• #archive-stories

    Archive Stories is a website about how to work with creative and non-traditional archives. We wanted to create a space for conversations about archiving beyond institutional archives, to think through the possibilities that open up when we imagine the archive as expansive and as encompassing everything around us. We designed this website with Frederick Kannemeyer, to reflect the idea of archiving as a creative practice. It is open access so that it is accessible beyond academic spaces, and designed in a way that allows you to make your way through without a set path. This website includes a collection of 23 archive stories, and we will add more each year. The website as a whole rejects the notion of a complete archive, instead seeing archiving as an incomplete and always-expanding practice. The aim is not to give an alternative definition of what an archive is or alternative archival practices that can be directly emulated, but rather to propose other ways of thinking with and working with archives that still leave space for many other approaches.

    We imagine this website as a starting point for anyone interested in exploring more creative and non-traditional archives. The focus of these archive stories is not on the archives themselves but rather on archiving as a creative practice. What does it mean to work with creative archives like music, food, or film? How does someone begin working with archives like these? How might we come across unexpected archives when we expand what ‘archive’ means? We invited people who already do this work to take us on their journey with archiving. Alongside the website, we organise workshops where we invite archivists who do this type of work to speak to us about how they archive and what this means for the way we define archives and archiving.

    We believe these archive stories are increasingly important in light of the difficulties around institutional archives. National state archives, though important, raise a whole host of concerns. In some places, such as Palestine, they have been and continue to be destroyed as part of violent political processes. In other places, people are denied access to them because of authoritarianism and repression, or because they have not been taken care of. Colonial archives, another source of history for much of the world, equally raise concerns. They represent colonial power, and are thus organised in ways that replicate that power; we see this in the way they are organsised and curated, as well as in the history of how the archival objects were collected to begin with. Though we can read institutional archives against the grain, we believe that there are a whole array of other archives that have much to tell us about history.

    We have an expansive notion of the meaning of an archive, hoping to disrupt traditional disciplinary boundaries in the academy and start conversations with activists, film makers, and musicians. Archive Stories also involved students submitting their own reflections on encountering archives, and one included on this website explores the history of LSE student activism. In this sense, students relate to the history of LSE differently, recalling the traces of activism as they walk through today’s campus. These encounters with the archive were also apparent in the pilot workshop organized this year with May Day Roomsand Conflict Textiles. Students were able to make sense of different archiving practices, and to approach the archive as a process rather than a depository of documents.. Students had the tactile and visual memory of encountering archives that traveled to campus from different parts of the world.

    Archive Stories features not only different kinds of archives, but also different types of archivists. Oral history, for example, makes it possible for narrators to act as archivists in their own right. Through memory and story-telling, the narrators document political, social, and cultural subtleties that together tell a different side of history. The act of remembering is therefore not about ‘preserving’ an existing archive but by crafting a new one altogether that becomes constantly shaped and reshaped by the present. Musicians recovering old sound recordings from the early 20th century tell a different story on the history of music that takes seriously those who were left on the margins of this history, and with every performance something new is both formed and recovered. Filmmakers read a new politics of solidarity through encountering, and recrafting film archives from the past. These kinds of archives open up new possibilities of engaging with the past without getting ‘stuck’ there. What would it mean, for example, to archive absence today? Approaching archiving as a practice, rather than a finished product, makes it possible to keep telling all the different stories of absence and disappearance from the past and the present. It makes it possible to think about all the bodies that acted, resisted, traveled, disappeared, and incarcerated.

    We hope you enjoy exploring the archive stories gathered here, and we hope you encounter archives and archiving differently through this website. Please get in touch if you want to submit an archive story or participate in the project.

    https://archive-stories.com
    #archive_stories #archive #London_School_of_Economics #décolonial #Syrie #Pakistan #travail #Ahmad_Salim #surveillance #colonialisme #colonisation #surveillance_coloniale

    ping @reka @_kg_ @cede

  • Berlins ungewöhnlichste Taxis: London Taxi LTI TX4 (2007) - Siebensitziger Brite mit Mini-Wendekreis
    https://www.motor-talk.de/news/siebensitziger-brite-mit-mini-wendekreis-t6350926.html

    Manchmal steht ein besonderes Taxi am Stand. Diese Autos und ihre Fahrer stellt MOTOR-TALK vor. Diesmal ein originales London Taxi: als Rechtslenker, aber in Hellelfenbein.

    Von Haiko Prengel

    Berlin - Wenn es im Taxi von Wolfgang Slipek voll wird, müssen die Fahrgäste auf Klappstühlen mit Schaumstoffpolsterung Platz nehmen. Das mag für manche nicht die feine englische Art sein - die originale englische Art ist es allemal. Und ungemein praktisch, wie der Berliner Taxifahrer findet. „Das ist das ideale Großstadtauto!“, sagt er über sein etwas klobiges britisches Gefährt.

    Der 58-Jährige fährt London Taxi, mitten in Berlin. In der britischen Heimat heißen die Autos der London Taxi Company (LTI) im Volksmund „Black Cabs“. Wichtigste Eigenschaft: Auch der Hut oder gar Zylinder tragende Gentleman reist in den hoch aufragenden Karosserien bequem.

    1899 wurde LTI in Coventry gegründet und baut seitdem Taxis für die Millionenmetropole London und andere Städte im Vereinigten Königreich. Für Touristen und Alteingesessene sind die schwarzen Taxis ein Markenzeichen der Stadt an der Themse. Die dieselangetriebene Droschke von Wolfgang Slipek ist dagegen an der Spree zuhause und trägt die gleiche Farbe wie alle anderen 8.000 Droschken der Bundeshauptstadt: Hellelfenbein.

    Bis zu sechs Mitfahrer

    Wir treffen uns in Alt-Stralau. Das ist zwar nicht der Hyde Park, aber auch schön grün. Und die Immobilienpreise auf der mit Neubauten bestückten Halbinsel sind auch schon fast auf Londoner Niveau. „Oh, ein London Taxi in Berlin. Schön!“, freut sich eine Spaziergängerin, als Wolfgang Slipek mit seinem Taxi vorfährt. Solche Kommentare hört er oft. Und sie schmeicheln ihm. „Ich bin wirklich gerne Taxifahrer“, sagt Slipek, der nicht nur Deutsch, sondern auch fließend Englisch spricht.

    Wir nehmen im Fond hinter einer dicken Trennwand Platz, der Beifahrersitz auf der linken (!) Seite ist nur ein Notsitz, falls mal sechs Leute mitfahren müssen. Normalerweise würden Wolfgang Slipeks Worte an der gläsernen Trennscheibe verhallen, aber es gibt ein Mikrofon im Wagen und Lautsprecher im Fond. So kann sich der Taxifahrer mit seinen Fahrgästen unterhalten - wenn er denn möchte.

    Größter Pluspunkt seines London Taxis: Im riesigen Fond können sich - dank Klappsitzen - bis zu fünf Leute gegenüber sitzen wie in einem Zugabteil. Eine sechste Person findet auf dem Beifahrersitz Platz. Auch Fahrräder oder einen Kinderwagen schluckt das zwei Tonnen schwere Mobil problemlos, zudem ist es ab Werk rollstuhlgerecht ausgebaut. Trotzdem hat sein Modell LTI TX4 (Baujahr 2007) einen sensationellen Wendekreis von bloß 25 Fuß beziehungsweise 8,3 Metern. „Das kann ein VW oder ein Mercedes nicht“, meint Slipek.

    Berliner Taxi-Karriere

    Dabei hat der Mann mit dem grauen Dreitagebart Mercedes einiges zu verdanken. 1984 kam er als junger Mann nach Berlin, weil er trotz Lehramtsstudiums (Mathe, Sport) keine Anstellung fand und als abgelehnter Kriegsdienstverweigerer nicht zur Bundeswehr wollte. Ein Taxibetrieb ermöglichte ihm den P-Schein. Anschließend wechselte Slipek in ein Taxikollektiv, wo sich 25 Kollegen drei 123er Mercedes (die später gegen 124er ausgetauscht wurden) als Arbeitsautos teilten.

    Für den Schritt zum Ein-Mann-Betrieb entschied sich Wolfgang Slipek nach dem Mauerfall. Im November 1990 bekam er seine eigene Konzession und fuhr zunächst ein Jahr lang einen gebrauchten 123er Mercedes. 1991 gönnte sich Slipek dann einen nagelneuen 190 D. An den „Baby-Benz“ erinnert er sich gerne zurück: „Das war ein sehr sehr haltbares Auto. Solide und sparsam.“

    Dass er den 190er nach elf Jahren aufgab, lag weniger am Benz als vielmehr an den Fahrgästen. Beziehungsweise an ihrer Art zu kommunizieren. „Ende der 90er Jahre fingen die Leute an, immer und überall mit ihren Handys zu telefonieren“, erklärt Wolfgang Slipek. Manche seien so beschäftigt, dass sie ein Taxi als Büroraum nutzten. Verstehen könne er diese Betriebsamkeit könne vielleicht noch. „Aber ich muss nicht dabei sein."

    Endlich eine Trennscheibe!

    Slipeks Entschluss: Er wollte mehr Trennung von seinen Fahrgästen. Und das einzige Auto auf dem Markt, das eine dicke Trennwand und einen guten Schutz vor allzu nervigen Passagieren biete, sei das London Taxi der Traditionsfirma LTI. 2002 war es dann so weit: Slipek kaufte sich sein erstes London Taxi, ein gebrauchtes Exemplar von 1997. Damals wurde das alte, seit 1953 praktisch unverändert gebaute Fairway-Modell vom TX1 abgelöst.

    Wegen der Trennwand kommuniziert Taxifahrer Slipek per Mikrofon und Lautsprecher mit seinen Fahrgästen Wegen der Trennwand kommuniziert Taxifahrer Slipek per Mikrofon und Lautsprecher mit seinen Fahrgästen

    Seit dem TX1 sind alle LTI-Modelle rollstuhlgerecht, und der Motor von Nissan sei nicht totzukriegen gewesen, sagt Wolfgang Slipek. Das änderte sich mit dem TX2, wo unter der Haube ein Aggregat vom Ford Transit steckte - „eine Katastrophe, der hat nur Probleme gemacht.“

    Vor allem wegen seiner Praxistauglichkeit war Slipek mit dem London Taxi so zufrieden, dass er 2007 einen Neuwagen kaufte: einen TX4. Der wird von einem 2,5-Liter-Dieselmotor des italienischen Herstellers VM Motori angetrieben. Der 102 PS starke Selbstzünder hat seine Mühe, den zwei Tonnen schweren Stahlkoloss anzuschieben. Auf 140 km/h Spitze hat es Wolfgang Slipek auf der Autobahn einmal gebracht, was er seitdem kein zweites Mal versucht hat. Viel mehr Freude bereite das Auto in der Stadt - auch, weil es ein Rechtslenker ist. Aussteigen kann Wolfgang Slipek auf der gefahrlosen Seite am Bürgersteig.

    Der Nachfolger fährt mit Hybrid

    Als rechtsgelenktes TX4-Modell ist Wolfgang Slipeks Auto das einzige London Taxi seiner Art in Deutschland. Regelmäßig wird sein LTI deshalb für Film- und Fernsehproduktionen gebucht. Die Barefoot Films von Til Schweiger etwa haben laut Slipek schon öfters gebucht, in der TV-Soap „Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten“ sei sein Taxi sogar über ein Jahr lang in die Story eingesponnen worden. Darüber hinaus bietet er Hochzeits- und andere Sonderfahrten mit seinem zumindest in Deutschland skurrilen Gefährt an.

    Zehn Jahre will Wolfgang Slipek noch in Berlin Taxi fahren, dann möchte er „runter vom Bock“. Am liebsten wäre ihm, wenn sein TX4 so lange durchhält. Momentan stehen 273.000 Kilometer auf der Uhr. Die Türen haben bereits sichtbar Rost angesetzt.

