Source: BBC News
About 60 taxis caused a traffic jam in central Manchester as part of a continuing protest about bus lanes.
The private hire drivers are angry that they are not allowed to stop in the lanes to pick up or drop off, while Hackney carriage drivers are.
Organiser Derek Brocklehurst branded Manchester City Council’s policy of using CCTV to catch drivers who flout the rules as “discrimination”.
But the authority said the rules would not be changed.
Drivers travelled in convoy from the City of Manchester stadium into the city centre, before circling the town hall in a go-slow protest.
Mr Brocklehurst, from Audenshaw, said: “We’ve had to take these measures because they are refusing to let private hire use bus lanes.
Mr Brocklehurst said private hire drivers wanted to be treated the same as Hackney carriages
“We’re basically a public service vehicle – we do the same job as a black cab – but our customers are being treated as second-rate customers.
View Video Interview in BBC Post.
“We can’t pick disabled and elderly customers up in bus lanes, which is becoming an increasing problem.
“There are so many bus lanes now in Manchester that run along shops like hairdressers, opticians, doctors, dentists – and basically we just can’t pick them up at the moment.”
There are about 210 miles of bus lanes across Greater Manchester, which can be used by Hackney carriage taxis.
But the council said the rules would not be extended to include private hire vehicles.
Richard Cowell, of Manchester City Council, said: “We are not looking to open up, carte blanche, our bus lanes.
“We feel that would be a retrograde step and would have a very severe impact on the thousands and thousands of people who use buses on a day-to-day basis to get to where they need to go.”
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Good on Manchester city council for sticking by its guns. As the hacks need access in & out of the town centres made as easy as possible as this is there main source of work with in the city centre. Not like the private hire trade who work off data systems & radio. So in theory a car that’s already plotted in to the city centre zone should be given the job in plenty of time with out the need to use bus lanes. I all so notice the private hire do a lot of shouting about the disabled in there argument. Yet there not one wheel chair friendly vehicle in the photo. May be its about time private hire were made to have a % of wheel chair friendly vehicle.Or is that not discrimination against the Hacks.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@NEWCASTLE HACK DRIVER,
Hello Newcastle Hack,
Well in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Private Hire Industry to their horror had to become Disability Friendly, and what did they do, well they first of all had to make the Operating Centre Waiting Rooms Disability Friendly, then you will find they decided to offer cheaper weekly rents to Hackney Carriage Proprietors/Drivers with Disability Vehicles, to navigate round the Vehicle Specification Issue that they had to offer this type service if requested by the customer, therefore not having to have a Secialist Private Hire Wheelchair Friendly Vehicle thrust upon their Industry.
It is only my view this, that Side Entry Wheelchair Vehicles should be Hackney Carriages, because we could insist on “Access Pavement Ramp Heights” for all Ranks to establish not needing to deploy the vehicle ramps, and as the Bus Stops already have this in place, we could then share with combined specific shared Bus/Taxi Hailing Points throughout the Licensing Authority Area, saving the Local Council`s a fortune in building “New” and much needed Rank Space, & combinding an Inter-grated “Hail and Ride” Hackney Carriage System for the Local Authority Region.
This would then leave the Rear Entry Wheelchair Vehicles that are specifically “Pre-booked in Advance” meaning the customer has to ensure there is sufficent parking space to extend the loading ramp, because on a Standard Hackney Carriage Parking Vehicle Bay only side loading vehicles can load within the standard bay.
Hackney Carriages are Buses for over 8 Passengers and a Taxi for under 8 Passengers, meaning we are Public Transport with the right to use Hackney Carriage “Bus” Lanes, & this is why they often display signage reading “Bus & Taxi” Only, because the Highways and Licensing know there job.
Private Hire are “Pre-Booked in Advance” Hire Cars and nothing more, therefore not able to use Hackney Carriage “Hail and Ride” Bus Lanes, but once again they want to hijack them for themselves.
This subject will of course be disputed by the Private Hire, who want to pretend we are all the same & argue they are a “TAXI” when they are clearly not, under an Act of Parliament & that Act being the Local Government(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 Section 80 read the “Private Hire Vehicle” discription and it states; “NOT a Hackney Carriage meaning “Taxi” or Public Service Vehicle meaning a “Bus”!
Please do not be offensive to this post, as it is done to create debate.
Thanks
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls, Canny article I’m sure it will create mass-debate.
