PROTEST PLIGHT
CAMBRIDGE TAXI DRIVERS AND TRADERS ASSOCIATION PROTEST AGAINST ROAD CLOSURE
On Wednesday 24th June, hundreds of Cambridge
taxi
drivers stood in soli- darity with The Mill Road Traders in response to the council’s plans to close the bridge to general traffic which would be detrimen- tal on trade. The council’s plan is to widen footways, using
temporary
barriers, meaning the road will be nar- rowed with suf- ficient carriageway width to allow only one vehicle past at a time. Mill Road
Bridge will also be closed to all vehicles except buses and cyclists. Taxis and delivery vehicles will have no access. The closure will be enforced by signs and automatic num- ber plate recog- nition cameras Rashel Mohammed, chairman of
the
Licensed Cambridge Taxi Association, told PHTM: “We understand these are unprecedented times and we are all having to adapt. But without consulta- tion, many feel the
‘powers that be’ are using coronavirus as a smoke screen to push a controversial measure - which could cripple small businesses and we are within our democratic right to challenge it. Mr
Mohammed
emailed Cambridge City Council: “I am concerned that ex- cluding taxis from new temporary bus lanes on two key routes: Mill Road Bridge and Victoria Avenue, will discrim- inate against the elderly or people
Association members demonstrate
with disabilities who are totally depen- dent on a door- to-door service. “These individuals are
statistically
STORMONT PROTEST AS NORTHERN IRELAND CABBIES CALL FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
On Monday 29 June, a cavalcade of pub- lic and private taxis beeped their horns and displayed a #TaxiDriversMatter banner, as
they
drove to Parliament Buildings to stage a static protest about lack of guidance and financial
support
during lockdown. In a surprise move, the Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon appeared to answer their ques- tions for around 30 minutes. Value Cabs driver Stephen McDonald from Belfast said he felt the industry had been left out in the cold. He hasn’t worked since March 5 and is living on Universal
Credit
while waiting to get JULY 2020
back to work. “We haven’t had any guidance or sup- port. We’ve been left to our own devices,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. Mr McDonald also said there were con- flicting
reports
about whether plas- tic screens installed by many drivers were legal and if they would be cov- ered by insurance companies. “Some of these guys are paying £80 for a screen but Stormont won’t
tell us if
they’re legal.” Independent Taxi driver Edward Mas- terson from Strang- ford said he has lost 90% of his business during lockdown. “I’ve asked and asked MLAs and
Stormont Ministers to sort this out. We’ll all be broke if this keeps up.” Uber driver Mark Foster (50) from Glengormley said: “We want Stormont to know that we’ve been given no advice, no grants, no licence extensions. It’s basically been a wall of silence.” Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, the Minister said: “I understand that a large number of taxi drivers have fallen through the cracks regarding accessing the current financial packages. I’ve been trying to do what I can as a regulator.” This includes a six month extension on PSV licences, online courses and simpli-
fying licence re- newal. Ms Mallon said she recognised the key issue was financial hardship and that she had raised the issue with the Econ- omy Minister Diane Dodds. She added: “I recog- nise today that there is frustration and that’s why I wanted to come down in per- son to explain what I have been doing.” Looking forward, she said the Execu- tive needed to consider new sup- port schemes for those drivers unable to access support. She added that a wider look was also needed on how the taxis fitted along- side the wider transport network.
more likely to not own a vehicle or cycle, and have mobility problems. Furthermore,
in
these challenging times they may have significantly
less
income to pay addi- tional costs associ- ated with travelling the much longer routes incurred as a direct result of the diversion. “When other modes of transport stop operating, taxis are the only form of public
transport
available for late night city centre entertainment. The more
efficiently
taxis can relieve the area of party goers and
individuals,
intoxicated the
greater chance iof reduction in anti- social behaviour or disorder. “If these key roads are cut off to taxis, some passengers will be left with no option other than to walk, or ask to be dropped off before the road closure. With Cambridge being heavily stu- dent dense, young women are particu-
larly vulnerable
when walking home alone, late at night. “Historically, in Cam- bridge taxis have access to bus lanes and bus gate. If taxis were to be integrat- ed into the new way access restrictions, I do not see how this would compromise the new scheme to safe walk or cycle. I understand
the
County Council can make changes to the scheme at a week's notice. “I appreciate these measures need to be implemented as quickly as possible to make the greatest difference to peo- ple’s lives. But I feel it is my duty to make you aware of the associated risks attached to such a scheme, and offer a practical
solution
which would effec- tively reduce the financial and health risks to the travel- ling public, whilst having little or no negative impact on the aim of
the
scheme.” Mr Mohammed has received a reply from the council, saying they’re “tak- ing the issues on board… that atten- tion is being paid to the issues you raise.” One would have thought a major question would be: why allow buses access to major roads that are being narrowed? To allow only the largest of vehicles through? Back to front think- ing or what…
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