    Ein wenig liebäugelt der 58-Jährige mit dem Nachfolgemodell TX5, das seit einigen Monaten auf dem Markt ist. Die London Taxi Company (LTI) musste zwar im Jahr 2012 Insolvenz anmelden. Doch ein Jahr später stiegen chinesische Investoren ein, inzwischen gehört das Traditionsunternehmen dem Geely-Konzern, der auch schon Volvo gekauft hatte. Geely setzt auf alternative Antriebe. Das hat seinen Grund: Londons versmogte Innenstadt soll zur Umweltzone werden, seit Anfang des Jahres werden dort nur noch Taxis mit Elektro- oder Hybridantrieb neuzugelassen.

    Mit Ledersitzen kann das London Taxi leider nicht aufwarten, immerhin gibt es eine Armlehne Mit Ledersitzen kann das London Taxi leider nicht aufwarten, immerhin gibt es eine Armlehne

    Den TX4 verkauft London Taxi, inzwischen LEVC, zwar noch. Inzwischen mit Euro-6-Zulassung, für umgerechnet 52.000 Euro. Der Neue, nur noch „TX“, ist ein Plug-in-Hybrid. Der Dreizylinder-Verbrenner kommt von Volvo, die Lithium-Ionen-Batterie für den Elektromotor kann via Steckdose oder unterwegs über Benzin nachgeladen werden. Die Gesamtreichweite soll mit vollem Tank und aufgeladenen Akkus 1.400 Kilometer betragen.

    Taxifahrer Wolfgang Slipek ist von der neuen TX-Generation sehr angetan. Ein Elektroauto sei nicht nur vom Antrieb her zeitgemäß, sagt er. Als Taxi sei der TX5 auch noch praktischer, noch geräumiger, schwärmt Slipek: Statt zwei gebe es im Fond nun sogar drei Klappsitze. Very British!

    Technische Daten: London Taxi LTI TX4 (2007)

    Motor: Vierzylinder-Turbodiesel
    Leistung: 102 PS (75 kW)
    bei U/min: 3.800
    Getriebe: Automatik
    Antriebsart: Heckantrieb
    Höchstgeschwindigkeit: ca. 140 km/h
    Leergewicht: 1.900 kg
    Länge: 4,580 m
    Breite: 2,036 m
    Höhe: 1,834 m
    Radstand: 2,886 m
    Wendekreis: 8,3 m

    #Berlin #London #Taxi

  • Full Set of Blue Book Runs (001-320)
    https://www.taxitradepromotions.co.uk/green-badge-blue-book-runs/10002.25.html


    Das ist eine kommerzielle Anleitung zum Erlernen des „the knowledge“.

    We are very excited to announce you can now purchase the FULL SET of our new style Blue Book Runs. All 8 books containing all 320 Runs are now available to buy in store and online. There are two versions, Colour (£150) and Black & White (£110). These new Transport for London approved runs have been professionally produced and offer the following features:

    • The most up to date Blue Book Runs available.

    • Large scale accurate bespoke 1/4 mile mapping (no need for an atlas) showing:
      • 8 points plotted with full address.
      • Many One-way Streets / No Left and Right Turns.
      • Blue Book Run arrival and departure highlighted routes.

    • The most up to date Link Runs connecting the end of one Blue Book Run to the next.

    • Plenty of space for your own notes, no need to take a notepad out on the road.

    • Produced in a A4 landscape 4 hole punched single sheet format for ease of use and storage.

    • Supplied in a A4 clear waterproof pocket which slips over your knowledge board to protect your paperwork.

    • Created using our 30 plus years experience in teaching the Knowledge of London.

    #Taxi #London #Ortskundeprüfung

  • The Hackney Hack
    http://hackneyhack.com

    Alle erforderlichen Ressourcen um sich „the knowledge“ anzueignen

    A look into what’s involved in learning the knowledge of London.

    runs http://hackneyhack.com/knowledge_of_london_320_blue_book_runs_by_postcode_north_london.html
    postcode map http://hackneyhack.com/interactive_london_postcode_map_.html

    Exploring the Blue Book Runs, Points of Interest, Books, App’s, Software and anything else that helps in the pursuit of gaining the coveted Green Badge & becoming a London Black Cab Driver.

    THE HACKNEY HACK
    The knowledge of London is a massive undertaking and I have a new found respect for anyone that has passed out and got their green badge.

    This site is just for keeping links and things I design like the London postcode map all together in one place. If you get anything from this website then great, be my guest, if it has saved you time or money then please donate £2.00 a month to London Taxi P.R. who are working hard for your future as a Black Cab Driver.

    Lastly this site cannot replace the expertise that a knowledge school can provide, the single best bit of advice I have had while out on the bike was being told to go along to one of the knowledge schools for the introductory class, a must for beginners, see the links below.

     LINKS
    Some handy links I’ve found,

    London Taxi Radio is great for keeping you informed with the trade and doesn’t hold any punches, The Cab Chat Show takes a lighter look, Jamie and the gang put out a great show every Wednesday. 
    http://www.londontaxiradio.co.uk
    http://cabchat.london

    If you need a TAXI stick your arm out or download the app.
    http://www.taxiapp.uk.com

    Black Cab Knowledge Guy
    https://blackcabknowledgeguy.wordpress.com

    Cabbie Blog
    http://www.cabbieblog.com

    Pubcat London Taxi Log
    https://pubcat.co/author/pubcatblog

    Knowledge Schools -

    Wizann
    https://www.wizann.co.uk/free-classes
    Knowledge Point School
    http://www.taxitradepromotions.co.uk/green-badge-knowledge-free-introductory-ses.html

    TFL Consultations
    https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/consultation_finder/?sort_on=iconsultable_enddate&sort_order=descending&ho=yes&adv

    https://www.taxinewspaper.co.uk
    https://lcdc.uk
    https://www.taxi-point.co.uk
    http://londontaxipr.com
    https://taxileaks.blogspot.com

    “SUCCESS IS NOT FINAL, FAILURE IS NOT FATAL, IT IS THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THAT COUNTS.”

    #Taxi #London #Ortskundeprüfung

  • List of the 320 Blue Book Runs
    http://hackneyhack.com/320_blue_book_runs_list.html
    Die Ortskundeprüfung der Londoner Taxifahrer umfasst 320 Zielfahrten, genannt runs , die in Abschnitten von 80 gelernt und geprüft werden. Hier sind sie alle:

