the kind of structures that would ensure proper maintenance, repairs, coordinated costing and movement of vehicles around the state as well as work out relationship betw...
More About: Nigeria

Passenger punches taxi driver
2008-05-08 09:43:00
A BELMONT man who repeatedly punched a cab driver after being refused permission to smoke in the taxi, has escaped with a fine. Daniel Houstma, 23, of Herd St, Belmont, pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday to one count of recklessly causing injury. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Rob Allen said Houstma and three friends got into a cab outside a licensed premises in Brougham St about 3am on February 7, this year. As they drove along La Trobe Tce, Houstma asked the driver if he could light a cigarette. “When the driver refused his request, an argument followed between Houstma and the victim,” Sen-Constable Allen said. “The driver pulled over near Kardinia Park and all of the occupants, including the driver, got out of the cab and the argument continued. “At this time the cab driver said to Houstma, `I will f— your mother.’ “As a result, Houstma approached the driver and repeatedly punched him.” Magistrate Micha...
More About: Taxi Driver , Driver , Taxi , Punches

Gun jams and saves taxi driver
2008-05-08 09:42:00
SOUTH AFRICA - ANOTHER Mdantsane taxi owner was almost assassinated in his driveway just days before a colleague was gunned down in front of his children. Now claims of a hit list are circulating in the industry. Mcebisi Manqina narrowly escaped death last Friday morning when the attacker’s gun jammed moments after he had fired a shot and missed Manqina at his NU3 home. “I was very lucky that I ducked just in time when I saw a man pointing a gun at my car window,” said Manqina, the public relations officer for the Mdantsane branch of Uncedo Service Taxi Association. “I had just opened the gate and was about to start my car when I heard footsteps and a gunshot which broke my car window. “I am scared but there is nothing that I can do because my life is in their hands now.” Manqina said after the shooting, just before 4am, the gunman fled on foot. It was a near-carbon copy of the shooting on Monday night of the chairperson of his association, Fezile...
More About: Taxi Driver , Driver , Jams

Opponents say taxi rules could mean ‘fights in the streets’
2008-05-07 20:51:00
DENVER - Taxi cab executives are predicting fights in the streets between rival cab drivers and even some including passengers as a result of a measure passed by Colorado lawmakers deregulating the taxi cab industry. Supporters of the plan to make it easier for drivers and companies to enter the marketplace call those statements "way overblown." House Bill 1227 re-authorizes the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), thereby making its veto by Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) extremely unlikely. The amendment to the measure, which has the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as the taxi cab companies concerned, significantly lowers the barriers drivers and independent companies need to climb in order to get a license to operate a cab in Colorado. "When you have too many taxis in a market and not enough demand, you end up with fights," said Brad Whittle, an executive with Yellow Cab, one of the three cab companies (Yellow, Freedom and Metro) with licenses ...
More About: Fights , Rules , Streets , The Streets

Indians taxi drivers claim they are frequently assaulted in Australia
2008-05-07 20:49:00
Melbourne (PTI): Close on the heels of the brutal stabbing of an Indian student working as a part-time cabbie Indian taxi drivers here have claimed that they are frequently assaulted and cheated but they did not report the incidents because they had no confidence in the police. Gul Dhillon, 22, from Melbourne’s north-west said he believed the attacks on the city’s cabbies were racially motivated. "They think, ‘he is from another country and they can do whatever they want’. Police don’t do nothing," Dhillon said. Most of the cabbies in Australia ’s Victoria state are young men from India studying at university and driving taxis on a Friday and Saturday night to earn a living, the Melbourne Leader said. The taxi drivers came out in protest demanding more security after 23-year-old Jalvinder Singh was stabbed and left to bleed on the roadside on Apr 29 allegdly by a passenger who claimed he was under medication and had no memory of the incid...
More About: Drivers , Indians , Taxi

