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Brussels taxis set to strike Wednesday
Three of Brussels taxi federations have announced plans to protest Wednesday, which could lead to a repeat of widespread disruption to city traffic. Some 250 taxi drivers took action three weeks ago and succeeded in locking up the inner ring road and the main tunnels.
The drivers are continuing to protest at the introduction of digital taximeters, which are being required by the Brussels-Capital Region at a cost to drivers of €2,500 to €3,000 for the metre and installation. The region is committed to paying one-third of the price and has also promised drivers a tax relief of €375. The drivers say that the government should pay the entire cost of the metres.
On Wednesday, 300 taxis will gather at North Station at 11.00, from where they will make their way to the office of minister-president Rudi Vervoort in Hertogstraat in the district of Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe. The last time the drivers demonstrated, police would not allow them access to the streets around Vervoort’s office, which led to them blocking Brussels’ inner ring road.
Vervoort and transport minister Brigitte Grouwels were due this morning to make one last attempt to negotiate with drivers.
image credit
Phil Whitehouse/Flickr Commons
Comments
There is no reliable taxi company in Brussels. You cannot choose a good one because there is none. You only can choose a bad one, may be the best of all the worse.
Most of the taxi drivers don't respect the customer and don't respect the traffic rules. They try to cheat nearly always. This has to be stopped, hopefully the new taximeter will be a way to protect the customer.
It's ridiculous that these people are going to block the whole inner city traffic again. Where is the authority to stop this?