    1 – Manor House Station, N4 to Gibson Square, N1
    2 - Thornhill Square, N1 to Queen Square, WC1
    3 - Chancery Lane Station, WC1 to Rolls Road, SE1
    4 - Pages Walk, SE1 to St. Martin’s Theatre, WC2
    5 - Australian High Commission, WC2 to Paddington Station, W2
    6 - Lancaster Gate, W2 to Royal Free Hospital, NW3
    7 - Fitzjohn’s Avenue, NW3 to Fitzhardinge Street, W1
    8 - Ritz Hotel, W1 to Battersea Park Station, SW8
    9 - Ponton Road, SW8 to Camberwell Grove, SE5
    10 - Knatchbull Road, SE5 to Surrey Quays Station, SE16
    11 - Timber Pond Road, SE16 to Grocers Hall Court, EC2
    12 - Barbican, EC2 to Mile End Station, E3
    13 - Beaumont Square, E1 to Cannon Wharf Business Centre, SE8
    14 - New Cross Station, SE14 to National Maritime Museum, SE10
    15 - Maze Hill Station, SE10 to Abbey Road, E15
    16 - West Ham Station, E15 to Dalston Kingsland Station, E8
    17 - Graham Road, E8 to Hanover Gate, Regent’s Park, NW1
    18 - Baker Street Station, NW1 to Halkin Street, SW1
    19 - Lowndes Square, SW1 to Hurlingham Club, SW6
    20 - Fulham High Street, SW6 to Powis Square, W11
    21 - Walmer Road, W11 to Wales Farm Road, W3
    22 - Old Oak Lane, NW10 to Charing Cross Hospital, W6
    23 - Ravenscourt Park, W6 to Gwendolen Avenue, SW15
    24 - Manor Fields, SW15 to Bedford Hill, SW12
    25 - Nightingale Lane, SW12 to Carlyle Square, SW3
    26 - The Boltons, SW10 to Campden Hill Square, W8
    27 - Woodsford Square, W14 to Chiswick Mall, W4
    28 - Turnham Green Station, W4 to Oxford Gardens, W10
    29 - Golborne Road, W10 to Pennine Drive, NW2
    30 - Marble Drive, NW2 to Chetwynd Road, NW5
    31 - Kentish Town Station, NW5 to West Smithfield, EC1
    32 - Armoury House, EC1 to Tower Bridge, SE1
    33 - Sumner Street, SE1 to Mostyn Road, SW9
    34 - Stockwell Park Road, SW9 to West Dulwich Station, SE21
    35 - Frank Dixon Way, SE21 to Cedars Road, SW4
    36 - Clapham North Station, SW4 to Mitcham Lane, SW16
    37 - Ambleside Avenue, SW16 to Sydenham Hill, SE26
    38 - Stanstead Road, SE23 to Milkwood Road, SE24
    39 - Brixton Water Lane, SW2 to Forest Hill Road, SE22
    40 - Barry Road, SE22 to Kennington Cross, SE11
    41 - Kennington Station, SE11 to Nunhead Station, SE15
    42 - Lyndhurst Way, SE15 to Royal Circus, SE27
    43 - St. Julian’s Farm Road, SE27 to Cranmer Terrace, SW17
    44 - Tooting Bec Station, SW17 to Dulwich Wood Park, SE19
    45 - Crown Dale, SE19 to Crofton Park Station, SE4
    46 - Ravensbourne Park, SE6 to Lewisham Station, SE13
    47 - Belmont Hill, SE13 to Pepys Road, SE14
    48 - Sanford Street, SE14 to Lime Street, EC3
    49 - Shadwell Station, E1 to The Oval, SE11
    50 - Lorrimore Square, SE17 to Central Criminal Court, EC4
    51 - Southwark Bridge, EC4 to Goldsmith’s Row, E2
    52 - Cambridge Heath Station, E2 to Mudchute Station, E14
    53 - Billingsgate Market, E14 to Lauriston Road, E9
    54 - Morning Lane, E9 to Silvertown Way, E16
    55 - Star Lane, E16 to Lammas Road E10
    56 - Spitalfields Market, E10 to Manse Road, N16
    57 - Albion Road, N16 to Hornsey Rise, N19
    58 - St. John’s Way, N19 to Woodstock Avenue, NW11
    59 - Wentworth Road, NW11 to Muswell Hill Road, N10
    60 - Fortis Green, N2 to West Green Road, N15
    61 - South Tottenham Station, N15 to Rushmore Road, E5
    62 - Lower Clapton Road, E5 to Market Road, N7
    63 - Holloway Road Station, N7 to Turnpike Lane, N8
    64 - Tottenham Lane, N8 to St. Edmunds Terrace, NW8
    65 - St. John’s Wood Station, NW8 to Brompton Oratory, SW7
    66 - Melton Court, SW7 to Southfields Station, SW18
    67 - Buckhold Road, SW18 to Arundel Terrace, SW13
    68 - Verdun Road, SW13 to Victoria Drive, SW19
    69 - Wimbledon Park Road, SW19 to Plough Road, SW11
    70 - Broomwood Road, SW11 to Philbeach Gardens, SW5
    71 - West Brompton Station, SW5 to East Acton Station, W12
    72 - Sawley Road, W12 to Warrington Crescent, W9
    73 - Maida Vale Station, W9 to Dollis Hill Station, NW10
    74 - Brent Magistrates’ Court, NW10 to Finchley Road Station, NW3
    75 - Fortune Green Road, NW6 to South Grove, N6
    76 - Bishopswood Road, N6 to Westbury Avenue, N22
    77 - Mayes Road, N22 to Highbury Grove, N5
    78 - Petherton Road, N5 to Town Hill Approach Road, N17
    79 - Downhills Park Road, N17 to East Finchley Station, N2
    80 - Lyttelton Road, N2 to Harringay Greens Lanes Station, N4
    81 - Aldwych, WC2 to Gloucester Road Station, SW7
    82 - Cornwall Gardens, SW7 to Norfolk Square, W2
    83 - Leinster Square, W2 to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, WC1
    84 - British Museum, WC1 to Elspeth Road, SW11
    85 - Battersea Arts Centre, SW11 to Imperial War Museum, SE1
    86 - Jubilee Gardens, SE1 to Royal London Hospital, E1
    87 - Arbour Square, E1 to Sadler’s Wells Theatre. EC1
    88 - Myddleton Square, EC1 to Golden Square, W1
    89 - Palladium Theatre, W1 to Devonshire Square, EC2
    90 - Moorgate Station, EC2 to Canonbury Station, N1
    91 - Canonbury Square, N1 to Townshend Road, NW8
    92 - St. John’s Wood High Street, NW8 to Victoria Coach Station, SW1
    93 - Buckingham Palace, SW1 to Loughborough Junction Station, SW9
    94 - Brixton Market, SW9 to Portland Street, SE17
    95 - Penton Place, SE17 to Narrow Street, E14
    96 - West India Dock Road, E14 to Brookmill Road, SE8
    97 - Deptford Station, SE8 to Honour Oak Park, SE23
    98 - Perry Vale, SE23 to Champion Hill, SE5
    99 - Kings College Hospital, SE5 to Poplar High Street, E14
    100 - Glenworth Avenue, E14 to Burford Road, Stratford, E15
    101 - Stratford Station, E15 to London Chest Hospital, E2
    102 - Bethnal Green Overground Station, E1 to Jamaica Road, SE16
    103 - Salter Road, SE16 to Whitburn Road, SE13
    104 - Ladywell Station, SE13 to East Dulwich Station, SE22
    105 - Overhill Road, SE22 to Marylebone Station, NW1
    106 - Warwick Avenue Station, W9 to Haverstock Hill, NW3
    107 - Primrose Hill Road, NW3 to Donnington Road, NW10
    108 - Craven Park, NW10 to LInden Gardens, W4
    109 - Burlington Lane, W4 to West Hill, SW15
    110 - Lacy Road, SW15 to Olympia, W14
    111 - Oakwood Court, W14 to Carlton Vale, NW6
    112 - Chevening Road, NW6 to Queen’s Gate, SW7
    113 - Royal College of Music, SW7 to Crouch Hill Station, N4
    114 - Harringay Station, N4 to Whitestone Pond, NW3
    115 - New End Square, NW3 to Priory Road, N8
    116 - The Broadway, N8 to Spring Hill, E5
    117 - Warwick Grove, E5 to Angel Station, N1
    118 - York Way, N1 to North Hill, N6
    119 - Highgate Station, N6 to Seven Sisters Station, N15
    120 - Vartry Road, N15 to Oakley Square, NW1
    121 - Euston Station, NW1 to Brixton Prison, SW2
    122 - Streatham Hill Station, SW2 to East Putney Station, SW15
    123 - Dryburgh Road, SW15 to Vicarage Crescent, SW11
    124 - Albert Bridge, SW11 to Streatham Common, SW16
    125 - Leigham Avenue, SW16 to Half Moon Lane, SE24
    126 - Dulwich College, SE21 to Vauxhall Bridge, SW8
    127 - Fentiman Road, SW8 to Wandsworth Prison, SW18
    128 - Swandon Way, SW18 to Landor Road, SW9
    129 - Clapham Common Station, SW4 to Cleveland Square, W2
    130 - Royal Oak Station, W2 to Barons Court Station, W14
    131 - Shortlands, W6 to Edith Grove, SW10
    132 - Elm Park Gardens, SW10 to Exmoor Street, W10
    133 - Pangbourne Avenue, W10 to St. John’s Wood Park, NW8
    134 - Lord’s Cricket Ground, NW8 to Willesden Green Station, NW2
    135 - Dollis Hill Lane, NW2 to Sterne Street, W12
    136 - Lime Grove, W12 to Burton Court, SW3
    137 - Ormonde Gate, SW3 to Leman Street, E1
    138 - Wapping Lane, E1 to Canning Town Station, E16
    139 - East India Station, E14 to London Fields Station, E8
    140 - Homerton Station, E9 to Houndsditch, EC3
    141 - Tower Gateway Station, EC3 to Twelve Trees Crescent, E3
    142 - Parnell Road, E3 to North Greenwich Station, SE10
    143 - Blackwall Lane, SE10 to Southampton Way, SE5
    144 - Queens Road Peckham Station, SE15 to Raymouth Road, SE16
    145 - Redriff Road, SE16 to Bagley’s Lane, SW6
    146 - Seagrave Road, SW6 to Rectory Lane, SW17
    147 - Tooting Broadway Station, SW17 to Jeffreys Road, SW4
    148 - Wandsworth Road Station, SW8 to Ennismore Gardens, SW7
    149 - Montpelier Square, SW7 to Balham Hill, SW12
    150 - Wandsworth Common Station, SW12 to Norwood High Street, SE27
    151 - Sunnyhill Road, SW16 to Honor Oak Road, SE23
    152 - Townley Road, SE22 to Grange Road, SE1
    153 - Stamford Street, SE1 to Stamford Hill, N16
    154 - Cazenove Road, N16 to Malden Road, NW5
    155 - Torriano Avenue, NW5 to The Bishop’s Avenue, N2
    156 - Aylmer Road, N2 to Mackenzie Road, N7
    157 - Caledonian Road Station, N7 to Alexandra Palace, N22
    158 - Muswell Hill, N10 to Avenell Road, N5
    159 - Highbury Fields, N5 to Ruckholt Road, E10
    160 - Abbey Lane, E15 to Balls Pond Road, N1
    161 - Highbury Corner, N1 to Trinity Street, SE1
    162 - Lambeth High Street, SE1 to Hall Road, NW8
    163 - Boundary Road, NW8 to Northampton Square, EC1
    164 - St. John’s Square, EC1 to St. James’s Square. SW1
    165 - St. Stephen’s Club, SW1 to De Vere Gardens, W8
    166 - Vicarage Gate, W8 to Cadogan Gardens, SW3
    167 - Cheyne Walk, SW3 to Pembridge Square, W2
    168 - Bayswater Station, W2 to St. George’s Square, SW1
    169 - Victoria Station, SW1 to Liverpool Street Station, EC2
    170 - Leonard Street, EC2 to Thessaly Road, SW8
    171 - Union Road, SW8 to Red Lion Square, WC1
    172 - Mecklenburgh Square, WC1 to Eastcheap, EC3
    173 - Blackfriars Station, EC4 to Bryanston Street, W1
    174 - Grosvenor Square, W1 to Amelia Street, SE17
    175 - Black Prince Road, SE11 to Agar Grove, NW1
    176 - Hawley Road, NW1 to Bryanston Square, W1
    177 - Savile Row, W1 to Spa Road, SE16
    178 - Rotherhithe Station, SE16 to Bow Church Station, E3
    179 - Knapp Road, E3 to Burwell Road, E10
    180 - Gateway Road, E10 to Dunloe Street, E2
    181 - Arnold Circus, E2 to Salmon Lane, E14
    182 - Cabot Square, E14 to Vallance Road, E1
    183 - Cannon Street Road, E1 to Temple Mill Lane, E15
    184 - Carpenters Road, E15 to Clapton Station, E5
    185 - Downs Road, E5 to Princes Circus, WC2
    186 - St. Martin’s Lane, WC2 to Fulham Broadway Station, SW6
    187 - Eel Brook Common, SW6 to Phillimore Gardens, W8
    188 - Lexham Gardens, W8 to Church Road, SW13
    189 - Barnes Bridge Station, SW13 to Bromyard Avenue, W3
    190 - Acton Central Station, W3 to Kilburn Priory, NW6
    191 - Priory Road, NW6 to Chepstow Road, W2
    192 - Oxford Square, W2 to Latimer Road Station, W10
    193 - Kensal Road, W10 to Kings Cross Station, N1
    194 - Rodney Street, N1 to Hampstead Heath Station, NW3
    195 - Belsize Park Station, NW3 to Tollington Way, N7
    196 - Holloway Prison, N7 to Golders Green Station, NW11
    197 - Meadway Gate, NW11 to Park Road, N8
    198 - Hornsey Station, N8 to Stoke Newington Station, N16
    199 - Lordship Road, N16 to Farringdon Station, EC1
    200 - Lever Street, EC1 to Hackney Town Hall, E8
    201 - Broadway Market, E8 to Camberwell Church Street, SE5
    202 - Camberwell Road, SE5 to Lancaster Avenue, SE27
    203 - Gipsy Road, SE27 to Vassall Road, SW9
    204 - Wiltshire Road, SW9 to Clapham Junction Station, SW11
    205 - Latchmere Road, SW11 to Elmbourne Road, SW17
    206 - Franciscan Road, SW17 to Wimbledon Park Station, SW19
    207 - Earlsfield Station, SW18 to Dawes Road, SW6
    208 - Parsons Green Station, SW6 to South Lambeth Road, SW8
    209 - Silverthorne Road, SW8 to Belsize Square, NW3
    210 - Swiss Cottage Station, NW3 to Middleway, NW11
    211 - North End Road, NW11 to Christchurch Avenue, NW6
    212 - Queen’s Park Station, NW6 to Camden Street, NW1
    213 - York Gate, NW1 to Hyde Park Gardens, W2
    214 - Paddington Green, W2 to Askew Road, W12
    215 - Linford Christie Stadium, W12 to Cadogan Square, SW1
    216 - Ebury Bridge Road, SW1 to Elgar Street, SE16
    217 - The New Den, SE16 to Greenwich South Street, SE10
    218 - Greenwich Market, SE10 to Brockley View, SE6
    219 - Breakspears Road, SE4 to Limeharbour, E14
    220 - Abbott Road, E14 to Fenchurch Street Station, EC3
    221 - Brick Lane, E1 to Kinglake Street, SE17
    222 - Rodney Road, SE17 to Kender Street, SE14
    223 - Meeting House Lane, SE15 to Molesworth Street, SE13
    224 - Howson Road, SE4 to Evelyn Street, SE8
    225 - New Cross Gate Station, SE14 to West Side Clapham Common, SW4
    226 - King’s Avenue, SW4 to Lower Richmond Road, SW15
    227 - Dover House Road, SW15 to Brompton Square, SW3
    228 - Petyward, SW3 to Merton Road, SW18
    229 - Allfarthing Lane, SW18 to Drewstead Road, SW16
    230 - Streatham Place, SW2 to Waldram Park Road, SE23
    231 - London Road, SE23 to Peckham Rye Station, SE15
    232 - Peckham Park Road, SE15 to Tulse Hill, SW2
    233 - Lambeth Town Hall, SW2 to Lambeth Palace, SE1
    234 - Marshalsea Road, SE1 to Tollington Road, N7
    235 - Tufnell Park Road, N7 to St. Ann’s Road, N15
    236 - Turnpike Lane Station, N15 to Malvern Road, E8
    237 - Albion Square, E8 to Upper Holloway Station, N19
    238 - Archway Station, N19 to Gloucester Gate, NW1
    239 - Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, NW1 to Sheldon Avenue, N6
    240 - Highgate Cemetery, N6 to Stoke Newington Church Street, N16
    241 - Clissold Park, N16 to Wilmington Square, WC1
    242 - University College Hospital, WC1 to Carlton Hill, NW8
    243 - Delaware Road, W9 to Camden Square, NW1
    244 - Park Square East, NW1 to Weston Street, SE1
    245 - Tanner Street, SE1 to Artillery Row, SW1
    246 - Warwick Square, SW1 to York Road, SW11
    247 - Battersea Church Road, SW11 to Goodge Street Station, W1
    248 - Half Moon Street, W1 to Fairhazel Gardens, NW6
    249 - Victoria Road, NW6 to De Beauvoir Square, N1
    250 - Penn Street, N1 to Portland Place, W1
    251 - Cavendish Square, W1 to Metropolitan Tabernacle, SE1
    252 - London Bridge Station, SE1 to Squirries Street, E2
    253 - Sidney Square, E1 to Covent Garden Station, WC2
    254 - Surrey Street, WC2 to Peckham Rye, SE15
    255 - Consort Road, SE15 to Ministry of Defence, SW1
    256 - Parliament Square, SW1 to Golden Lane, EC14
    257 - Finsbury Circus, EC2 to Wick Road, E9
    258 - Well Street, E9 to Finsbury Park Station, N4
    259 - Tollington Park, N4 to Forest Road, E8
    260 - Hackney Central Station, E8 to Sidmouth Street, WC1
    261 - Cartwright Gardens, WC1 to Thomas Moore Street, E1
    262 - Glamis Road, E1 to Wordsworth Road, N16
    263 - Aberdeen Road, N5 to Old Street Station, EC1
    264 - Moorfields Eye Hospital, EC1 to Landsdowne Way, SW8
    265 - Caldwell Street, SW9 to Burntwood Lane, SW17
    266 - Streatham Cemetery, SW17 to Queen’s Ride, SW13
    267 - Stevenage Road, SW6 to B.B.C. Television Centre, W12
    268 - Glenthorne Road, W6 to Sutherland Grove, SW18
    269 - Huguenot Place, SW18 to Sloane Square Station, SW1
    270 - Lupus Street, SW1 to Thornton Road, SW12
    271 - Boundaries Road, SW12 to Peterborough Road, SW6
    272 - Townmead Road, SW6 to Old Compton Street, W1
    273 - Tottenham Court Road Station, W1 to Flood Street, SW3
    274 - Royal Hospital, SW3 to Ilderton Road, SE15
    275 - Sumner Road, SE15 to Central Hill, SE19
    276 - Salters Hill, SE19 to Christchurch Road, SW2
    277 - Herne Hill Station, SE24 to Waterloo Station, SE1
    278 - Webber Street, SE1 to Brockley Station, SE4
    279 - Adelaide Avenue, SE4 to Sydenham Hill Station, SE21
    280 - Kirkdale, SE26 to Southwark Crown Court, SE1
    281 - St. Paul’s Station, EC1 to Pancras Road, NW1
    282 - Cumberland Market, NW1 to High Street Kensington Station, W8
    283 - Kensington Mall, W8 to Iverson Road, NW6
    284 - Brondesbury Park Station, NW6 to Holland Park Station, W11
    285 - Arundel Gardens, W11 to Kensal Green Station, NW10
    286 - High Street, NW10 to Temple Fortune Hill, NW11
    287 - Brent Cross Station, NW11 to Gospel Oak Station, NW5
    288 - Highgate Road, NW5 to High Street, N8
    289 - Cholmeley Park, N6 to Cricklewood Station, NW2
    290 - Shoot Up Hill, NW2 to Gloucester Avenue, NW1
    291 - Holmes Road, NW5 to Shepherdess Walk, N1
    292 - Essex Road Station, N1 to Hackney Wick Station, E9
    293 - Old Ford Road, E3 to Tiller Road, E14
    294 - Chrisp Street, E14 to Museum of London, EC2
    295 - Great Eastern Street, EC2 to Shacklewell Lane, E8
    296 - Amhurst Road, E8 to Fortess Road, NW5
    297 - Kentish Town West Station, NW5 to Lisson Grove, NW8
    298 - Abercorn Place, NW8 to Three Kings Yard, W1
    299 - Paddington Street, W1 to Fernhead Road, W9
    300 - Chippenham Road, W9 to Queen’s Club Gardens, W14
    301 - West Kensington Station, W14 to Cambridge Road, SW11
    302 - Bolingbroke Grove, SW11 to Munster Road, SW6
    303 - Chelsea Harbour Drive, SW10 to Marsham Street, SW1
    304 - Belgrave Square, SW1 to Bouverie Street, EC4
    305 - Cannon Street Station, EC4 to Southgate Road, N1
    306 - Pitfield Street, N1 to Junction Road, N19
    307 - Brownswood Road, N4 to West Hampstead Station, NW6
    308 - Chichele Road, NW2 to Royal Crescent, W11
    309 - St. Mark’s Road, W11 to Fitzroy Square, W1
    310 - Mortimer Street, W1 to Blythe Road, W14
    311 - Warwick Gardens, W14 to Harlesden Station, NW10
    312 - Chamberlayne Road, NW10 to Conningham Road, W12
    313 - South Africa Road, W12 to Brondesbury Station, NW6
    314 - Kilburn Lane, W10 to Bolton Gardens, SW5
    315 - Earl’s Court Station, SW5 to Regency Street, SW1
    316 - Lambeth North Station, SE1 to Finborough Road, SW10
    317 - Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, SW10 to Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2
    318 - Leicester Square, WC2 to The Guildhall, EC2
    319 - Bancroft Road, E1 to St. Peters Street, N1
    320 - Copenhagen Street, N1 to Charing Cross Station, WC2