American soldiers attack Czech taxi driver
2008-05-07 20:48:00
Cheb, West Bohemia, May 6 (CTK) - Three U.S. soldiers from a base in Germany attacked a Czech cab driver who drove them from Sokolov to Cheb on Sunday, local police spokesman Ladislav Boehm said. The driver was not injured, but his car was damaged, Boehm said. Three American s aged 21, 25 and 35 years have come under the suspicion of assault. Near the village of Dolni Dvory, they attacked a cab driver, 40, who had to stop instantly to avoid an accident. Then he fled, Boehm said. A soldier, aged 25, several times kicked in the back door and rear fender, thus making a dent in it. When the driver returned to the car and wanted to drive away, a soldier, aged 35, jumped off the moving car. As he fell to the ground, he suffered light head injuries. The damage at the car is estimated at 50,000 crowns. Damage to property charges have been brought against the American aged 25, Boehm said. http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/330/czech _national_news/22374/
More About: Taxi Driver , Driver , Soldiers , Taxi

Cabbie loses faith in system
2008-05-07 20:47:00
A taxi driver will ask municipal court in June to delay ruling on four fines until the Quebec Human Rights Commission hears his complaint A veteran Montreal cabbie who has been fined a total of $764 for having photos of his daughter and the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, two religious symbols and a Remembrance Day poppy in his car is going to court with a special request. Arieh Perecowicz will ask a Montreal municipal court judge on June 9 to delay ruling on his four tickets until the Quebec Human Rights Commission examines his complaint. He is seeking $5,000 from the city of Montreal for a "discriminatory and unlawful" bylaw, saying it infringes on his freedom of expression, guaranteed in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Perecowicz, who has been driving a taxi for 42 years, has been fined four times - $191 each time - by Montreal Taxi Bureau inspectors under Section 98 of the bylaw which bans any "object or inscription that is not required ...
More About: System , Faith

Taxi Drivers take to streets again in protest over licences and rank spaces
2008-05-07 20:45:00
Taxi Drivers went on protest for two hours yet again yesterday (Tuesday) in their long protracted dispute with Waterford City Council and the taxi regulator with neither side showing any signs of budging on the issues involved. The protest was run in tandem with protests planned in Cork and Dublin City with the issue becoming national but with a local edge on the issue of rank spaces in the city centre. The dispute also centres on the amount of licences being issued causing the alleged disparity over supply and demand, has left the industry players at odds for months now. The protest was was planned from the previous week after Drivers took protest action in Waterford City Centre on 25th April in a two-hour protest from the Glen through Ballybricken and around the South Quays with the final route to City Hall to hand in a letter of protest. Since then, Waterford City Council has written a letter to the Waterford Taxi Association, dated on 29th April ’setting out the current st...
More About: Rank , Protest , Taxi , Spaces

Dublin taxi drivers hold unofficial protest
2008-05-06 20:09:00
Hundreds of taxi drivers engaged in unofficial protests in Dublin today claiming a “saturated market” in taxi plates is making it increasingly difficult for them to make a living. (...)
More About: Drivers , Protest , Hold , Taxi

Taxi driver gunned down
2008-05-06 20:07:00
A taxi driver was shot dead in Westdene on Tuesday, Johannesburg police said. Superintendent Eugene Opperman said two men on foot fired several shots at the taxi driver at 9am. (...)
More About: Taxi Driver , Driver , Taxi

Taxi rights? bill doing OK: Falcon
2008-05-05 19:42:00
Inspectors, posing as taxi customers over three months to root out bad cabbies, issued one ticket to a driver who refused to take a late-night fare from downtown Vancouver to the suburbs. (...)
More About: Rights , Falcon , Bill , Taxi

Taxi owner shot in KZN
2008-05-05 19:40:00
A 35-year-old taxi owner and his brother were wounded during a suspected taxi-related shooting in Durban’s KwaMashu suburb, police said on Monday. (...)
More About: Shot , Owner , Taxi

Eighteen hurt in Germiston taxi crash
2008-05-05 19:39:00
Eighteen people were injured when a taxi collided with two vehicles in Germiston on Monday morning, the Ekurhuleni metro police said. (...)
More About: Hurt , Crash , Taxi

