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The Taxi News for Tuesday May 21, 2013
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Taxi
driver dead, firefighters injured in Coolbaugh
Township crash
Pocono Record - (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) By Christina Tatu For the Pocono Record May 20, 2013 A Pocono Cab Company driver was killed Sunday afternoon on Route 196 in Coolbaugh Township after losing control of his taxi and drifting into the path of an oncoming Coolbaugh Township fire police van. Four Coolbaugh Township volunteer firefighters in the van were taken to area hospitals. As of Sunday evening, two of the firefighters had been released from the hospital, but two were still in the intensive care unit of Geisinger-Community Medical Center, said Coolbaugh Township Chief Bill Weimer. The taxi cab driver, Michael West, 55, of Stroudsburg, was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:12 p.m., said Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen. There were no passengers in the taxi at the time of the crash, Allen said. The crash was first reported at 11:17 a.m., about 600 feet from the main entrance to A Pocono Country Place, in the southbound lane of Route 196, Allen said. West was traveling in the northbound lane when he lost control of his vehicle, sliding sideways into the southbound lane of the oncoming fire police van, which then hit the cab in the center of its passenger side, Allen said. The fire police were not at fault. - more.... Shotgun executive taken into custody at Colo. gun show on cabbie terror tip Examiner - (Internet) May 19, 2013 By: David Codrea Daniele Perazzi, president of the Italian Perazzi Shotguns firm, was taken into custody yesterday by Adams County Deputies [see update, below] along with several prototype shotguns. The executive was picked up in the parking lot of the Denver Merchandise Mart, hosting the high-end Colorado Gun Collectors show this weekend, after a taxi driver, likely reacting to a suspicious activity reporting outreach program conducted by law enforcement, told authorities he thought he could be transporting an armed “foreign speaking” terror suspect. “He loaded prototype shotguns into the cab on the way to the Merchandise Mart,” gun rights activist and newly-elected National Rifle Association Director Steve Schreiner, who is attending the event this weekend, told Gun Rights Examiner this morning. “The cab driver notified law enforcement he suspected he had a terrorist in his cab, and they were waiting to intercept him, evidently oblivious to the fact that he was arriving at a highly-publicized area gun show. “He has two lawyers, Schreiner continued, “one of whom went to the police station, and convinced the police that the owner of one of the most expensive shotgun companies in the world was not a terrorist. Perazzi was released a short time later and his prototype shotguns were returned to him, but reports have emerged that he was ordered by law enforcement to leave the state by nightfall, and sources tell Gun Rights Examiner he has gone one step further and left the country. He is expected to be returning soon with an eye toward filing legal action. - more.... A cab company in disguise The Baltimore Sun - (Baltimore, Maryland) 11:15 a.m. EDT, May 20, 2013 While what Uber Technologies says is essentially true that they own no vehicles and do not have drivers, they are clearly providing transportation through their app ("PSC to decide if Uber must comply with taxi rules," May 16). Any driver who owns a car can sign up with Uber, and Uber will refer people requesting transportation to them. It is essentially the same as picking up the phone and calling a taxicab. The real issue is the safety of the riding public. A taxicab in Baltimore must meet a number of stringent rules and regulations. The Maryland Public Service Commission requires that the vehicles be inspected on a regular basis both by the commission and by a Maryland State Vehicle Inspection facility. The vehicles are limited in the age they may be when placed in service as a taxicab and by the length of time they may be kept in service. The insurance requirements are far more stringent and the limits far higher than those of a passenger car and are strictly enforced by the PSC. - more.... Uber wars threaten to reignite over new regulations The Washington Post - (Washington, D.C.) By Mike DeBonis, Published: May 17, 2013 at 10:59 Six months after city officials and Uber settled conflicts over regulation of the app-based transportation service and jointly declared peace in our time, conflict again threatens to erupt — this time, over new sets of regulations being considered by the D.C. Taxicab Commission that Uber claims could severely impact its business. Regulations passed last week by the commission — the same one requiring all city taxicabs to accept credit-card payments — also include requirements that payments be processed through “payment service providers” that are integrated with the cab’s on-board meter system. That requirement, Uber said in a May 3 letter to the commission, “is not practical for a software-only company like Uber.” Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said Thursday that the new rules, “as far as we can tell, require us to shut down Uber Taxi” — the part of the Uber app that hails a traditional taxi cab rather than the luxury black cars the company is best known for. The rules, he said, would require Uber to associate with payment providers who are integrated with the taxi hardware in order to maintain Uber’s model of processing payments entirely via smartphone app. And Kalanick says another set of regulations now in development affects the sedan service in significant ways — including a ban on cars weighing under 3,200 pounds, which he says would encompass most “eco-friendly” vehicles. Also troublesome, he says: a requirement that companies would have to share ride data with the commission for analysis and planning purposes, creating what he feels is a “substantial privacy problem” for Uber customers. “Do you trust the D.C. Taxicab Commission with your whereabouts?” he asked. - more.... Marathon closing in on taxi regulations Florida Keys Keynoter - (Marathon, Florida) By RYAN McCARTHY Posted - Saturday, May 18, 2013 10:10 AM EDT The Marathon City Council on Tuesday approved taxi regulation that is less onerous than originally presented and should help ensure cab customers are hitching rides with reputable companies. Outside of a select few, cab companies can be fly by night in the Middle Keys. There are at least five companies in Marathon at the moment: Island Taxi, On Time Taxi, Bob Gnarley, Keyhopper and Taxi in the Tropics. Last month, Councilwoman Ginger Snead raised the idea of more regulation, to which fellow council members agreed. But the initial startup cost and annual renew fee didn't sit well with cab operators. Snead, along with City Manager Roger Hernstadt, met with Keyhopper owner Patti Haws and Island Taxi owner Sheila Wogan to go over proposed fees. Snead suggested on Tuesday that the $500 initial registration be lowered to $300, and a $250 annual renewal fee be reduced to $100 twice per year. In addition, a $50 fee per vehicle and driver after the first driver was brought down to $5. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Haws said drivers and vehicles are constantly in flux, which would require numerous changes during the year. - more.... Local author brings life in a cab to life Star-Herald - (Scottsbluff, Nebraska) Posted: Monday, May 20, 2013 10:40 am By JANA KEHN Lied Scottsbluff Public Library Assistant “Taxi!? Oh, Taxi!?” Scre-e-e-ch!! “Hop in. My name is Murph and you are in for the ride of your life.” That dramatization references a set of novels featuring a Denver cab driver named Brendan Murphy, also known as “Murph.” Written by Gary Reilly, the novels chronicle Murph’s adventures as he shuffles people around Denver, becoming confidante and problem solver to his fares. Reilly wrote 11 Murph novels. Murph, like his creator, is a frustrated novelist with a trunk full of manuscripts. And Reilly, like his creation, once rode Denver’s streets as a cabbie. The interesting thing about Reilly’s Murph novels is that Reilly didn’t live to see them published. In March 2011, at the age of 61, Gary lost his battle to cancer. Two of Reilly’s friends, Mark Stevens and Mike Keefe, forged ahead with plans to publish all 11 of the Murph novels, with the third in the series debuting the end of May. For their May meetings, The Literary Book Club and The Brown Bag Book Club are discussing the first two novels in the series. Book one, “The Asphalt Warrior,” introduces readers to Murph and the Denver area he serves. - more.... |
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taxis, more problems Saturday, 18 May 2013 By Raynald C Rivera DOHA: When the taxis of two private companies recently hit Doha’s roads, commuters thought it would help solve the transportation problems here, particularly the scarcity of taxis. They did not expect the situation to get worse with the additional taxis. The introduction of the private taxi companies was welcomed by the public because many believed competition would mean better services and cheaper rates; however, that was not to be. With the coming of the new taxi companies the number of cabs plying on the city’s streets has increased by 50 percent, from 2,000 Karwa taxis to 3,000 as Al Million and Alijarah were allowed to operate 500 taxis each. Recently, Mowasalat allowed the two companies to operate 150 additional taxis each, and by the end of next month, a third private company is expected to commence operations with 300 taxis. The problem now is not lack of taxis but unscrupulous drivers who try to cheat or coerce passengers to get more money from them. “You are lucky if you find one honest taxi driver nowadays as most of them have devised their own way of cheating customers to earn