While travelling in London is safe for most people at night, there are still major concerns. Recent figures have revealed that in 2009/10 there were 143 cab-related sexual offences reported- with young women being the most likely targets of sexual assault when using unbooked minicabs. This result is a stark reminder that unbooked minicabs pose a very serious danger to the travelling public.
At this time of the year people are more likely to go out, often to unfamiliar locations directly after work (for example to the office Christmas party). It is important that we provide people with the information they need to plan their evenings and get home safely – from how to get a cab (such as by using the Cabwise text service), find a nightbus route or give the last running Tube times.
Specifically, Cabwise is a passenger service designed to get people home as safely as possible late at night, mainly by improved access to 24-hour licensed private hire operators. Passengers just need to text the word HOME to 60835 and we’ll send them numbers of two local licensed minicab operators (serving the area they’re texting from) and a number for a London-wide black cab network. Cabwise will text the numbers straight to the caller's mobile.
At TfL, ensuring that Londoners travel safely in the Capital is something we feel strongly about. We have put information up on our staff intranet to make our employees aware of safe travel planning etiquette. We would really appreciate it if you could put the attached information on your intranet for your employees to see.
The following link will also provide useful advice:
www.tfl.gov.uk...
