104 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY ALTERNATIVE TAXIS JANUARY
Every year we enjoy stories (and more importantly, interesting photos to go with them) of different types of taxi from the ordi- nary car-shaped thing with a wheel at each corner.
This year was no exception; we had quite a run on tuktuks, but didn’t have the space to feature them all in this review. In two of the localities where tuktuks or similar vehicles made the news, the eventual vehicle(s) were not permitted for licensing. So that’s hardly newsworthy.
However, we thought you might enjoy see- ing again a handful of Alternative Taxis from round the country, including the enterpris- ing new canal cabbie service in London’s Little Venice.
Of course London’s water-
ways were the home of some form of public conveyance from the 1600s onwards; this new service offers a more leisurely route, including historic information known as “Canowledge’ being supplied to customers. Let us hope that the kayak-taxi service was a success in its opening season and it begins again next April.
The winner for the cutest photo has to be our driverless taxi ULTra Pod. If you recall, we first featured this little creature when Bristol based Advanced Transport Systems developed the prototype some three years back. The only problem is, it’s driverless. Which doesn’t do our trade a power of good as regards staffing levels! Watch this space; they predicted that there would be a robot vacuum cleaner back in the fifties, and we now have such a thing. Hmmm...
CYCLE TAXIS HIT THE STREET IN BRIDPORT’S GREEN REVOLUTION
It may not be Bombay or Beijing but Brid- port's streets will soon have a sight more familiar to these cities. Businesses, residents and Magna Housing Association tenants will have the use of two bicycle-rickshaws as part of a transport scheme from Bridport TLC.
The volunteer-led community recycling project works to cut carbon emissions and landfill waste in and around the town. It is known for turning waste vegetable oil into environmentally friendly biodiesel, used by businesses, delivery and passen- ger vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint. It launched Ring and Ride Rickshaws, with the help of Oliver Letwin MP and around-the-world
adventurer Jason Lewis.
Mr Lewis, of Asker- swell pedalled the taxi vehicle - with passen- gers Mr Letwin and Magna chief executive Graham Colls - through a ribbon and out of the TLC depot at St Michael's Trading Estate.
They were followed by the cargo rickshaw, ridden by Clive Groves, of Groves Nurseries, carrying TLC co-founder Tess Dickson and rickshaw scheme co-ordinator Rosie Jones.
Magna has funded the passenger rickshaw so its tenants can ben- efit from a low-cost, carbon-free taxi serv- ice around town. It is hoped it will also be used by the wider public in the summer for trips to West Bay, for example.
SEPTEMBER
BIKE TAXI ROLLS ON TO STOKE ROADS FOR FIRST TIME
Passengers will soon have access to a motor- bike taxi after authorities gave the green light to a new way of getting from A to B. Stoke based City Cabs 2000 hopes that two wheels will be better than four after becom- ing the only firm outside of London to provide the service. Owners believe that the £12,000 private hire bike will go full throttle in beating congestion and cutting emissions. They see it doubling up as a quick courier serv- ice, a novelty for sightseeing passengers, or a speedy route through match day traffic. But bosses said that punters will not be able to hop on the back after an evening in the pub. Driver Julian Kempson told the Stoke-on-Trent Sentinel: “It cuts out congestion for one
their operator’s licence amended to suit. He bought a Honda ST1300 Pan European just for the job due to its comfort.
Julian, a qualified advanced rider,
said
thing, and it is better for the environment than a car running one person. “I think it is going to attract either business people who need to be in a meeting at a certain time, or people who have never been on a motorcycle before who
want to try It. “Also, there are people who want to do a bit of sightseeing in North Wales, who will pay for an hour or two. I will take them wherever they want to go.” Motorcycle fanatic Julian, who has been
riding bikes for 29 years and driving taxis for 16 years has worked at City Cabs since last September. He approached City Cabs bosses with the idea for the new service and they said it would be fine by them and had
that similar services had been operated In Lon- don by companies such as Richard Branson’s Virgin for 25 years. City Cabs base manager Tony Birks said that the service, which includes a helmet intercom between rider and pas- senger, would make the company more versatile. He added: “Julian came to us with the idea and it was something that he had buzzing about in his crash hat for some time. It Is another string to our bow, and there must be people out there who enjoy a motorcycle ride, even If it is just for a novelty. “But there is also a
practical side, in that we can offer a high speed courier service for urgent documents.” Managing director Parv Khan, aged 43, added: “It brings us from one passenger to cars, minibuses, 16-seaters, whatever, we can now cater for the whole lot.” The licence means that the established firm, which has a 100-strong fleet, can operate the bike anywhere in the country.
City Cabs is awaiting delivery of safety equipment and high- visibility vests, and expects the service to be running shortly. Councillor Joy Garner, chairman of the city council’s Licensing and Registration Panel, said: “Mr Kempson is a licensed hackney car- riage and private hire driver and I wish him and his business well.”
JANUARY 2009
Photograph courtesy of The Dorset Echo.
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