    #Taxi #London #Ortskundeprüfung

  • Learn the Knowledge of London - Transport for London
    https://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london

    As taxis can be hailed in the street and asked to go anywhere, taxi drivers must have a thorough knowledge of London. This is why taxi drivers have to learn and pass the world-famous Knowledge.
    London’s taxi service is the best in the world, in part because our cab drivers know the quickest routes through London’s complicated road network. There are thousands of streets and landmarks within a six mile radius of Charing Cross. Anyone who wants to drive an iconic London cab must memorize them all: the Knowledge of London.

    The Knowledge was introduced as a requirement for taxi drivers in 1865.

    Mastering the Knowledge typically takes students three to four years; it’s a challenge, but plenty of help and support is available if you are determined.

    As a taxi driver, you can choose when and where you work and how much you earn. Do you have the pride and passion it takes to become a London cabbie?

    Our Knowledge of London prospectus tells you how you can become a London taxi driver.

    How to become a London taxi driver - Knowledge of London prospectus

    https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/knowledgeoflondonprospectus.pdf PDF 3.98MB

    The World’s Toughest Taxi Test

    Learning the Knowledge
    There are two different types of London taxi drivers:

    All London (green badge) - Drivers can ply for hire anywhere in the Greater London Authority area
    Suburban (yellow badge) - Drivers can ply for hire in one of the nine sectors in the suburbs of the Greater London Authority area
    Whichever licence you choose to apply for, you will have to accumulate an encyclopedic knowledge of the streets and places of interest in that area. This will prove you can navigate your way around the Capital.

    To become a London taxi driver you need to send us an application. Find out about applying for a taxi driver licence.

    Following satisfactory character and medical checks, you will be sent a Knowledge of London introductory pack.

    In this pack you will be given:

    A copy of the guide to learning the Knowledge of London (the Blue Book)
    A booklet of advice on how to learn the Knowledge and how you will be assessed
    The Blue Book lists 320 routes (known as “runs”) within the six mile radius of Charing Cross. You will need to learn these routes, plus all the roads and landmarks within a quarter mile radius of the start and end points of each route.

    Knowledge of London Initial talk
    You will be invited to attend an initial talk with other successful candidates. Here you will receive advice from a Knowledge of London examiner about the different stages of the Knowledge and the best way to approach your studies.

    The Knowledge is done in seven stages, which are outlined here.

    Stage 1: Self assessment
    To check you’re on the right track, within six months of starting you can take the self-assessment, which is based on the first 80 runs in the Blue Book. Taking the self-assessment is optional and no record of the result is made.

    Stage 2: Written examination
    When you are ready, you will sit the written examination. You will be tested on your knowledge of the Blue Book runs (five questions) and the major landmarks ("points") along the way (25 questions). This is a multiple choice test and the pass mark is 60%. This test must be undertaken within two years of being sent your introductory pack.

    Stages 3-5: Appearances
    You will then attend a series of one-to-one oral “appearances” with an examiner. Each appearance usually consists of four questions about the shortest route between any two points in London. An appearance takes about 20 minutes, and you’ll get a score from A-D.

    Depending on your score you will accumulate points; when you have enough you will progress to the next stage, when appearances will become more frequent. However, if you get too many Ds, you may be put back to a previous stage.

    At Stage 3, appearances are about 56 days apart, at Stage 4 they are about 28 days apart, and at Stage 5 they are about 21 days apart. On average you will have to score on four appearances to accumulate enough points to progress to the next stage.

    Stage 6: Suburban examination
    You will need to demonstrate a good working knowledge of London’s suburbs by learning an additional 25 routes.

    Stage 7: Licence application and pre-licensing talk
    Well done! You can make the final application for the issue of your licence. You will then join a group of other successful candidates to receive advice about your responsibilities as a taxi driver from a Knowledge of London examiner. You will also be given your badge and licence at the talk.

    Download a detailed description of the Knowledge test.

    Knowledge of London learning and examination process

    PDF 814KB

    Using a scooter
    Most people who apply to become a licensed taxi driver and take the Knowledge of London exam use a scooter to help learn the runs.

    For information about riding a scooter or bike safely visit ScooterSafe-London or BikeSafe-London.

    Knowledge schools
    You may want to attend one of several Knowledge schools to help you study for appearances. These are independent schools that are not controlled or regulated by Transport for London.

    E4 Knowledge School
    Open: Fridays 14.00 - 17.00 Contact: Tom Quigley
    Email: e4kol@aol.co.uk
    Address: Nuffield Gym Chingford New Road Chingford E4 9EY

    Knowledge Companion
    About: Run by green badge drivers, Knowledge Companion aims to improve your visual Knowledge of London - critical to getting you to the level where you can “see” your way around London at the speed and quality the examiners need to recognise. We do this by providing a library of on-line videos, a library of 17,000 photographed and analysed points, and a systematic appearance question sheet that helps you start covering the detail of London from your first day starting out on the Knowledge. We use a system of simple low-cost weekly and monthly subscriptions with no hidden charges.
    Email: admin@knowledgecompanion.co.uk
    Website:www.knowledgecompanion.co.uk 
    Phone: 07915 231 669

    Knowledge Point School
    Open: Monday to Friday 10:00-17.00
    About: Established in 1985, Knowledge Point is London’s most central and well established Knowledge school. We are placed between Kings Cross and Caledonian Road Station. We have online classes and facilities to accommodate all levels of Knowledge students and our teachers are not only qualified taxi drivers but qualified teachers also.
    Email: admin@taxitradepromotions.co.uk
    Website: www.taxitradepromotions.co.uk
    Twitter: @taxitradepro / Facebook: Knowledge Point School Limited
    Phone: 020 7700 3999,
    Address: Knowledge Point Central, 39-41 Brewery Road (1st Floor London Taxi Company headquarters), Islington, London N7 9QH
    Online Classes: https://www.taxitradepromotions.co.uk/kplive

    The London Knowledge School
    Open: Monday to Friday 08:00 to 20:00 with extended hours Tuesday to Thursday until 22:00.
    About: The London Knowledge School is an extremely encouraging, friendly, welcoming, inclusive school to learn the Knowledge of London. We are based in Grays, Essex near the A13 and M25.
    Email: info@thelondonknowledgeschool.co.uk
    Website: www.thelondonknowledgeschool.co.uk
    Phone: 01375 371 247
    Address: Lawrence Trading Estate, Askew Farm Road, Grays, Essex RM17 5XE

    WizAnn
    Open: For study 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Reception is open Monday to Thursday 10:30 -14.00.
    About: WizAnn Knowledge school offers classes, apps and study materials at all levels. We provide quiet study facilities for all levels in a modern, clean environment. Our introductory seminar for beginners is available on YouTube. 
    Email: wizann@wizann.co.uk
    Website: www.wizann.co.uk
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/WizAnn
    Phone: 07740 753488 /020 3289 9114
    Address: unit 2a, 16 Blount Street, London E14 7BZ

    Contact the Knowledge department
    If you have any special needs or learning difficulties such as dyslexia please contact the Knowledge department to ensure that you receive reasonable adjustments at your appearances. You will be required to send proof to ensure appropriate adjustments are made.

