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Australian Taxi Drivers Association

Cab driver stabbed in NDG
Two Guilty Pleas Entered in Cab Driver's Murder
Elgin cabbie fends off attacker with deodorant
Cabbies file human rights complaints
Disgruntled Saskatoon taxi licence owners to start new cab company
Cabbies seek halt to transfer of licences
Cap on D.C. cabs suggested
Council moves to franchise taxi companies
Cab Company Gets Green Light
Future looks bright for taxi firm
Cab drivers untrained, unlicensed

By P.A. Sévigny

While city cab drivers know their work isn’t much of a living, driving a cab shouldn’t cost a driver his life.

Last Friday afternoon, Abraham Messun, 50, was resting and still visibly weak while recovering from a chest wound he received while being robbed in his taxi. What should have been nothing more than a routine $10 fare through the city’s west-end turned into every driver’s nightmare when Messun saw his client point a pistol at his head just before she pulled the trigger..

“She was so nice,” he said. “She was very kind and polite so it’s still difficult to understand why she tried to kill me.” - Full article

The Suburban - (St-Laurent, Quebec)

THURSDAY, JULY 2 2009
By Austin Danforth

Seven months to the day after police found Khalil Siddiqi dead in his taxicab, the first of the three men charged in connection with the murder will face sentencing after pleading guilty Friday.

Joshua Moore, 18, of Tacoma Park, Md. will receive his sentence on August 18 for first degree murder, robbery and a firearm violation in the January 18 homicide — one that the defendants stated was not intentional but stemmed from a planned attempt to rob Siddiqi in his cab, according to court documents.

A second suspect, Alexandrian Jamal Berry, 20, also entered a guilty plea Friday for second degree murder, robbery and a firearm violation, according to court documents, while one 17-year-old defendant, also of Alexandria, has been ordered to complete a psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness for trial. He is being charged as an adult.

Berry is set for sentencing on August 20. - Full article

Alexandria Times - (Alexandria, Virginia)

By Harry Hitzeman | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 7/2/2009 4:13 PM

A quick-thinking taxi driver in Elgin fended off an attacker and probably avoided serious injury when he used deodorant spray as makeshift mace.

"He was fine (afterward)," Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said of the cabbie. "He had a small laceration on his left thumb and a small abrasion on his neck."

At about 2:20 p.m., at the intersection of Wellington and Bent streets, the man leaned forward in the minivan, put the knife to the cabbie's throat and demanded money.

In response, the cabbie sprayed the man in the face and eyes, disorienting him and causing him to drop his knife, which eventually was left in the cab. - Full article

Daily Herald - (Arlington Heights, Illinois)

The StarPhoenixMay 27, 2009

At least 15 cab drivers remain suspended from United Cabs after protesting alleged racism and discrimination at their workplace two weeks ago.

Many of the drivers began the process of filing a human rights complaint against their ex-employer on Tuesday.

"Everybody has their own incident," said Yasir Altaf, who moved to Saskatoon two years ago from Montreal. "I don't know what I can do now, because it all happened so suddenly." - Full article

The Star Phoenix - (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

By David Hutton, July 2, 2009 6:08 PM

SASKATOON — A group of local taxi owners have pulled their licenses from United Cabs to start their own company, beginning in August, citing a dissatisfaction with the way their former company was managed.

The dissenting cab drivers represent roughly one-third of the 160 licenses in the city, meaning the industry is now split among three companies with almost equal stake: United Cabs, Radio Cabs, and the startup Comfort Cabs. - Full article

The Star Phoenix - (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

The StarPhoenix May 15, 2009

A Queen's Bench judge will rule next week on a temporary order requested by a group of cab drivers to stop the transfer of taxi licences by the city as part of an $18-million class-action lawsuit against United Cabs and the City of Saskatoon.

The group of drivers contends the city has been violating its own bylaw for 20 years by issuing taxi licences to individuals and companies who don't own or drive taxis. The licences are then sold or leased -- sometimes for substantial profits -- to the drivers who operate the vehicles.

Several drivers claim they have been intimidated since the suit was launched, which United Cabs management denies. - Full article

The Star Phoenix - (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

July 1, 2009 - 11:31pm
By Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer

The District's open, all-are-invited taxicab industry is so saturated with drivers that the entire enterprise is threatened, according to a D.C. Council member who has filed a bill to cap the number of cabs allowed on city streets.

Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham introduced legislation Tuesday to limit the number of taxicabs in D.C. through either a medallion system, like ones used in New York City and Chicago, or a certification system.

The soaring number of taxicab operators in D.C. - roughly 8,000, most of whom own their own cars - is a "pressing and urgent problem," Graham said. There are more licensed drivers in D.C. per capita than any place in the world, he said, and new applicants continue to take the required class, giving them access to the driver's exam administered by the D.C. Taxicab Commission. A glut of drivers could jeopardize the chances of any cabbies making an adequate living, Graham has said. - Full article

WTOP 103.5 FM - (Washington D.C.)

By Melody Hanatani
July 02, 2009

CITY HALL — Cab companies will now have to battle for the right to pick up customers in Santa Monica after the City Council on Tuesday established a more stringent licensing system to relieve a notoriously overcrowded taxi population.

The new franchise structure, which will officially take effect after the council approves it upon a procedural second reading, creates a competitive bidding process for a cab license, a major shift from the existing open-entry system in which all operators who meet insurance and other basic requirements are allowed to conduct business in the city.

The franchise system is expected to cut the number of cabs by more than half. Between one and eight companies will receive a franchise agreement. - Full article

Santa Monica Daily Press - (Santa Monica, California)

Jannay Towne Reporter
July 1, 2009

A small taxi company sued the city for the right to do business in Des Moines and won. For the last year and a half, Alpha Taxi could drop off passengers in city limits, but couldn't pick them up. "Its hard to do business is you're frozen out of the largest market in the metro area and they just wanted that chance to compete and now they have that chance to compete," says Alpha Taxi's attorney Christopher McDonald. - Full article

WHO-TV Channel 13 - (Des Moines, Iowa)

Published Date: 03 July 2009

TAXI drivers who rescued their company are now expanding.

Berridge Taxis went into administration in February but a team of drivers bought the company name and had services back up and running within days.

Four months on, they have just added an eight-seater minibus to their fleet which they hope will attract group bookings.

Company partner Terry Ashelford, 61, of Main Street, Whissendine, said: “Trade is strong thanks to our loyal and valued customers. We have increased our fleet and hope the minibus will give us greater flexibility for airport runs and group bookings.” - Full article

Rutland & Stamford Mercury - (Stamford, Lincolnshire, England)

Clay Lucas
July 3, 2009

DRIVERS with no taxi licence and no training are regularly carrying passengers in Melbourne, according to two industry groups.

There is also mounting evidence of widespread credit card fraud and occasional "skimming" of credit details, according to police.

The Victorian Taxi Association said taxi drivers were effectively "subleasing" their licences to untrained drivers.

"A driver (will rent) a taxi off an operator, and then he might have a rest and give it to his cousin or someone like that, who is not accredited," association chief executive Neil Sach said.

Drivers would take the licence and log-in codes for legitimate drivers and pretend to be them, Mr Sach said.

Geoff Bell, of the Victorian Taxi Operators Group, said the industry was aware of the problem of unlicensed drivers using other drivers' licences. - Full article

The Age - (Melbourne, Australia)

Ender Wiggen

Updated July 03 @ 04:10 GMT

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