64 PRIVATEHIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
TRAVEL UPDATE
STOKE RAILWAYMANAGEMENT AND CABBIES AGREE: ITS GOOD TO TALK
Clear-the-air talks
between taxi driver s and the authorities look to have averted a strike by cabbies at Stoke’s railway station. For several years, black cab drivers have had issues over a perceived lack of signage and the location of the rank. Three months ago, cabbies began taking it in turns to put on high- visibility vests to offer directions and point people to waiting cars. Hackney
Carriage
Association chairman Dave Burgess-Pearson said it was initially a success but increases in the number of taxis, coupled with the cur- rent economic climate, had subsequently led to increased tension. Matters came to a head last month following a
disagreement between drivers, at which point Virgin said there would be no more marshals and no more parking cabs in short stay bays. Some cabbies then threatened to go on strike, on a day described
by Mr
Burgess-Pearson as “one of themost difficult I have had as a driver”. He said: ‘’I strongly advised them not to do it, because they are hurting themselves and it does not look good.” Emergency talks were arranged as all parties looked to come to an agreement. Subsequently
Mr
Burgess-Pearson and other hackney carriage drivers met station manager
Karen
Grimshaw, Stoke-on- Trent City Council
licensing officer Glyn Cross and British Trans- port Police officers. After an hour long meeting, it was decided that the marshals would continue to operate for another four weeks and taxis would stay out of the short stay bays. The strike is now unlikely to go ahead. Ms Grimshaw told the Stoke-on-Trent Sen- tinel: “It was a very pro- ductivemeeting and we will now develop a code of conduct to be signed by all parties.” Mr Burgess-Pearson, who thanked Mr Cross for his help, said: “It is now up to the individual drivers to take respon- sibility for their own actions and work under a gentleman’s agree- ment in the way we used to.”
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A paperwork error that led to the exclusion of priva te hire vehicles froma bus and taxi lane is to be resolved. Taxi firms hit out at council bosses after they passed a traffic order forbidding private hire vehicles using a bus and taxi lane in Nayland Road, Colchester. The order, by highways officers at Essex Coun- ty Council, only allowed black cabs and buses
to use it. Private hire firms claimed the order was “unfair” and said it had not been made clear with signs they are not allowed to access the road, leaving them at risk of getting fined. George Ward, a senior engineer
at Essex
County Council, told the Colchester Evening Gazette: “The intention of Essex County Coun- cil was private hire
vehicles would be per- mitted to use this bus lane
and written
approval was obtained to allow this to happen. “Somewher e in the process of preparing and making the legal traffic
order, priva te
regulation hire
vehic les have been omitted and this will now be corrected.” It is hoped the order will be rectified within the next three months.
ABERDEEN TAXI DRIVERS HAIL DECISION TO DRIVE IN BUS LANES
Taxi drivers in
Aberdeen have wel- comed a change in legislation that allows them to drive in bus lanes at any time of day. The change, which came into effect in mid April, now permits taxis and private hire vehi- cles
not carrying
passengers to use the city’s bus lanes during peak hours. Brian
spokesman for the Aberdeen Taxi Group, said the change meant
Sinclair,
taxi companies could offer passengers a more efficient service. He told the Aberdeen Press and Journal: “It makes it much easier to travel around, that’s for sure. “We’re very pleased. It means we can cut back the journey times on the way to pick up cus- tomers. “Previously we just had to sit in queues of traffic at teatime, even if we were on the way to pick people up from their job, and make the pas-
sengers wait for us to arrive. “It was the same for pri- vate hire cars. They are more likely to be going to pre-booked jobs, so it was impor- tant
to get them
included in the change as well.” Councillor
Mark
McDonald, whose ward includes the main route to Aberdeen Airport from the city, along the notoriously busy Auch- mill Road, also said the changes
would improve the service.
MAY 2009
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