    If at any time during the examination process you have a complaint or a query you should contact us. All complaints and appeals are treated in confidence and will not have any adverse effect on your progress through the examination system.

    While studying the Knowledge you are obliged to notify us of any changes in your status, such as the following:

    Change of name and address
    Any cautions, convictions or charges
    Further information such as Driving Standards Agency Certificate
    How to contact us:

    Telephone: 0343 222 4444 (TfL call charges)
    Email: TPHKnowledge@tfl.gov.uk

    #Taxi #London #Ortskundeprüfung

  • Can Public Transit Survive the Pandemic?
    https://time.com/5951769/andy-byford-mta-tfl-interview

    Unvorstellbar in Deutschland, normal im angelsächsischen Neoliberalismus: Der ÖPNV geht pleite. Londons U-Bahn und Bussystem wirdt zu 75% mit Fahrgeld bezahlt, dazu kommen Einnahmen aus Vermietung und verschiedenen Geschäften. ÖPNV als staatliche Angelegenheit im Sinne aller gibt es nicht. Entsprechend klein ist der Anteil der Öffentlichen Hand an der Finanzierung des ÖPNV in der 9-Millionen-Metropole. Der neue Tube-Chef Andy Byford kämpft darum, dies zu ändern. Anderenfalls sieht er eine Abwärtsspirale bei Taktzeiten, Linien und Qualität kommen. Die kurzsichtig auf Profit und Cashflow orientierte liberale Ideologie gefährdet die Zukunft Londons.

    London’s New Transport Commissioner Wants You to Believe It Can

    2.4.2020. by Ciara Nugent/London - Andy Byford was feeling guilty.

    It was March 2020, and he had just left his job as head of the New York City Transit Authority, after Governor Andrew Cuomo moved him off a massive revamp of the ailing subways. Stuck in his English hometown of Plymouth because of pandemic travel restrictions, he sat feeling “frustrated and impotent” as COVID-19 decimated ridership and revenues in public transit in New York and around the world. “Had I known the full horror of what was to emerge,” Byford, 55, says grimly, “I would have put my resignation on hold and stayed to see New York City transit through the crisis.” He even reached out to the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and offered to come back, he says.

    But Byford, one of the world’s most respected transport leaders, didn’t have to go back across the pond to find a transit system that needed his help. In June 2020, he took over as commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), the agency responsible for the city’s public transit. On a chilly mid-December afternoon, a 3 p.m. sunset already dulling the blue over the British capital’s skyline, Byford sits straight-backed in a glass-paneled meeting room at TfL’s headquarters and lays out the “sobering” state of the system. TfL’s sprawling network of underground or “tube” trains—the world’s oldest—lost 95% of its passengers in the first lockdown of spring 2020, and buses, boats and overground trains fared little better, hemorrhaging around £80 million ($110 million) a week during the strictest periods of lockdown. As the city lurched in and out of restrictions, tube ridership never climbed above 35% of 2019 levels.

    The pandemic has not only caused an immediate fall in ticket revenues for the world’s public transit networks—rail ridership in Barcelona, Moscow, Beijing and New York City at times plummeting 80%—in some cities it also has thrown into question the future of mass urban transportation. Like the sleek 11-story building where Byford was one of a handful of employees not working from home this winter, offices from San Francisco to Hong Kong sit mostly empty. Major companies contemplate a shift to remote work, and city residents consider moves out of the crowded, polluted urban centers that have made lockdowns more unpleasant. Fears of sharing confined spaces with strangers have fueled soaring demand for used cars in Mexico, India and Europe. A U.K. survey found attitudes toward public transit had been set back by two decades, with only 43% of drivers open to using their car less, even if public transport improves.

    The implications reach beyond Byford’s industry. If people move from mass transit to cars, government targets on reducing emissions to fight climate change will move out of reach. Low-income communities and essential workers will be stuck with poorly funded or bankrupt systems as the wealthy move in cars or stay home. Economies will slow as it becomes more difficult for workers, consumers and businesses to reach one another. “Transportation policy is climate policy, economic policy and equity policy,” says Janette Sadik-Khan, who served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Restoring transit to full strength and investing in its future has to be viewed with the same urgency as restoring water or power lines after a national natural disaster.”

    Byford is trying to persuade the U.K. to do just that. His relentless chipperness and nerdish fascination with intervals between train arrivals belie his success as a shrewd political negotiator. Resisting what he calls “the unsophisticated knee-jerk reaction” of service cuts, he has helped secure more than £3 billion in funding packages to keep TfL running. But he says ensuring cities have the transit systems they need in five years requires more than just stopgap crisis solutions. Byford is pushing for new innovations during the pandemic, an overhaul of TfL’s funding model and a longer-term multibillion-dollar government-support deal. “My message to our leaders is: Don’t see transit as part of the problem,” he says. “It’s part of the pathway out of the pandemic.” If he can set London on that path, he’ll give city leaders around the world a road map to follow.

    As a teenager growing up in Plymouth, a coastal city home to the largest naval base in Western Europe, Byford had thought he might join the navy. In the end, after leaving university, he brought his efficiency and leadership skills straight to TfL, working as a tube-station foreman. It was something of a family business: his father had worked there, and his grandfather had driven a bus for 40 years, including through the Blitz when German bombs pounded London in World War II. But he was mostly drawn, he says earnestly, by “the buzz of operations, never knowing what the next day will bring” and “a passion for customer service.”

    Byford sees himself as “naturally gregarious.” That quality—exercised in regular trips around TfL’s network to meet Londoners—has powered him through a career in the often thankless task of being the face of city transit systems. After leaving TfL and working on England’s railways in the 2000s, he took over the trains in Sydney. He speaks cornily about fostering “team spirit” and his love of going for a pint with colleagues on a Friday, prepandemic. But he doesn’t suffer fools. While overhauling Toronto’s failing transport commission from 2012 to 2017, he fired the manager of a line-extension project that had dragged on too long and replaced the team himself. At the MTA, he became known for his hands-on attitude, earning the nickname Train Daddy among fans and on social media. Though Byford cut his time in New York short, leaving his “Fast Forward” plan to remake subway signaling, bus routes and station access in his successor’s hands, transit experts hailed him for putting a previously hopeless system on the right path. “Andy’s attitude and his messaging were great, certainly refreshing for our political atmosphere; it was almost more than we deserve,” Sadik-Khan says. “He really restored New Yorkers’ confidence in transit. And that’s a tough hill to climb.”

    Byford’s tenure in London is off to a less glamorous start. He contrasts his arrival at TfL last summer with his first day in New York City in 2018, when he was swarmed by a crowd of reporters at Manhattan’s Bowling Green station, excited to meet the Brit who had come to fix the subways. In pandemic London, there was no welcoming committee. “I just sort of wandered in and told reception who I was,” he says. A gigantic flag that he had commissioned for his MTA office, celebrating his hometown soccer team Plymouth Argyle, now hangs slightly cramped in a small side room at TfL.

    But the scale of his task in London, overseeing 9,000 buses and 250 miles of underground tracks as well as overground rail, cycling, taxis, boats, roads, bridges and tunnels across London’s 600 sq. mi., dwarfs his previous jobs. He must also grapple with TfL’s unique vulnerability to falls in ridership, which on the underground last year reached its lowest level since the 19th century. The network relies on ticket revenue for 72% of its operating income, far higher than the 30%-to-50% norm in major Western transit systems. The rest of TfL’s cash flow comes mostly from road-compliance charges, such as a congestion charge on cars, commercial activities like renting out properties, city taxes and local government grants. Prepandemic, TfL hadn’t received U.K. government funding for operations since 2018, Byford points out proudly.

    Some cities have responded to the loss of passengers with service cuts, including Paris, where authorities cut metro and train service by 10% on most lines this March. In New York, the MTA cut service on two lines by 20% last spring, but the agency has avoided the swinging 40% to 50% service cuts it warned of in late 2020, thanks to federal relief funds. In London, TfL has maintained near normal service throughout the pandemic. Byford says he’s determined to resist “the siren voices that say we should mothball lines, defer maintenance, get rid of capacity in order to achieve a short-term financial objective. Cutting service leads to just a downward spiral.”

    That downward spiral is well documented in cities like Washington, D.C., where deferred maintenance and underinvestment in the 2000s have led to long safety shutdowns. When service becomes more irregular, people who can afford the expense will increasingly drive, take cabs or stop traveling in the city altogether. Ridership continues to fall, so revenue falls, and service and maintenance are cut further. “You end up creating a kind of transit underclass of people who have no other option and are still dependent on a lower-quality offering,” says Yingling Fan, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Minnesota. “Mass transit only works if it has the mass.”

    Keeping the “mass” right now requires support. Byford and Mayor Sadiq Khan negotiated bailouts of £1.6 billion in May and £1.8 billion in October. The deals had to overcome strained relationships between the mayor, who is part of the opposition Labour Party, and the right-wing Conservative government, which has pledged to prioritize other regions in the pandemic recovery. In exchange, Khan agreed to raise city taxes and make £160 million worth of cuts to TfL, mostly in the back office. Two long-term rail-expansion projects have been mothballed.

    But Byford prevented two threatened cuts that he says epitomized the short-term thinking that kills public transit: first, planned signaling updates for the busy Piccadilly line that runs all the way from Heathrow Airport to Piccadilly Circus and beyond; second, the Elizabeth line. The largest rail project in Europe, it will connect eastern and western towns with Central London, adding a full 10% to the network’s capacity. Delayed from its original 2018 completion date, and with some £18 billion already spent, the line narrowly avoided being shelved in November after the U.K. government refused to provide a final £1.1 billion TfL asked for to complete the project. The city agreed to take £825 million as a loan and find a way to deliver the line with that. Byford promises “no more slippage” on the new opening date of 2022.

    Byford is now negotiating with the government on his demand for £3 billion to cover operating costs in 2021 and 2022, and a further £1.6 billion a year until 2030 to allow TfL to reduce its dependence on fares by growing other revenue streams, like its housing division, and make long-term improvements. He argues that TfL is an essential motor of the green recovery that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised. For example, Byford wants to “expedite” the electrification of London’s massive bus fleet, which might compel manufacturers to set up a production line.

    Most urgently, the money is needed to keep the city that provides 23% of U.K. GDP moving. In New York, a study by the NYU Rudin Center found that steep MTA cuts would trigger an annual GDP loss of up to $65 billion. “You can’t just turn public transport on at the drop of a hat,” Byford says, citing the need for continued maintenance and ongoing scaling up of capacity. “You’ve got to keep planning, you’ve got to keep asking: What will the city’s needs be in the future?”

    The pandemic has made that question much harder to answer. London’s population is set to decline in 2021 for the first time in three decades, losing up to 300,000 of its 9 million people, according to a January report by accountancy firm PwC. It’s too soon to say if that’s the start of a long-term postpandemic trend. But even if the population remains stable, a mass shift to home work, predicted by some, would have “enormous implications for the future of public transit use,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA, “because transit’s ability to move a lot of people in the same direction at the same time is its [big advantage over] cars.”

    And a long-term shift from transit to car use in densely packed cities would cause major headaches for city leaders. In New York City, where the number of newly registered vehicles from August to October was 37% higher than in the same period in 2019 across four of the five boroughs, residents compare the fight for parking spaces to The Hunger Games.

    Byford rejects the idea “that mass travel to offices is a thing of the past, or that Central London is going to become some sort of tourist attraction preserved in aspic.” In a “realistic” scenario, he expects TfL ridership to recover to 80% of 2019 levels in the medium term. That still adds up to around £1 billion a year in lost revenue, he says, meaning TfL will have to restructure to make savings and potentially redesign bus routes and some service frequency based on how people are using the city. “But there’s still a lot of things we can do, in public policy and in TfL, to convince people not to get back in their cars,” he says. “My job is to make public transport the irresistible option.”

