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In 1957, ODRTS (now DaC)
Founder-Chairman Bonnie Martyn created a huge sensation
for the time, when following the successful launch of this
Society at Pentonville Road several years earlier, he was asked
to go to the beautiful Caribbean / Atlantic island of Bermuda
to set up a radio-taxi organisation similar to the one he had
launched in London in 1952. Money, Bonnie was told, was no
object! So Bonnie resigned from ODRTS – something for which many never forgave him – and travelled to Bermuda via New York on the Queen Mary on 28 December 1957. Sent at the same time on a freight ship were 12 Austin A55s, each fitted with Pye ‘reporter’ radios and which were going to be the beginnings of Bermuda Taxi Radio Cabs. After the successful launch of BTRC and making sure that it was on a sound footing, Bonnie returned to London and ODRTS as a Board member. However, his sudden departure to Bermuda had |
Bonnie’s Bermuda ‘BABIES’ get GPS warning |
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 caused some friction and it was a short-lived return visit to Pentonville Road. However, time healed the situation and Bonnie became an honoured guest at many DaC functions over the years. He died at the age of 93 in August 2002 – still in love with DaC. But Bermuda Taxi Radio Cabs still operate and still use voice dispatch. Now Call Sign has been informed that the company |
have received a stern warning
from the Bermuda Transport Control
Department demanding that BTRC comply with global positioning
satellite legislation passed almost 2 years ago,
claiming that Radio Cabs has allegedly defied the
law. BTRC has been given a far longer period of grace than their counterparts, who have had to spend money on new equipment in order to meet the original deadline. Minister of Tourism and Transport and now Premier, Ewart Brown, introduced the legislation amid opposition from drivers, but that resistance has substantially dropped with 99 percent of taxi owners said to be in compliance, according to TCD traffic officers. The only significant holdout to the industry-wide change appears to be Bonnie Martyn’s Bermuda Taxi Radio Cabs! So Bonnie, if there is a way of coming back, Bermuda needs you! |
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Fares increase from April |
Views on
life as seen through the eyes of David Kupler (Y74) at… KUPKAKE’S KORNER |
| The TfL Board has approved
a 3.4% increase in London taxi fares to apply from Saturday 4
April 2009. The change in taxi fares follows the taxi cost
index, which has been used to guide taxi fare changes in recent
years. This index reflects taxi running costs in London.
Operating costs have gone up by 3.7 per cent this year and the
average earnings index has increased by 3.3 per cent. There will be no change in the flagfall and the distance and time per meter unit will change to give the increase in average fares in all three tariffs. The TfL Board approved the new taxi fares on Tuesday 10 February, following consultation by the Public Carriage Office with the taxi trade and others, including London TravelWatch. The TfL Board recognised the importance of keeping fare increases to a minimum in the present economic climate while maintaining the link between taxi fares and national average earnings (and other costs). The Board also approved a 40p metered extra to be charged only if fuel prices reach 147.1p per litre between 4 April 2009 and 1 January 2010. This compares with the end-January price in London of 100.7p. The additional charge, if it is introduced, will be added to the meter by the driver at the start of each trip. This follows a similar arrangement that was approved in July 2008 to help drivers meet costs if the price of fuel rose beyond a level to justify a 50p extra on each fare. The amount of the extra button is being reduced this year to 40p in order to lower the threshold and reduce the extra costs drivers will have to bear before these can be passed to passengers. Average Fares The average tariff 1 fare will increase from £9.82 to £10.16, tariff 2 from £11.39 to £11.78 and tariff 3 from £13.37 to £13.83. There are no changes to the fares for fixed fare sharing schemes. |
HOPE? Kopyright Kupkake 2009 |
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