some extra bucks,” said Lina, an aggrieved expatriate who recently decided to hire an illegal cab on a regular basis as she finds it cheaper and more reliable than taxis. She is just one of many commuters who face similar problems as they travel to and from work every day and who, like the taxi drivers, toil to provide for their families back home with their hard-earned money. For low- and middle-income expatriates in Qatar, every riyal counts, but many times they are made to pay extra for taxi rides by dishonest taxi drivers. While some drivers manipulate the meters, others don’t switch them on and instead bargain with the passengers to their advantage. There are also those who don’t reset the meter after a trip, making the next passenger pay more. Taxi drivers justify their deceitful ways by pointing out what they say are unfair conditions set by their companies, including low wages and the big amount they have to pay their company from their takings. - more.... |
| Asia and the Pacific |
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killer caught taxi with her body in suitcase Daily Life - (Australia) Date May 18, 2013 Paul Bibby Court Reporter The teenager casually wheels a large black suitcase out to a waiting taxi. As he and the driver heft the case into the boot, the young man lies to explain the bag's surprising weight and bulging contents, telling the driver it's ''full of laptops and electrical gear''. CCTV footage, later tendered as evidence, shows the 19-year-old Daniel Stani-Reginald chatting happily to the driver as they make a short trip to the Parramatta River. Callous lies: Footage of Daniel Stani-Reginald loading his suitcase into the taxi. Photo: NSW Police Force He then removes the case and walks off. In the words of NSW Supreme Court Justice Derek Price the ''calmness demonstrated by the offender'' in these moments showed the utter ''callousness of his crimes''. On the morning of that taxi ride, on March 9, 2011, Stani-Reginald confronted Indian student Tosha Thakkar in the hallway of the second-storey boarding house they shared in the inner-west suburb of Croydon. The suitcase he told the driver was ''full of laptops and electrical gear''. Photo: NSW Police Force Forcing the 24-year-old back into her room, he then raped and assaulted her and strangled her with a black coaxial cable. The 19-year-old storeman then stuffed his victim's body in a suitcase, booked a taxi to Meadowbank and dumped her in a canal that flows into Parramatta River. - more.... Hong Kong launches first electric taxis Google News - (Internet) (AFP) – 2 days ago HONG KONG — Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city's high levels of roadside pollution. The 45 bright red cars were launched by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD, which is partly backed by US investment titan Warren Buffett. Called the BYD e6, the five-door crossover sedans are powered by iron phosphate batteries and take two hours to charge, a statement from BYD said, adding that they can then travel for 300 kilometres (more than 180 miles). The cars have been rented by the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, which is testing them over the next six months. "The idea of being environmentally friendly is a global trend and the electric car is one good example," said Wong Chung Keung, president and chairman of the association. "An electric car saves the cost of fuel and will allow our taxi drivers to earn more," he added, saying that a normal taxi would cost HK$0.8 (10 US cents) to run per kilometre (0.6 miles) while an electric car would cost HK$0.2-HK$0.3. - more.... The Secret Slang of Japanese Cabbies Rocket News 24 - (Tokyo, Japan) by Casey Baseel Like many people who moved to Tokyo in their youth, most of the time I’ve spent in Japanese taxi cabs has been directly preceded by heavy drinking. In the country’s urban centers, people primarily get around by train and subway. However, both of them stop running around midnight (for now?), at which time you can see a mass of people stumbling towards the station like Cinderella if she’d spent less time on the dance floor with the prince and more at the ball’s open bar. Once the trains stop, they don’t start again until about five in the morning, and since staying out all night drinking only seems like a good idea until your buzz wears off at around 2:30 a.m., if you missed the last train the only way you’re getting home is by taking a taxi. Like taking a cab ride anywhere else in the world, the drivers use radios to communicate with the dispatcher and other cars in the fleet. I could never understand what Japanese taxi drivers were saying to each other, but the reason why isn’t because I was liquored up (OK, so it wasn’t only because I was liquored up). It turns out cab drivers in Japan have a whole set of jargon and code words that you won’t find in any textbooks. - more.... |
Ender Wiggin
Updated may 20 @ 20:04 GMT
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