    The crisis facing public transit over the next few years poses a grim threat to cities, at least in the short term. But city leaders also see hope for the long term in the global reckoning with the status quo that the disruption of COVID-19 has triggered. Many are considering how to use the lessons of this time to positively reshape cities for the postpandemic era. And the loser is cars. From Berlin to Oakland, Calif., roads have been blocked to create miles of new cycle paths, sidewalks have been widened and new plazas created. The “renaissance of innovation” that has occurred over the past year will accelerate cities’ transition to a more sustainable, low-emissions way of life, says Sadik-Khan, whose tenure in New York City was marked by the creation of hundreds of miles of bike lanes.

    In London, as well as widened sidewalks and the creation of new low-traffic neighborhoods, Byford and Khan are making it increasingly expensive to drive in London. Since its introduction in 2003, the city’s congestion charge, a daily levy on cars driving in the city center, has helped cut congestion there by a quarter in three years, and, with support from both right- and left-wing local governments, it has become a model for cities wary of the political risk of upsetting drivers. In June, the city increased the daily charge to $21, from $16, and expanded its hours of operation, for now on a temporary basis. In October, the “ultra-low emissions zone,” which since 2019 has charged more polluting vehicles $17 a day in Central London, will expand to cover a much larger area. And Mayor Khan is considering a new toll for drivers who come in from outside the city. For Byford, who has never owned a car, it’s promising. “The mayor’s goal has always been to increase the percentage of people using public transit, walking or cycling to 80% by 2041,” he says. “Before, that was seen as ambitious. I think we can definitely do that now.”

    The postpandemic moment could potentially be a turning point. “Many are arguing this pause could give us an opportunity to reallocate street space, to reconsider how much curb space we devote to the storage of people’s private property, which cars are,” says Taylor. If cities manage to improve public transit and phase out car use on their streets, in a few years they won’t just have less pollution and lower greenhouse-gas emissions. Streets will be safer and more pleasant to walk through, increasing footfall for retail and hospitality sectors. Businesses will have more flexibility to set up stalls or outdoor seating. Curbs can be redesigned to be more accessible for the disabled. It all depends on the decisions city leaders take now to “intelligently manage automobiles” and protect public transit, Taylor says.

    It may be hard to knock the car off its pedestal in the U.S. Many of its cities were designed around the automobile, and analysts say U.S. policymakers tend to treat public transit as part of the welfare system, rather than as an essential utility as it is considered in Europe and Asia. After the 2008 recession, U.S. transit agencies were forced to make cuts so deep that some had not recovered before the pandemic.

    But transit leaders see some signs of the political support transit needs to survive and thrive. On Feb. 8, the U.S. Congress approved an additional $30 billion for public transit agencies, softening the blow from the $39 billion shortfall predicted by the American Public Transportation Association. And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who spearheaded controversial initiatives to reduce car use as mayor of South Bend, Ind., told his Senate confirmation hearing that the current moment offers a “generational opportunity to transform and improve America’s infrastructure.”

    Global transport is undergoing a transformation, despite the pressures of the pandemic. The market for low-emissions electric buses is thriving, with cities from Bogotá to Delhi ordering hundreds of units over the past year. Transit agencies, including TfL, are partnering with delivery companies to make the “last mile” of trips more efficient. Meanwhile, urban-planning concepts like the “15-Minute City,” championed by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, are scaling back the need for long commutes and unnecessary journeys.

    Fast Forward, Byford’s attempt to transform New York City’s transit, is “somewhat on hold at the moment,” he says. But he urges his former colleagues not to allow the pandemic to wipe out their ambition. “That plan will ultimately serve New York well, and it should not be left on the shelf,” he says. Byford is unlikely to return anytime soon, though. He says he doesn’t miss the complexity of being answerable to both city and state governments, and he loves working with a “very enlightened” mayor in Khan. Pointedly omitting leadership in New York, he adds that he also had “excellent relationships” with two successive mayors in Toronto, the premier of Ontario and the minister of transport in New South Wales.

    Hard as it may be for some New Yorkers to believe, what Byford does miss about his old job these days, as he roams TfL’s quiet trains to monitor the network, is riding the subway. “It’s like a different world underground,” he says, recalling the entertainers and “the kaleidoscope of experiences” he would witness. “In London, people don’t tend to look at each other on the tube, let alone speak. I’m back into being my more reserved British self.”

    #London #Verkehr #Nahverkehr #U-Bahn #covid-19 #Stadtplanung #ÖPNV

  • Matthew Crawford „Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti5pouTlOjg

    Der Mann sagt wahre Worte zu Uber, Londoner Taxifahrern und den Sinn des Autofahrens. Es lohnt sich, die Stunde abzuuzwacken, und ihm zu lauschen. Für weniger des Englischen Kundige bietet Youtube Untertitel mit automatischer Übersetzung.

    Matthew Crawford is a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Culture at the University of Virginia. After majoring in physics as an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Barbara, he earned his PhD in political philosophy from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Shop Class as Soul Craft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work (2009) and The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in the Age of Distraction (2015). His latest book is Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road (2020). This event receives support from Menard, Inc. and from the Jack Miller Center through a grant from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation.

    More about Matthew Crawford
    http://www.matthewbcrawford.com

    #Verkehr #Uber #disruption #London #Taxi

  • Colonial Histories | Open House London 2020
    https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/collections/30

    All buildings tell stories. Stories about the values and aspirations of the societies which created them are etched into the facades of our streets. Yet some stories are harder to read than others. Hidden beneath the surface of many buildings in London are incredible and sometimes bitter stories of Britain’s colonial history. For Open House 2020, we’re embarking on a long term project to tease out and reveal the hidden colonial histories of the architecture we celebrate in the festival.

    #Londres #London #balade_décoloniale #colonialisme #esclavagisme

  • London Statues and the History of Empire

    All stages of colonial history can be traced through statues in our care, beginning with the earliest days of European colonialism, with Christopher Columbus (Belgrave Square), through the centuries of British expansionism and the creation of its Empire – personified by Sir Walter Ralegh (Greenwich) and Robert Clive (King Charles Street). They then mark Britain’s imperial wars of the 19th century, with Lord Napier of Magdala (Queen’s Gate) and General Gordon (Victoria Embankment), and the Empire’s final phases, with Lord Curzon (Carlton House Terrace). The monarchs of the imperial centuries also appear: James II, William III, Queen Anne, George II, George III and Queen Charlotte, and Edward VII.

    https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/london-statues-and-monuments/london-statues-empire

    #empire #colonialisme #esclavagisme #Londres #London #slave_trade #monument

  • 29.09.2020: #Uber erhält Lizenz für London zurück (Tageszeitung junge Welt)
    https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/387379.uber-erh%C3%A4lt-lizenz-f%C3%BCr-london-zur%C3%BCck.html

    #London. Der US-amerikanische Fahrdienstvermittler Uber erhält seine Lizenz in Londen zurück. Das entschied der zuständige Richter Tan Ikram am Montag und erteilte dem Konzern die Erlaubnis, seine Autos wieder in der britischen Hauptstadt einzusetzen. Die dortige Verkehrsbehörde hatte Uber 2019 wegen einer Reihe von Fehlern die Lizenz entzogen. Im Mittelpunkt der Kritik stand neben Versicherungsfragen der Fakt, dass unbefugte Fahrer Gäste abgeholt hatten. (Reuters/jW)

  • „Katastrophe für London“: Uber bekommt neue Lizenz
    https://www.taxi-times.com/eine-katastrophe-fuer-london-uber-bekommt-eine-neue-lizenz-in-london

    28. September 2020 von Wim Faber - Ein Londoner Gericht hat heute entschieden, dass Uber „kein Risiko mehr ist” und die abgelehnte Verlängerung der Lizenz wieder aufgehoben.

    Bereits im September 2017 hatte die Genehmigungsbehörde Transport for London (TfL) zum ersten Mal eine Lizenz verweigert, da Uber für den Betrieb in der Hauptstadt nicht “geeignet oder angemessen“ sei. Der Fahrtenvermittler hatte seinen Dienst trotzdem weiterhin angeboten und gegen den Genehmigungsentzug geklagt. Das Unternehmen argumentierte, dass es sich in den letzten Jahren grundlegend geändert habe. Damit erreichte man eine vorläufige, verkürzte Verlängerung im Berufungsverfahren, jedoch wurde im vergangenen November die Lizenz erneut wegen Identitätsproblemen verweigert. Natürlich legte man auch dagegen sofort Beschwerde ein und bot seinen Dienst weiterhin an.

    Vor der Anhörung hatte Jamie Heywood, Ubers regionaler Generaldirektor, seine Sicht der Dinge dargelegt: “Wir haben in den letzten Monaten hart daran gearbeitet, die Bedenken von TfL auszuräumen, Echtzeit-ID-Prüfungen für Fahrer eingeführt und uns dafür eingesetzt, dass sich die Menschen sicher in der Stadt bewegen.”

    Der stellvertretende Oberrichter Tan Ikram sagte, er habe „genügend Vertrauen, dass Uber London Ltd trotz früherer Mängel kein Risiko mehr für die öffentliche Sicherheit darstellt“. Zu dieser Einschätzung war er gelangt, nachdem er in einer dreitägigen Verhandlung diverse Anhörungen und Zeugenvernehmungen durchgeführt hatte.

    Damit hat man Uber nun genau jene ‘fit and proper’-Eigenschaft wieder zugesprochen, die vor einem Jahr noch angezweifelt worden war. Uber kann nun in der Britischen Hauptstadt weiterhin Mietwagendienste betreiben. Richter Ikram war zu der Überzeugung gelangt, Uber habe die Überprüfungsprozesse zur Bekämpfung von Dokumenten- und Versicherungsbetrug verschärft und stehe nun „an der Spitze der Bewältigung einer branchenweiten Herausforderung.“

    Die Vertreter der ‘black cabs’ zeigten sich in ersten Stellungnahmen empört und vertreten eine ganz andere Meinung. Sie hatten im Gerichtsverfahren viele Beweise für die Sicherheitsmängel der App geliefert. Zu den Sicherheitsbedenken zählte auch die Enthüllung der TfL, dass bis zu 14.000 Fahrten von Uber-Fahrgästen von nicht lizenzierten Fahrern durchgeführt worden waren, die sich betrügerisch mit den Identitätspapieren anderer Personen in der App angemeldet hatten.

    Steve McNamara, Generalsekretär der Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) bezeichnete die Entscheidung als “eine Katastrophe für London.” Er fügte hinzu: „Uber hat immer wieder gezeigt, dass es einfach nicht vertrauenswürdig ist, die Sicherheit der Londoner, ihrer Fahrer und anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer über den Gewinn zu stellen. Uber scheint zu groß zu sein, um effektiv und regulierend einzugreifen, aber wohl auch zu groß, um sie deshalb scheitern zu lassen.“

    McNamara hatte noch vor dem Gerichtsverfahren gemeint, dass “ein Leopard seine Flecken nicht verliert.” Die Gültigkeit der nächsten Lizenz von Uber und die auferlegten Bedingungen müssen später noch festgelegt werden.

    #Uber #London #Justiz

    • https://www.lavidaesunmus.com/product/deconstructive-surgery

      https://meantime42.blogspot.com/2020/07/summer-fun_21.html

      THE CHISEL « Deconstructive surgery » 7’

      Wahou, c’est du féroce ! Faut croire qu’avec toutes les merdes qui leur tombent sur le dos, les angliches sont sévèrement remontés, ces temps-ci ! Comme le dit leur label, ces gars mélangent allègrement le HardCore au punk UK82 avec un soupçon de Oi !, et du coup, bien entendu, ça fait un peu penser à Negative Approach. En fait, les titres rapides m’ont aussi rappelés N.O.T.A. et les plus lents ne sont pas si éloignés que ça des meilleurs groupes Oi ! du début. Vous l’avez compris, ça tabasse tout du long, c’est chanmé et agressif avec un son juste crade sur les bords comme il faut. Les paroles sont du même tonneau, ça cause de bastons, d’oppression de classe et de leur ville (Blackpool, si j’ai bien compris ?). Very good, indeed ! Le genre de #skeud idéal pour quand on a un petit coup de mou : ça requinque ! Et comme en plus les chansons sont bonnes et que ça ressemble pas non plus comme deux gouttes d’eau à des vieux groupes (même si j’en ai cité pour baliser un peu les choses), ben ça donne un EP 5 titres qui déchire bien comme il faut, carrément le haut de la poubelle punk actuelle. ’Nuff said.

