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Just because I’m a bit paranoid
about those that used to be known as the Public Carriage Office,
as the saying goes, that doesn’t mean they’re not after us!
Transport for London and the Mayor’s office have been coming up
with a regular supply of press releases and that’s where my
paranoia comes in. They all seem to have one thing in common and
that is a desire towards giving equality to private hire. In the January Call Sign, we wrote of a phone call we received from DaC driver Jon Robinson (E88). He told us about a minicab he’d seen that had a partition and like Jon, we had always believed they were not allowed to have one. What was even stranger was that Jon took registration details of the vehicle and noted the make; a TW200... and that was where the real mystery came in because the TW200 - a cheaper version of the Vito - was made purely as a taxi (out of London only as it does not pass our Conditions of Fitness). Jon said that he had never heard of the TW200, so the chances of him mistakenly writing down that name were rather remote to put it mildly. The vehicle also had the usual PH roundel sticker on the rear windscreen. We phoned TfL’s Surface Transport Panel and they said they supported private hire having partitions as it improved the safety of passengers and drivers. They went on to tell Call Sign that they had passed on advice from the British Standards Institute and the Vehicle Certification Agency regarding the installation of driver shields in private hire vehicles to the manufacturer to help them obtain approval, although adding that approval had not yet been received. However, until such time that it was approved, there was still a choice of licensed vehicle types in London ie the Mercedes Eurocab, Fiat Scudo and the Peugeot Partner, all of which allowed optional factory fitted |
A CASE OF PARANOIA? Call Sign’s Editor wonders why he is becoming paranoid... |
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 The TW200 is a taxi out of London, but it is allowed as a PH vehicle here... |
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shields. Call Sign then asked TfL since when had PH partitions been allowed as we hadn’t heard of it. Skipping the question, they replied that if the partition was factory fitted, then it would be passed but it could not – at that time - be fitted to a PH cab after purchase. TfL also traced the registration number Jon Robinson had given us. They said it belonged to a Fiat Scudo, which was allowed a factory fitted shield if required. So where did Jon get the TW200 name that he had never heard of and which can only be a taxi? Well that was last December and you will not be surprised to know that TfL have now given permission for PH to fit partitions whenever they want. No doubt one PH company based around Hampstead Road, will over the next few months convert all their vehicles to include partitions and make them look even more like real taxis. Fortunately for Mr Griffin, this paranoid writer hears that the end result – unlike anything new taxis have fitted – will NOT have to be passed so they can have whatever partition they feel fits in with TfL "guidelines." These will no doubt be taken with the same pinch of salt that their rear windscreen wipers used when they suddenly disappeared and apparently something he still hasn’t forgiven |
Call Sign for
pointing out to the then-PCO, causing the company rather a lot
of hassle. So what next for this Mr Paranoid? Well yet another press release informs the trade that taxis can now advertise anything they like on their rear windscreens (within common decency boundaries) and without approval. More money, so that can’t be bad... can it? Well in return, private hire – who now always get something when we get some small drippings – have been told exactly where they can advertise their company details. Hopefully that will be exactly where it is now, but when you are paranoid you tend to think that something is up and if they now have vehicles looking like Vitos, with a nice partition and a big door logo, aka Dial-a-Cab, ComCab or Radio Taxis, then can we assume that the radio taxi trade will be closer to Mr Griffin’s long-held prediction of PH having all the radio work and us sweeping the streets? To a paranoid person, it appears that TfL may well end up as that company’s spokesperson. And I suppose in all fairness to our friends on the opposite side of the getting-smaller fence, they did have the Vito first... Alan Fisher |
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