BUS LANE BULLETIN
NORTH AYRSHIRE TAXI AND PHV BUS LANE USE BACK AFTER MEMORY LAPSE
Taxi and PHV drivers have been given the greenlight to a use bus lane once again – after a temporary order allow- ing its use lapsed last month when council chiefs forgot to renew it. The Ardrossan Herald reports that North Ayrshire Council confirmed it was now looking to get a permanent order after the drivers previously won a long fight to use a Stevenston bus lane for a 12-month trial period after a peti- tion from TOA taxis. However, the order eventually lapsed in April – with no one seeking to either renew it or implement a permanent order.
Following concerns from residents, North Ayrshire Council confirmed recently that a new order had now come into effect. A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “The Tem- porary Order lapsed on April 20 and following further consideration we have, from Wednesday, May 5, extend- ed this for a further six months. We are currently in the process of promoting a permanent Traffic Regulation Order.” When it was approved at North Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet in 2019, a recommendation to councillors said: “It is proposed that the full length of the bus lane be the subject of an experi-
mental TRO permitting licensed taxis and PHVs to utilise the bus lane for a period of 12 months. “This would allow a sufficient period to assess its impact on bus services and cases of misuse by non-taxi vehicles. The experimental nature of the TRO would also provide the council with the flexibility to rescind the order should the monitoring identify a sufficiently negative impact on bus services.” Jim McKerrell of TOA Taxis said at the time: “It’s been a long haul, a good ten years on and off. This is going to bene- fit the general public who are using the taxis. I’m totally delighted.”
BELFAST COUNCILLORS HAVE VOTED DOWN A CALL TO KEEP PHVS OUT OF BUS LANES
Belfast councillors have voted down a call to keep PHVs out of bus lanes. Votes from Sinn Fein and the DUP were enough to sink a motion by the Green Party, supported by Alliance and the SDLP, to support a continued ban on PHVs in bus lanes across the city. BelfastLive reports that as things stand only public hire taxis are allowed in Belfast bus lanes. The vote at the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 12 May will mark a continuation of Belfast council’s corporate position. Despite previous support for all taxis to use the bus lanes from the council, the Department for Infrastructure refused appeals while the Stormont Executive was suspended between January 2017 and January 2020, stating any new decision required ministerial approval. The ban has continued throughout the pandemic, and a planned trial for all taxis in the lanes, lasting up to 18 months, has still not been scheduled. The Green motion at Belfast council, forwarded by Cllr Aine Groogan was
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originally brought to the committee in February 2020, in an attempt to seal a new corporate position. The motion was delayed due to the pandemic and to receive more information on how taxi use in bus lanes affects air quality. The motion stated that the council should “agree to write to the Minister to state that the Experimental Traffic Con- trol Scheme Permitted (Taxis in Bus Lanes), which was proposed by her Department, does not have the coun- cil’s support and to urge her to not progress this further, instead focusing efforts on further measures to enhance the provision of public transport, cycle infrastructure and pedestrian priority in the city.” Cllr Groogan told the committee: “To allow 8,000 new vehicles into a bus lane is completely the wrong way to go. It’s not about penalising private car users, it’s about encouraging other forms of transport, particularly buses.” A council officer told the committee that other councils had been contacted in Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Not-
tingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manch- ester and Bristol, in order to ascertain how they treated PHVs in bus lanes. The officer said: “There were a number of reasons as to why they did or did not allow taxis in bus lanes. Some of the reasons for prohibiting it were down to congestion. There were enforcement difficulties and financial implications - but air quality is not measured across any of the locations apart from one, and there was no data to back that up.” Sinn Fein Councillor Ronan McLaughlin said: “The report doesn’t state that hav- ing taxis in bus lanes is a problem for air pollution.” He said: “This comes down to a class issue. The vast majority of taxi drivers, men and women, come from working class areas.”
He added: “Not putting a taxi in a bus lane is not going to avert the climate crisis. This is simply a drop in the ocean, and that drop in the ocean is affecting the livelihoods of working class people. That’s somewhere I can’t go.”
JUNE 2021
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