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Cab drivers create gridlock in Games Lane protest
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 More than 200 taxi drivers have brought central London to a halt in a protest at the Olympic Games lanes. |
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More than 200 taxi drivers have brought central London to a halt in a protest at the Olympic Games lanes. Blaring their horns, the cabbies took their case to Parliament Square, creating gridlock in the heart of the capital with the jam swiftly spreading to Millbank and Whitehall. London’s iconic black cabs are being excluded from the 30 miles of games lanes, which have been reserved for Olympic competitors, officials and sponsors. Dubbed “Zil lanes” by critics, they come into force on Wednesday next week. Drivers who transgress face a ￡130 fine. The restrictions will ban drivers from the lanes, making journey times across the capital longer and dearer for passengers. Many cab drivers have said they will leave London during the Games rather than put up with the frustration of navigating the capital’s traffic. "There will be no access to these lanes for any traffic apart from the Olympics family. "Taxis are excluded, which is unacceptable and wrong. This is a working city and we need to get around and do our job," said Jonathan Myers, of the United Cabbies group union. “We've come to Parliament so MPs can wake up and hear what we're talking about." Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, which has a number of cab drivers in its membership, said: “It’s a scandal that a London taxi was used as an iconic London image to secure the games and yet those same cab drivers are now being kicked in the teeth by Olympics chiefs over the VIP lanes and the entire Olympics transport strategy.” However John Mason, Director of London Taxi and Private Hire, defended the arrangement. "We have informed taxi drivers that any such demonstration is completely irresponsible and would only disrupt the travelling public – the very people taxi drivers are supposed to serve. “We strongly urge taxi drivers to ignore calls to join these unnecessary protests and instead show why they are regularly voted the best in the world.” (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
200多位出租車司機在倫敦奧運車道上集會示威抗議，將倫敦中心區堵了個水泄不通。 司機們鳴著喇叭，涌至國會廣場表示抗議，在倫敦中心區造成了極為嚴重的全面交通堵塞，并且迅速蔓延至米爾班克和懷特霍爾。 30英里的奧運專用車道將只供奧運選手、官員和贊助商使用，禁止倫敦的標志性黑色出租車行駛。 這些被批評者們稱為“專用車道”的道路從下周三起便開始戒嚴，違反規定的司機將面臨130英鎊的罰款。 該限制將禁止司機走專用車道，這使得乘客們穿過倫敦需要花更長的時間，更多的路費。 很多出租車司機都說他們會在奧運會期間離開倫敦，而不是在此絕望地忍受交通管制。 “除了奧運車輛，其他車輛都被禁止行駛奧運專用車道。” 出租車司機聯盟組織成員喬納森?梅爾說：“連出租車都禁止，這讓人無法接受，也不應該這么做。這是個不斷運轉的城市，我們需要到不同的地方去，做我們的工作。” “我們已經來到了國會大廈，這樣議員們就會醒過神兒來，聽聽我們的意見。” 鮑勃?克羅是運輸工會聯盟的秘書長，該聯盟有相當一部分成員都是出租車司機。 他說：“倫敦的出租車曾是倫敦為奧運保駕護航的標志形象，而現在，奧運會的官員卻公然禁止這些出租車司機行駛貴賓車道，以及參與整個奧運交通戰略。” 然而，倫敦出租車和私車組織負責人約翰?梅森對這種安排予以支持。 “我們已經告訴出租車司機，任何此類示威都是完全不負責任的行為，只會給出行的公眾帶來麻煩——而這些人正是出租車司機們的服務對象。” “我們強烈呼吁司機不要響應這些無謂的抗議，而是要向人們展現為什么他們總是被選為世界上最棒的出租車司機。” 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: gridlock: 極端嚴重的全面交通堵塞（無車能動） transgress: 違反，違背（規則、法律等） |
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