Taxi Drivers Must Pay UIF
2008-05-05 19:36:00
Cosatu has threatened to force the government to withdraw or suspend operating licences of taxi operators who didn’t register employees with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). (...)
More About: Drivers , Taxi

Hamas use police cars to offer taxi service to fuel-starved Gaza residents
2008-05-05 09:01:00
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: The Gaza Strip’s ruling Hamas militant group is using its police cars to ferry around Palestinians because of severe fuel shortages in the area. (...)
More About: Cars , Fuel , Service , Police

Fuel-efficient cabs are crucial, say aldermen
2008-05-01 17:47:00
City council is willing to consider hiking taxi fares to help drivers cope with rising fuel prices, but in return it wants the industry to make significant moves towards more fuel-efficient vehicles. (...)
More About: Fuel , Efficient

?Falafel fuel? powers cars in petrol-starved Gaza
2008-05-01 13:27:00
Gaza - When Hassan Amin al-Bana gingerly steps on the gas pedal of his bright yellow taxi, a strange smell wafts from the exhaust: deep-fried fast food. (...)
More About: Cars , Fuel , Gaza , Powers

London set to reopen the great taxi debate
2008-05-01 13:24:00
London - Ontario When Brett Stein moved to London from Toronto in 2005, opening the contentious taxi debate was the last thing he would have predicted. (...)
More About: London , Great , Debate , Taxi

TaxisText ?home? to 60835 to get one taxi and two local, licensed minicab n
2008-05-01 10:01:00
To find a black cab, just use the new text service. Simply text HOME to 60835 to get the numbers of black cab ranks in the area you are texting from sent directly to your phone. (...)
More About: Home , Local , Taxi

Taxi Drivers Pleased With Meeting To Air Concerns
2008-05-01 10:00:00
Taxi drivers have agreed to put in writing their concerns about proposed legislation that would legalize amphibious craft in The Bahamas, according to the minister responsible for transport. (...)
More About: Drivers , Taxi , Meeting , Concerns

Security screens would make us feel like prisoners: taxi drivers
2008-05-01 09:59:00
Taxi drivers in Perth say security screens would make them feel like prisoners.   A group representing taxi drivers in Western Australia says it does not want security screens installed in cabs. (...)
More About: Security , Drivers , Make , Feel , Taxi

Cab companies to hike fares
2008-05-01 09:58:00
AMHERST -  CANADA Taking a cab around town will be a little more expensive by the end of this week after local companies increase their rates. (...)
More About: Companies , Hike

Cops seek cabbie in hit and run
2008-04-30 19:48:00
London  - Ontario Damage done to the front of a stopped vehicle on a downtown London street, Saturday (April 26), has London police looking to speak with a cab driver for the London U-Need-A-Cab company. (...)
More About: Cops , Seek

Fare?s fair, taxi drivers are owed a duty of care
2008-04-30 19:47:00
They are at the frontline of abuse, drunken behaviour and physical threats. Taxi drivers provide an essential service and need to work in a safe environment. (...)
More About: Drivers , Care , Fair , Duty

Taxi blockade wins safety changes
2008-04-30 16:23:00
Safety screens and prepaid fares at night are to be introduced in Melbourne taxis under an agreement reached between the Victorian government and protesting taxi drivers. (...)
More About: Safety , Wins , Taxi

Cancer survivor dies after being stuck by taxi
2008-04-30 09:55:00
Singapore - A woman who survived breast cancer died after being knocked down by a taxi, leaving her husband so distraught he tried to end his life, news reports said Sunday. (...)
More About: Cancer , Survivor , Taxi , Dies

Taxi security cameras cutting in-car crime
2008-04-30 09:53:00
A Toowoomba taxi company says security cameras installed two years ago have led to a decrease in fare evasions and other in-car crime. (...)
More About: Security , Crime , Cameras , Taxi , Cutting

Protesting Taxi Drivers Ticketed By Orlando Police
2008-04-30 09:52:00
ORLANDO, Fla. — Some local taxi drivers paid a price Monday for a protest at Orlando City Hall. (...)
More About: Drivers , Police , Taxi