      #punk #skins #london

  • #Belmonte_Calabro, come studenti e migranti hanno contribuito a ripopolare un borgo della Calabria: “Noi ora lo chiamiamo #Belmondo

    A Belmonte Calabro l’aria ha lo stesso profumo di quella di Madaripur, in Bangladesh. Se ne è accorto Rajib Hossain, 20 anni e un lungo viaggio alle spalle. Ha lasciato il suo Paese quattro anni fa, è in Italia da febbraio 2017. La prima volta a Belmonte ancora se la ricorda: “Mi guardai intorno, osservando il mare, e pensai che quello era il posto perfetto per godersi bene il mondo. L’aria era più dolce. Ho sentito gli stessi profumi di casa mia. Non mi era mai successo, da quando me ne ero andato”, racconta a ilfattoquotidiano.it. Per capire il percorso che ha portato lì Rajib bisogna fare un passo indietro.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU1dGl9dFik&feature=emb_logo

    Arroccato su una collina che guarda il mare, Belmonte conta poco più di mille abitanti. Nel 2016 il suo centro storico rischia lo spopolamento: i telefoni non prendono la linea e la gente del posto preferisce vivere vicino alla marina, dove si trova la ferrovia. Per le strade non c’è quasi nessuno. Sembra un luogo destinato a essere dimenticato. Eppure, c’è ancora chi se lo ricorda: nello stesso anno Rita Adamo sta studiando architettura alla London Metropolitan University. Originaria di Potenza, ha passato le estati della sua infanzia proprio a Belmonte. Racconta a compagni e professori londinesi l’isolamento in cui sta cadendo il borgo storico: “Quella stessa estate abbiamo deciso di passare qualche giorno lì. Io conoscevo l’ex Convento dei Cappuccini, ora gestito da operatori culturali, e sapevo che potevamo soggiornarci”, racconta. “Era il periodo dei grandi sbarchi sulle coste italiane. Ad #Amantea, poco distante, c’è un centro di accoglienza migranti. Ci siamo rivolti a loro per sapere se qualcuno fosse interessato a passare del tempo con noi. Hanno accettato in dieci. Non ci era ancora chiaro cosa volessimo fare: all’inizio pensavamo a conoscerci e a conoscere meglio il posto, riscoprendo luoghi considerati vecchi. Io stessa non andavo a Belmonte da molto tempo e quell’anno sono tornata con una nuova coscienza”.

    In quell’occasione Rita e altri studenti fondano La #Rivoluzione-delle_Seppie, che si occupa di riattivare le aree calabresi a rischio spopolamento. È un inizio. Poco dopo l’università di Londra organizza una classe di ricerca: ogni anno, in novembre, un gruppo di studenti va in visita a Belmonte Calabro. “Restano una settimana. Entrano in contatto con la comunità di migranti, conoscono meglio il contesto locale. Ognuno di loro, mentre è sul posto, sceglie il luogo che lo ha colpito di più. Poi progetta strutture o edifici utili a incoraggiare l’inclusione sociale e a contrastare lo spopolamento”, continua Rita. Sono opere di studio, non vengono realizzate, precisa. Ma spesso servono da spunto.

    Il tempo passa e nasce #Crossings, il festival estivo che unisce sotto lo stesso ombrello diverse realtà: La Rivoluzione delle Seppie, il collettivo di architettura #Orizzontale, l’associazione culturale Ex Convento, la #London_Metropolitan_University, l’#Università_Mediterranea_di_Reggio_Calabria e il Centro di solidarietà “Il Delfino”. Protagonista Belmonte Calabro, sottratto all’isolamento di anni prima. Partecipa anche l’amministrazione comunale, con il proprio patrocinio.

    A ogni edizione seminari e workshop diversi, che richiamano l’attenzione di esperti e professionisti. Studenti di Londra e migranti partecipano agli incontri fianco a fianco. In inverno invece c’è un’altra spedizione: “L’Università londinese prevede che gli studenti di architettura vadano nelle campagne inglesi, ospiti di fattorie, a sperimentare materiali nuovi. Costruiscono strutture che poi smontano a esperimento concluso. Abbiamo deciso di organizzare la stessa cosa a Belmonte. Qui gli studenti possono realizzare strutture che poi rimarranno nel tempo, aiutati dal collettivo di architetti Orizzontale”, racconta Rita.

    Nel 2019 nasce BelMondo, la comunità virtuale che vuole mantenere connessi tutti i partecipanti a Crossings. Il nome lo ha trovato Rajib, che quell’anno aveva partecipato a un workshop organizzato dal festival: “Ho scelto questo nome perché era simile al nome originario del posto, Belmonte, e perché il paese è un posto bellissimo dove vivere, soprattutto per la natura e i paesaggi”, racconta. “Il ricordo più bello che ho è la condivisione con gli studenti di Londra”. Fotografie, disegni, lavoro. Ma anche balli e chiacchiere: “Io non ho mai studiato, ma loro non mi hanno mai fatto sentire diverso perché migrante. Siamo diventati amici”. Rajib lavora a Cosenza come mediatore culturale. Aiuta i nuovi arrivati, che come lui non sanno cosa fare né dove andare. “Il progetto segue le fasi politiche: con il Decreto Sicurezza molti migranti sono stati costretti ad andarsene”, spiega Rita. “Ma tutti quelli che coinvolgiamo vogliono tornare anche gli anni successivi, perché a Belmonte hanno trovato una dimensione umana che manca nelle grandi città”.

    Tra i progetti più recenti c’è la ristrutturazione dell’ex Casa delle Monache, ora diventata Casa BelMondo. Sarà un punto di ritrovo e condivisione. Per ora sono stati rifatti i pavimenti di tre stanze: il programma originario prevedeva di proseguire i lavori quest’estate in occasione di Crossings 2020, ma non è stato possibile a causa della pandemia. L’edizione di quest’anno sarà quindi digitale e virtuale, come è successo per molti altri eventi.

    Il segnale di rete è ancora incerto per le vie del centro storico, a Belmonte Calabro. Ma non è più un’isola: “Molti ragazzi dei territori vicini, per esempio di Cosenza, hanno scelto di visitarlo. La comunità locale all’inizio ci guardava con un po’ di diffidenza, ma ora ci conosce e interagisce con noi, soprattutto nei momenti di convivialità”, spiega Rita. “Ora vogliamo pensare a come crescere per il futuro”. E poi ci sono i migranti, per i quali questo borgo storico calabrese è diventato una seconda casa, come dice Rajib: “Per me, c’è il mio paese natale. Subito dopo c’è BelMondo”.

    https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2020/07/25/belmonte-calabro-come-studenti-e-migranti-hanno-contribuito-a-ripopolare-un-borgo-della-calabria-noi-ora-lo-chiamiamo-belmondo/5874467

    #migrations #asile #réfugiés #Calabre #Italie #accueil #étudiants #villes-refuge #dépeuplement #démographie #architecture #urbanisme #imaginaire

    –—

    Ajouté au fil de discussion "I paesi che rinascono grazie ai migranti":
    https://seenthis.net/messages/534262

  • Trump soll Assange Begnadigung angeboten haben | DW | 19.02.2020
    https://diasp.eu/p/10470201

    Trump soll Assange Begnadigung angeboten haben | DW | 19.02.2020

    Menschenrechtler und Mediziner verweisen auf den kritischen Zustand, in dem sich Wikileaks-Gründer Assange in der Haft befindet. Derweil werden Informationen über einen Deal bekannt, den die USA angeboten haben sollen. Trump soll Assange Begnadigung angeboten haben | DW | 19.02.2020 #USA #Großbritannien #US-Präsident #DonaldTrump #Wikileaks #JulianAssange #London #Anhörung

  • Deliveroo driver murder: Calls for more protection for delivery workers after deadly London stabbing | The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/deliveroo-driver-murder-finsbury-park-stabbing-london-ubereats-corbyn

    4 days ago - by Eleanor Busby - ‘More members of public are treating delivery drivers with utter contempt,’ union says

    The fatal stabbing of a man in London has prompted calls for better protection for delivery drivers.

    The 30-year-old victim – who is believed to have worked as a delivery rider for UberEats and Deliveroo – was found in the Finsbury Park area on Friday night after reports of a knife attack.

    The Metropolitan Police said the incident appears to have occurred as a result of an isolated traffic altercation.

    But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and delivery drivers have called for greater protection from attacks following the death of the delivery driver from Algeria.

    Speaking from the scene of the knife attack on Saturday, Mr Corbyn, whose Islington North constituency includes Finsbury Park, said: “There are a lot of people working as delivery drivers, they must have better conditions of employment and employers must take more responsibility for their safety too.”

    “Police cuts have meant fewer officers on the streets and this raises issues of safety in the community in general,” he added. “Delivery drivers do a great job in London all of the time. Yet they are vulnerable.”

    Alex Marshall, chair of the couriers and logistics branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), said the union had noticed a rise in delivery drivers facing abuse when out on the road.

    He told The Independent: “More members of the public are treating delivery drivers with utter contempt. The companies they work for treat them awfully.

    “If the companies, who are supposed to be the ones looking after them, are treating riders with a lack of respect then it sets an example to so many other people to treat them in exactly the same way.”

    Mr Marshall believes employers could do more to improve the safety of drivers – such as providing onboard cameras and cars rather than bikes – and the police could provide more support.

    “When it comes to keeping them safe, a lot of the time the police are nowhere to be seen,” he added.

    Some of the delivery drivers gathered at the scene of the fatal stabbing criticised the companies they worked for and the police for not doing enough to protect them from attacks.

    Deliveroo and Uber driver Zakaria Gherabi, who knew the victim as “Taki”, said he has been attacked on multiple occasions while working as a delivery driver and says he no longer feels safe.

    In October last year, Mr Gherabi said an attacker punched him in the eye and dislocated his socket. “My attackers are still on the streets. The police do nothing. It happens. Nobody is going to save you. The company does not care, we are self-employed, but the food we are carrying is insured,” he said.

    Mr Gherabi added: “I knew the victim. He did not do anything, he was a good guy. He was stabbed to death on these busy streets. The job is not safe. I don’t feel safe doing it.”

    One driver said they felt unsafe “100 per cent” of the time. Another said: “I was attacked here by people with a big machete and now this man has been killed for no reason. The police do nothing.

    “They just come, take a statement and then they go.”

    Gulcin Ozdemir, a Labour councillor in Islington, north London, tweeted: “The lack of protection delivery drivers have where many of them have been physically abused, mugged at knifepoint and feel like easy targets. They shouldn’t be going to work in a constant state of fear.

    “My condolences to the family and Algerian community who are so heartbroken.”

    Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who is leading the investigation, confirmed the victim’s next of kin have been informed, but that a post-mortem and formal identification have yet to take place.

    DCI John said: “The investigation is at a very early stage. It would appear at this time that an altercation has taken place between the victim, who was riding a motorcycle, and the driver of another vehicle in the vicinity of Lennox Road and Charteris Road, Finsbury Park.“

    He added: “The incident itself appears at this early stage to have been spontaneous and not connected to, or as a result of, anything other than a traffic altercation.

    “Specialist officers are working extremely hard to build a clear picture of what happened and I would encourage anyone who may have seen the incident or has information to come forward.

    “A forensic examination of the scene has been undertaken and I expect the road to reopen very soon.”

    #Großbritannien #London #Rassismus #Arbeit #Gigworking #disruption #Kriminalität

  • Nach Ubers Lizenzverlust in London: ähnliche Maßnahmen für Deutschland gefordert
    https://www.taxi-times.com/nach-ubers-lizenzverlust-in-london-aehnliche-massnahmen-fuer-deutschland

    Steve McNamara (LTDA) war mit dem Beschluss sehr zufrieden: Der Bürgermeister habe definitiv die richtige Entscheidung getroffen, in dem er eine erneute Zulassung Ubers verweigerte.“Die Londoner werden dadurch sicherer transportiert. Ungeeignete Beförderungsunternehmen wie Uber können ihrer Verantwortung nicht entgehen.”

