It’s official. TfL have finally announced that London’s long standing PCO Conditions of Fitness will be reviewed as part of the Mayors radical new proposals for modernising the capitals cab trade Negotiations are under way with the Transport Research Laboratory to formulate a set of revised Conditions of Fitness, which according to the Carriage Office were last reviewed over 40 years ago.

Over the last five years or so support for alternative taxis has grown tremendously in London, driven by frustrations with the limited choice of taxis available and the ever increasing costs of both vehicle purchases and running costs. I am pleased to report that during this period the majority of other UK taxi licensing bodies that previously adopted the PCO Conditions have now abandoned them in favour of more appropriate considerations such as enviromnental impact, practicality, accessibility and of course fair play. London is a special case; it has enjoyed a long and historical association with the cab trade and there is a certain intern~tionaI affection for the traditional London black cab which we have no wish to undermine.

However, when we recently exhibited at the London Taxi Driver of the Year Show we were strategically placed right opposite the PCO’s own stand and could not help but notice their wonderful pictorial display of London taxis throughout the ages. I was amazed to see just how much these taxis have changed over the years and also noted that LTI were preceded by European taxi builders such as Fiat.I was also very pleased to see that there was an empty box on the display board - right after the photograph of the lovely TX1 See you all at Sandown Park.