Bob
18th January 2005, 01:19
They are billed as a way to get from "A to B without the Q". If you need to get across London quickly they are perhaps the most efficient way of doing so. But motorcycle taxis are to be banned in London because Ken Livingstone believes they are dangerous.
The taxis which appeared in the capital a decade ago and have a cult following including the architect Richard Rogers, the broadcasters Jon Snow and Trevor Phillips, and the chairman of HSBC, Sir John Bond are renowned for their ability to weave in and out of traffic, saving the busy traveller vital time. Customers have included the Duchess of Devonshire, who once needed urgent treatment from a hairdresser. In 2003 Tony Blair's doctor was summoned to Downing Street on a motorcycle taxi when the prime minister had stomach pains.
But Transport for London (TfL) is bringing their use to a close. The ban has been introduced after a change in TfL regulations for private hire vehicles in London. The change to the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 came about because TfL felt that vehicles constructed with fewer than four wheels were not suitable for licensing.
The key operators have reacted with anger at the proposed ban, with Virgin Limobikes, Passenger Bikes, Addison Lee Taxi Bike and London Executive, seeing their businesses effectively outlawed.
Virgin Limobikes, which runs nine Yamaha FJR1300, managing director, Ceri Mort, said all bikes had special backrests to take passengers, and their drivers each had at least 10 years' experience "There's a complete lack of understanding of what we're about," said Mr Mort, who charges up to £70 for the journey from central London to Heathrow. He complained the measure was ill-considered, saying companies like his were being targeted when someone with a criminal record could get a job as an unlicensed minicab driver in two minutes.
Motorcycle groups have spoken out against Transport for Londons plans.
Pointing out that not a single person has been killed or seriously injured on a motorcycle taxi in the capital, and that they have been used across the continent for many years, the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) Director of Public Affairs, Craig Carey-Clinch said; "Taxi bikes are an innovative idea which offer a much needed and reliable service to business executives in London, who would otherwise have to contend with the traffic congestion and delayed journey times that come with car-based private hire or black cabs. The ban seems particularly mean-minded, given that the safety argument that TfL makes clearly has no foundation.
"Managers in TfL's Public Carriage Office have assumed that motorcycles are dangerous without looking properly at the facts. The high standards of taxi bike riders and the level of training and experience that riders have, should be compared with the sometimes poor standard of drivers in the bar based private hire sector. Under the present rules it is possible for a holder of any non-uk EU driving licence, having only held a licence for three years, to operate a private hire car having never driven in the UK. They may be unfamiliar with driving on the left hand side of the road and may have only scant knowledge of UK traffic law or conditions.
"Quite clearly, the motorcycle ban is totally unfair and must be reviewed immediately. The motorcycle taxi trade has never had anything else but good press and praise and enjoys a road safety record which puts the car sector to shame. TfL have the power to exempt motorcycles from the regulations and MCI is calling for them to accept that the ban is totally unfair and repeal it immediately."
MAG President Ian Mutch said, "The present intransigence over the issue represents the ascendancy of pedantic hysteria over common sense. We don't need a road safety Czar to solve this one, we need a Solomon. After he's sorted the taxi issue he can sort congestion at a stroke by taking a sword to cars and slicing them down the middle providing. . . motorcycles - voila!"
Even Transport for London's Public Carriage Office has pointed out that in a consultation on minicab licensing sent to 4,000 people only one had raised concerns about motorcycle taxis. Despite this, a TfL spokeswoman said: "The purpose of private hire licensing is to ensure the safety of passengers. We're not convinced that motorcycle taxis are safe."
If you would like to contact TfL regarding the decision to kill off motorcycle taxis - and putting a number of skilled riders out of a job, then either write to:
Transport for London
Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
Or via TfL's online contact form, which can be found at:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact_home.shtml
The taxis which appeared in the capital a decade ago and have a cult following including the architect Richard Rogers, the broadcasters Jon Snow and Trevor Phillips, and the chairman of HSBC, Sir John Bond are renowned for their ability to weave in and out of traffic, saving the busy traveller vital time. Customers have included the Duchess of Devonshire, who once needed urgent treatment from a hairdresser. In 2003 Tony Blair's doctor was summoned to Downing Street on a motorcycle taxi when the prime minister had stomach pains.
But Transport for London (TfL) is bringing their use to a close. The ban has been introduced after a change in TfL regulations for private hire vehicles in London. The change to the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 came about because TfL felt that vehicles constructed with fewer than four wheels were not suitable for licensing.
The key operators have reacted with anger at the proposed ban, with Virgin Limobikes, Passenger Bikes, Addison Lee Taxi Bike and London Executive, seeing their businesses effectively outlawed.
Virgin Limobikes, which runs nine Yamaha FJR1300, managing director, Ceri Mort, said all bikes had special backrests to take passengers, and their drivers each had at least 10 years' experience "There's a complete lack of understanding of what we're about," said Mr Mort, who charges up to £70 for the journey from central London to Heathrow. He complained the measure was ill-considered, saying companies like his were being targeted when someone with a criminal record could get a job as an unlicensed minicab driver in two minutes.
Motorcycle groups have spoken out against Transport for Londons plans.
Pointing out that not a single person has been killed or seriously injured on a motorcycle taxi in the capital, and that they have been used across the continent for many years, the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) Director of Public Affairs, Craig Carey-Clinch said; "Taxi bikes are an innovative idea which offer a much needed and reliable service to business executives in London, who would otherwise have to contend with the traffic congestion and delayed journey times that come with car-based private hire or black cabs. The ban seems particularly mean-minded, given that the safety argument that TfL makes clearly has no foundation.
"Managers in TfL's Public Carriage Office have assumed that motorcycles are dangerous without looking properly at the facts. The high standards of taxi bike riders and the level of training and experience that riders have, should be compared with the sometimes poor standard of drivers in the bar based private hire sector. Under the present rules it is possible for a holder of any non-uk EU driving licence, having only held a licence for three years, to operate a private hire car having never driven in the UK. They may be unfamiliar with driving on the left hand side of the road and may have only scant knowledge of UK traffic law or conditions.
"Quite clearly, the motorcycle ban is totally unfair and must be reviewed immediately. The motorcycle taxi trade has never had anything else but good press and praise and enjoys a road safety record which puts the car sector to shame. TfL have the power to exempt motorcycles from the regulations and MCI is calling for them to accept that the ban is totally unfair and repeal it immediately."
MAG President Ian Mutch said, "The present intransigence over the issue represents the ascendancy of pedantic hysteria over common sense. We don't need a road safety Czar to solve this one, we need a Solomon. After he's sorted the taxi issue he can sort congestion at a stroke by taking a sword to cars and slicing them down the middle providing. . . motorcycles - voila!"
Even Transport for London's Public Carriage Office has pointed out that in a consultation on minicab licensing sent to 4,000 people only one had raised concerns about motorcycle taxis. Despite this, a TfL spokeswoman said: "The purpose of private hire licensing is to ensure the safety of passengers. We're not convinced that motorcycle taxis are safe."
If you would like to contact TfL regarding the decision to kill off motorcycle taxis - and putting a number of skilled riders out of a job, then either write to:
Transport for London
Windsor House
42-50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
Or via TfL's online contact form, which can be found at:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact_home.shtml