Taxi drivers licensed to pick up passengers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol are sounding the alarm over illegal ‘taxi runners’ who solicit passengers and guide them to unlicensed cabs.
They tell Amsterdam TV station AT5 that on average they lose about 170 rides a day to the rogue cab drivers.
Taxi services in Amsterdam rank poorly compared to those in the rest of Europe.
In a study published by German motoring organization ADAC, Amsterdam ranks 19th among 22 cities.
A taxi driver prosecuted in the death of a potential customer has been sentenced to two years in prison.
A judge determined that 44-year-old Rob Sitek died as a result of being attacked at the Leidseplein taxi rank by Sidi Mohamed B. in July 2009.
Despite efforts by the City of Amsterdam to supervise the taxi rank at Central Station, problems persist.
Rude drivers illegally charge exorbitant rates or refuse short rides in favor of more lucrative ones.
Despite a rise in complaints the City says additional supervision is too expensive.
Amsterdam police has handed out thirty ‘nightlife restraining orders’ to misbehaving revelers and taxi drivers curing checks at Leidseplein and Rembrandplein this weekend.
The special restraining orders forbid entry to Amsterdam’s nightlife area from Thursday night through Sunday evening.
A preliminary injunction court in Haarlem has determined that the European Procument procedure for taxi concessions at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has been performed correctly.
TCA director Bas Vos had claimed that Schiphol’s decision was payback for the controversial management style of the company’s former directors, who were charged with running a criminal organization, fraud and encouraging violence.
Tourists and locals alike will soon be able to ride a fleet of almost traditional English black cabs throughout Amsterdam.
Cab operator Taxi Centrale Amsterdam plans to have 20 of the electric cabs in service in Amsterdam before the summer, and fifty in total by the end of the year, says TCA director Bas Vos.