These days there are subscriptions for everything, even cars. But would you take out a subscription for your tyres? What about paying a monthly fee for your heated seats? Whether we like it or not, subscriptions are coming to the motor trade.

According to figures gathered by the BBC, Ambulance NHS Trusts have used a record number of taxis to transport patients following 999 or 111 calls. Between 2021 and 2022 tens of thousands of taxis were called upon to assist patients.

Taxi and private hire licensing in the UK is renowned for being complicated. With hundreds of different rule sets across the UK, its no surprise that Autocab’s CEO has branded licensing ‘chaotic’ and ‘outdated’.

Vertical Aerospace’s prototype the VX4 is awaiting the all-clear from the CAA to begin piloted flight tests. This is expected in the next few weeks. With the rapid advance of the eVTOL industry, it seems more and more likely that they will be commercially viable before autonomous cars!

Friday 19th August 2022 saw the 125th anniversary of the first ever electric taxi to ever appear in London. The Bersey Electrical Cab was likely the first motor vehicle for hire ever in the country. Unfortunately, they were too far ahead of their time and doomed to fail.

People have been declaring driverless cars will be taking over the roads any day now, for about a decade. But while they’re still a way off, they’re definitely on their way. What does this mean for the taxi trade?

DfT guidance means that licensing authorities now need to carry out criminality checks on drivers every 6 months. This either involves completing new DBS Checks or managing Update Service subscriptions for all the drivers licensed by your council.

Uber are under fire once again as they deal with a leak of over 100,000 confidential documents and communications. Uber has been accused of wrongdoing before but never has such a comprehensive range of evidence been available. Get what you need to know via the link

Cross-border hiring has been a divisive issue for a number of years. But the Greater Manchester Combined Authority is now lobbying the government to end the practice in the region. If the government concede to their request, it will be the first area in England where the practice is abolished.

The Private Members Bill introduced last year to improve safeguarding and road safety, has now received Royal Assent. This legislation is just the latest in a series of new guidance and regulations focused on the taxi and private hire trade.

Every cabbie has had something left on the back seat by a passenger. Wallets, phones, and ID are all to be expected, but some of the items left on the back of Ubers really stretch the imagination! Have you found anything stranger in the back of your cab?

The iconic green Cabmen Shelters are a unique and historic part of the London landscape. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recently added another two shelters to the list of Grade II protected buildings. All 13 of the surviving London Cabmen Shelters are now listed buildings.

Recent reports suggest that with business levels rising across parts of the country, many drivers who left the industry during the pandemic are being lured back. With the promise of a boom in work, are things really as busy as some are saying?

With new rules meaning drivers need to sign up for the Update Service, manual DBS Certificates have been causing problems. These certificates cannot be registered to the Update Service meaning some drivers have been having to pay for multiple DBS Checks, refunds have now been secured thanks to lobbying.