WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from Spain
BARCELONA TAXI RESTRICTIONS RELAXED FOR TELECOMS CONFERENCE
Catalonia’s regional government is addressing the problem of long queues for taxis at the world’s biggest telecoms conference, which started in Barcelona on Monday 27 February, by relaxing restrictions on ride- hailing companies such as Uber and Cabify. The Mobile World Congress (MWC) expects to attract about 80,000 delegates from across the world but in the past there have been long queues for cabs outside the venue. Catalan authorities have relaxed rules so lift- hailing companies from across Spain can operate in Barcelona between February 24 and March 7. In September last year, Spain’s regional governments were told by the central government to issue new rules for private cars transporting passengers hired through mobile platforms such as Uber, Bolt and Cabify after protests from cabbies over unfair competition. Some regions, such as Madrid and Andalusia, allowed drivers to continue to operate as before, but others, such as Barcelona, introduced more restrictive measures. Ignacio Manzano, vice-president of lift-hailing industry body Feneval, said the relaxation of the rules in Barcelona for MWC proved that the city did not have enough taxis during major conferences. “There is a lack of alternatives to get around in Barcelona since the Catalan government introduced restrictions,” he said in a statement. “This is a recognition that the actual restrictions do not represent the interests of the city,” he added.
from France
16 BRITISH SKIERS INJURED IN HORROR CAR CRASH IN FRENCH ALPS
Sixteen British holidaymakers including six children have been injured in a a accident in the French Alps. The horror smash between a minibus and a 4x4 near the town of Albertville seriously injured two adults, according to the local prefecture.
PHTM MARCH 2023
The minibus was carrying 11 people, including four children, and had departed the resort of Courch- evel about an hour before the accid- ent en route to Geneva Airport and driven by a Briton living in the French Alps. Local officials said that the 4x4 was a taxi carrying a family of five Britons, including two children, from Geneva Airport to Peisey-Vallandry in the La Plagne and Les Arcs resort areas when the accident happened on Sunday 19 February. This was the last day of February half-term and one of the busiest “chang- eover” days in the Alps known as a 'black day'. Authorities did not know exactly what caused the crash but said neither driver had been drinking or on drugs.
“One of the vehicles clearly left its side of the road but we don’t know which one yet,” a spokesman for the local police said. More than 30 firefighters and two helicopters attended the scene of the smash to recover the injured. The wounded were taken by helicopters and by road to hospitals in Chambéry, Albertville and Grenoble.
from Trinidad
CABBIE GETS 3 MONTHS’ HARD LABOUR FOR DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE
A taxi driver from Trinidad was sentenced to three months hard labour on Friday 6 January. Cabbie Andre Orosco appeared before Magistrate Duane Murray in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court charged with the offence of Driving whilst Disqualified and Driving without a certificate of insurance.
He had been held in a Traffic Exercise conducted by the Highway Patrol Task Force. Orosco pleaded guilty to both offences and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment with compulsory physical labour imposed.
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