    McNamara zeigte wenig Mitleid mit dem US-Vermittler: “Uber hatte 17 Monate Zeit, um die Bedingungen ihrer professionellen Lizenz zu erfüllen, und doch haben sie die Sicherheit von Londonern ständig gefährdet, in dem sie von Fahrern gefahren wurden die nicht den richtigen Führerschein, Genehmigung oder Versicherung hatten.”

    Kurz nach Bekanntwerden des Uber-Verbots meldete sich auch Michael Oppermann, Geschäftsführer des Deutschen Taxi und Mietwagenverbandes zu Wort: „Uber ist eine Gefahr für die Fahrgäste! Die Londoner Behörden habe ihre Entscheidung unter anderem damit begründet, dass die Fahrer nicht über die notwendige Qualifikation für die Beförderung verfügen. Dieses Problem haben wir auch in Deutschland. Erst in der vergangenen Woche wurde dies bei Kontrollen in Frankfurt/M. wieder deutlich.“

    #Uber #London

  • Why London wants to suspend Uber over driver impersonation
    https://www.fastcompany.com/90436157/why-its-so-difficult-for-uber-to-crack-down-on-driver-impersonators

    11.27.19 - Transport for London officials say they “cannot be confident that similar issues won’t happen again in [the] future.”

    Officials in London said on Monday they won’t renew Uber’s license to operate in the city, citing a “pattern of failures,” such as unauthorized drivers taking the wheel in at least 14,000 trips. Driver impersonation is a recurring problem for the company around the world, one that has proven difficult to solve.

    The problem came from a “change to Uber’s systems” that allowed people to upload their own photos to authorized drivers’ accounts, Transport for London officials said, effectively letting them bypass Uber’s checks to make sure the right person is driving the vehicle and making it impossible for passengers to see that anything was amiss. That meant the trips weren’t covered by insurance and some drivers weren’t licensed at all, with at least one having previously had a license revoked by the transport agency, according to officials.

    Uber has vowed to appeal, calling the decision “extraordinary and wrong,” and is allowed to continue operating during that process.

    “Over the last two months, we have audited every driver in London and further strengthened our processes,” said Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, in a statement shared with Fast Company. “We have robust systems and checks in place to confirm the identity of drivers and will soon be introducing a new facial matching process, which we believe is a first in London taxi and private hire.”

    Transport for London officials say the problem took place in late 2018 and early 2019, and while one incident of driver impersonation was reported only three weeks ago, the actual ride took place in the early part of this year. Still, the agency remains concerned that Uber’s systems might allow similar problems in the future.

    “While we recognize Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured,” said Helen Chapman, director of licensing, regulation, and charging at Transport for London, in a statement. “It is clearly concerning that these issues arose, but it is also concerning that we cannot be confident that similar issues won’t happen again in [the] future.”

    An Uber spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for more detail about the “new facial matching process” described in Heywood’s statement.

    Uber has been working for years to combat multiple issues around driver impersonation. One problem involves unauthorized people simply claiming to be Uber drivers picking up distracted or inebriated passengers, then robbing or assaulted them. Uber has combatted that by reminding passengers to verify driver’s license plates and confirm drivers’ names when getting picked up. The company is also rolling out an optional feature where drivers would need to enter a PIN number displayed in the passenger’s app to start a ride, which would ensure the right drivers and passengers are matched, Fortune reported in September.

    But those measures wouldn’t protect against an unauthorized person using a friend or relative’s account to drive for Uber, unless passengers carefully compared driver photos against faces. For years, Uber has announced additional steps to prevent people from driving under other people’s names, whether with authorized drivers’ consent or through compromised accounts, but the problem has seemingly continued to pop up around the world. In 2016, the company announced that it had begun requiring drivers to periodically take selfies, which would be algorithmically compared with their photos on file to verify they were the right driver. (Uber rival Lyft, which didn’t respond to an inquiry from Fast Company, uses similar measures.)

    The selfie system came under recent scrutiny after an unauthorized Uber driver in Melbourne, Australia, was convicted in September of raping a passenger after using a photo of an authorized driver, rather than a selfie, to confirm his identity. In a statement reported by Business Insider Australia at the time, Uber denied that vulnerability was still an issue, with a spokesperson saying the company had added technology and human reviews to detect people using a photo in lieu of a selfie. The company also told Fortune it is rolling out a “liveness detection tool” that would require drivers make facial movements like blinking or smiling to verify their selfies aren’t just photos of photos.

    Uber’s face recognition separately drew concern last year from some transgender drivers, who said the automated system wasn’t able to recognize their faces as their appearances changed over time. In general, commercial facial recognition systems have faced criticism in recent years over their limited ability to recognize people from racial and gender minorities.

    Even a more accurate selfie-based system alone, though, seemingly wouldn’t have stopped the problem reported in London, where unauthorized drivers were allegedly able to substitute their own photos for the ones on file, since any selfies would match the uploaded photo of the illicit driver. Both Uber and Transport for London say Uber has taken steps to address that issue, although Transport for London officials still expressed concern that such a problem could arise again in declining to renew Uber’s license.

    “If they choose to appeal, Uber will have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate to a magistrate whether it has put in place sufficient measures to ensure potential safety risks to passengers are eliminated,” Chapman said in her statement.

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that he supported Transport for London’s decision on Uber’s license. Officials in London, where operators of the city’s celebrated but costly black cabs study London geography and other facts for years to pass a notoriously difficult licensing exam, had previously sought to ban Uber in 2017, citing, among other things, “a lack of corporate responsibility” and Uber’s “approach to reporting serious criminal offenses.” Last year, after hearing of changes at Uber, a judge allowed the company to obtain a new London license.

    My statement on TfL’s Uber decision. pic.twitter.com/h8tiQeFQBH

    — Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) November 25, 2019

    Safety issues have at times hampered Uber’s legal authority to operate in other cities as well. Uber and Lyft both departed the Austin market in 2016, after city officials refused to back down from a requirement they fingerprint their drivers for background checks, which the companies called costly and unnecessary. Ultimately, Texas state legislators shifted ride-hailing regulation to the state level, where the fingerprint requirement was dropped. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which now governs ride-hailing services, said the department hasn’t encountered issues with unauthorized drivers on Uber accounts.

    “To date, we have not received any complaints regarding unauthorized drivers using Uber or other TNC accounts, nor has the issue come up with any of our staff,” writes communication specialist Jeff Copas in an email to Fast Company. “We would certainly investigate any complaint we received along these lines.”

    Other cities have taken their own approaches to ensuring only authorized drivers are behind the wheel of Uber vehicles. In New York City, the Taxi and Limousine Commission logs individual trips and has field agents who can conduct spot checks to make sure only properly licensed people and cars are on the road.

    “We’re confident that the checks and balances New York City has help ensure passengers are serviced by vetted and licensed drivers that are a requirement for companies like Uber to continue operating here,” acting TLC Commissioner Bill Heinzen said in a statement shared with Fast Company on Monday.

    #Uber #London #Betrug #Fahrer

  • Le « sale petit secret » d’Uber | korii.
    https://korii.slate.fr/et-caetera/vtc-uber-londres-perte-licence-partage-comptes-chauffeurs-securite

    ’utilisation de comptes par des personnes non autorisées est un casse-tête que l’entreprise peine à résoudre.
    Repéré par Barthélemy Dont sur Wall Street Journal, Fast Company

    02/12/2019 à 7h05

    La perte par Uber, le 25 novembre, de sa licence pour opérer à Londres lève le voile sur une pratique qui donne des migraines à l’entreprise : le partage de comptes par des conducteurs et conductrices.

    À cause de ce qu’elle appelle une « série de défaillances », l’agence Transport for London (TfL) estime qu’en quelques mois, 14.000 courses Uber ont été effectuées par des personnes non autorisées à le faire.

    Ce problème est loin d’être cantonné à Londres : de l’aveu même d’Uber, il est présent partout où la société opère. Le phénomène est même qualifié de « sale petit secret » par Bryant Greening, cofondateur de LegalRideshare, LLC, un cabinet d’avocats dédié à la défense des passagèr·es et des riders de VTC, interrogé par le Wall Street Journal.

    Les motivations pour ces échanges de comptes varient : un conducteur se fait remplacer pendant qu’il prend des vacances ; deux chauffeurs partagent un compte ; d’autres se contentent d’en ouvrir un puis de le proposer à la location pour quelques dizaines d’euros, afin de réaliser un petit profit sans avoir à conduire.

    Le souci réside dans les raisons pour lesquelles des individus préfèrent louer un compte plutôt que d’en créer un eux-mêmes. Selon le Wall Street Journal, certains n’ont pas de carte professionnelle ou savent qu’ils ne pourraient pas passer les vérifications préalables obligatoires (à cause de graves infractions routières commises par le passé, par exemple). Parfois, ils n’ont tout simplement pas de permis de conduire.

    Sécurité renforcée
    Uber lutte contre ce fléau depuis des années mais ne réussit pas à le résoudre. Depuis 2016, l’entreprise demande aux conducteurs et conductrices de prendre un selfie pour vérifier que la personne derrière le volant est bien celle qui est titulaire du compte. Le dispositif peut néanmoins être berné par une simple photo.

    Uber assure avoir amélioré sa technologie et va introduire un nouveau mécanisme qui supposera de faire un mouvement spécifique afin de renforcer la sécurité.

    Dans le cas de Londres, cela ne changera pas grand-chose, puisque les fraudeurs et fraudeuses parvenaient à uploader leur photo dans un compte ne leur appartenant pas, avant de l’utiliser sans encombre.

    Uber affirme être à l’affût des signes indiquant un partage. Changement du numéro de téléphone lié au compte, accès via de multiples appareils, modification des modalités de paiement et volumes horaires trop importants sont autant d’indices qui peuvent lui mettre la puce à l’oreille. Malheureusement, ce n’est visiblement pas suffisant, et cela pourrait coûter cher à la plateforme de VTC.

    #Uber #London #Betrug #Fahrer

  • Uber Loses License in London - Shelly Palmer
    https://www.shellypalmer.com/2019/11/uber-loses-license-london

    Uber was stripped of its license to operate in London today. The governing body, TfL (Transport for London), stated that Uber does not meet the “fit and proper” requirements for private hire operators. Uber immediately appealed, so it’s business as usual for Uber drivers and riders today, but both sides are gearing up for a fight.

    Uber does not have a stellar reputation. There have been all kinds of claims against the company. Some warranted, others not. All in, this is the second time in two years that the company’s license renewal has been rejected. The London Cab Drivers also hate — and I do mean hate — Uber and everything it stands for. I spend a fair amount of time in London, and the cabbies universally want Uber off the roads.

    At first, it was a pride thing. It used to take a remarkable amount of education to be a London cabbie. You may call it “street smarts,” but they had to take a test that the average Londoner might well fail. Unlike many planned cities (even NYC), London evolved over time, and the only way to know your way around is (was) by memory. In the age of Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, and other apps, all you need to do is be able to drive. That’s the main point. The cabbies and private car services in London are getting destroyed by Uber (and by other ride-sharing companies). They want them gone.

    Then, there’s the other “European” strategy. Don’t invest in tech. Just fine it. I’m not sure that one fully applies here, but it’s a disturbing pattern emerging across the whole of Western Europe.

    Uber tweeted, “We have fundamentally changed our business over the last 2 years, setting the standard for safety in the industry. TfL’s decision on our London licence is wrong and we will appeal,” which will let Uber’s 3.5 million customers and 45,000 driver breathe a little easier today.

    My guess is that Uber will work this out. Clearly, Uber has room for improvement, and this may just be the government putting them on notice (again). I can’t imagine a major city without Uber. That said, Lyft certainly can.

    #Uber #London