RANK...
LET US TURN OUR CARS AROUND, SAY TEESSIDE CABBIES
Cab drivers and Stockton council are at loggerheads over a town centre taxi rank. The cabbies say the current traffic flow direc- tion in the rank on Stockton High Street means journey times are increased because they are forced into a one-way system. They say if they could go north instead of south, they would be able to deliver a better service. But the coun- cil says that this arrangement is unsafe. Before Christmas, the drivers changed the direction of the traffic flow in the rank, and all the hackney drivers registered with the council were threat- ened with legal proceedings and sus- pension of licences if
they continued in their “willful misconduct.” Stockton Council say they have studied CCTV footage of the night when the rank traf- fic flow was reversed. A spokesman said: “The CCTV footage from December 11 and 12, when drivers reversed the flow of traffic at the rank on Stockton High Street, has been reviewed and, rather than improve safety, we feel it has the opposite effect. This view is supported by road safety engineers and Cleveland Police.” Javid Khazir, Secretary of the Stockton Hack- ney Drivers’ Asso- ciation, said: “We just want the safest and best value solution for our passengers.”
OLD RANK TO BE RE-OPENED IN YORK AFTER 20 YEARS
A taxi rank is set to be re-opened in St Samp- son’s Square, more than two decades after being scrapped by York council chiefs. Licensing boss John Lacy says the rank would provide spaces for nine vehicles and operate on two sides of the square, alongside Brown’s department store and along the side of Davygate - from 8pm until 6am.
He said the proposal had been drawn up in response to demands by taxi drivers for an extra rank, following the creation of 15 extra taxi plates a couple of years ago and the late- night closure of a rank in Duncombe Place. City of York Council had examined several other possible loca-
tions before deciding on St Sampson’s Square. However, North Yorkshire Police would be invited to give their opinion on the proposal, along with members of the public, and they had 28 days to make repre- sentations.
Cllr Steve Galloway, executive member for city strategy, told the York Evening Press: “With the closure of the Duncombe Place rank after 10pm each evening, it is important that any replacement ranks are located away from residential prop- erties to avoid any possible noise nui- sance problems. “The trade was keen to see this rank rein- stated, so I hope that it will be popular.”
BASILDON PARKING PERMIT PLAN ‘SHOULD GO FURTHER’
A plan to issue permits to cabbies in a bid to stop the public park- ing in a taxi rank has been criticised for not going far enough. Essex County Council has revealed it will be bringing in permits by March for drivers using the rank outside Asda Eastgate, on Southern- hay, Basildon.
But taxi drivers say the move is too little, too late, after a cabbie waiting to use the rank had to be cut from his car after three cars piled up into the back of him as he was waiting to pull into the rank. The man is now recovering at home. Steve Foster, one of the bosses at NPHA member A&B Taxis, told the Southend Evening Echo: “Putting
stickers on cars isn’t going to improve the situation. The problem with this rank is there is no one actually enforc- ing it, and there is no will to enforce it. A cam- era to stop cars illegally using it would be fantastic.”
The rank is also a layby and cabbies say for years members of the public have been parking there, forcing taxi drivers to stop on the dual carriageway, putting them in the path of oncoming cars. They have been press- ing County Hall and Basildon Council for years for action to stop the problems. Mr Foster said: “It seems it is going to take a fatality for anyone to actually listen to the people who do the job.”
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PHTM FEBRUARY 2010
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