J.T.H.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls, It’s a shame that the department of transport ‘know their jobs’ so well otherwise TAXI drivers may question why they are not entitled to a fuel duty rebate, the same as bus company operators, when they are also providing ‘public transport’. The job of a taxi and a ph vehicle is not so different, we transport the general PUBLIC from one place to another whether privately booked in the first place or not. If there wasn’t so many taxis and ph vehicles on the road in the first place it would be in everybody’s interests for ph vehicles to be allowed to use bus lanes and free up the flow of traffic.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@kris,
Hello Kris,
I understand what you are saying, but unfortunately the bus fuel grant is only applicable to the Hackney Carriage “Hail and Ride” side of the Passenger Transport Industry, but in 1950 when the Petroleum Licence that used to be given to a Hackney Carriage Taxi Proprietor, if they applied for one was scapped.
Then it was the Passenger Vehicle (BUS) over 8 passenger seats “Bus Industry” that pushed for a number of years for a rebate, not the Passenger Vehicle (TAXI) under 8 passenger seats, before being granted the Bus Service Operators Grant in 1964 (I think, as I cannot be bothered to look up the exact date).
As you rightly say Kris, the DFT know their job & therefore will not allow the Hackney Carriage Taxi to claim the rebate on fuel costs, unless the Hackney Carriage Taxi Proprietor has registered a replacement bus service with a timetable. If you read the small print in the Private Hire offering this kind of service, you will find that a Hire Car Service offering a new replacement bus service is unable to claim the “Fuel Rebate” and this only came into being recently, therefore meaning the DFT do indeed know there job, as well as knowing the difference between, what vehicle is a “Taxi” & what vehicle is a “Hire Car”.
The issue of Hackney Carriage Lanes known as “BUS LANES” is in the “Hail and Ride” ability for the service provider to be able to offer a service without grid lock, but you seem to be confusing the issue of the “Private Hire” that is a Privately Hired Vehicle Service (with the services of a driver), and not a “Hackney Carriage Vehicle Service” because the Private Hire Service cannot offer immedate hiring facilities that the “Hail and Ride” Hackney Carriage are allowed to under an Act of Parliament.
These are the facts mate not fiction.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls, I fully understand the difference between taxis and ph vehicles and the services they provide. What i am saying is that we all transport the general public, whether pre-booked or hailed, and it is in the interests of the public to reach their destination as efficiently as possible at a fair price. Use of bus lanes could achieve this, er, hypothetically (not from experience of course, being a ph driver myself).
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade@David Walls,
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage TradeIf im the Chris you are referring to in the meeting then no, “Kris” is not me mate.
I certainly think there is a shortfall in Wheelchair friendly Private Hire Vehicles in North Tyneside.
I believe that a Wheelchair user out for a meal or Theatre on a weekend night would find it hard to request a Wheelchair friendly vehicle from there local coastal Taxi firm, because most Wheelchair Access Vehicles based at the coast are Hackney Carriages, and they will be off there respective Office by 22.00hrs on a Saturday night and heading for Whitley or Tynemouth, in which I don’t blame them because things are still slow!
Some of the Berwick Plated Doblo’s have chosen to be “Six Seaters” instead of being standard usage, ie that one at Battle Hill Taxis that has the Drivers private Telephone number on the back of his Berwick Top sign!!
So Mr Walls this is something that you could pursue at your next Forum meeting, more Wheelchair friendly PH, because we don’t have many Bus & Taxi Lanes in North Tyneside to be disputed.
Regards
Stephen
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Stephen Arthur,
Hello Stephen,
Well our next Licensing Forum is not until February 2010, because the next meeting would have fallen on Monday 4th January 2010.
We did have a Licensing Forum meeting on Monday 7 December 2009, and the meeting was about vehicle specifications, but instead of a big argument, we all had a sensible debate,because a very well known “Riddler” was not able to attend due to prior engagements, but we did agree that it could be a very sensible idea to have a Private Hire Vehicle Application Form, and a seperate Hackney Carriage Taxi Vehicle Application Form, with Grandfather Rights to apply to Saloon Plated Hackney Carriages in North Tyneside, but the “Licensing Forum” is only a discussion group and therefore this idea may not happen.
Therefore Stephen, you will be glad to know there may be a Wheelchair “Private Hire Car” Type of Vehicle, that cannot be a Hackney Carriage Taxi Vehicle any longer in the future, so watch this space, and it was not my idea, it was the Private Hire Operators, who were arguing for changes to specifications & therefore a different Application Form, to only apply to the Private Hire Industry was noted.
Hope you like your response from me.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
Hello Dave
Yes I like your response, but I wonder what Alan’s prior engagements were?, do you think he is doing a Panto “Jack and the Berwickstalk”?, with one of his Gaffer’s as the Dame!
Regards
Stephen
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@kris,
Hello again Kris,
I understand your frustration, but as the Hire Car is “Pre-booked in Advance” with a desk clerk, I suggest your desk clerk advises the customer of the time it takes at certain times of the day to travel from point A to point B and allows enough time for the journey they are “Pre-Booking in Advance” at your lower price, but I repeat once again the Hackney Carriage is “Hail and Ride” meaning the customer wants instant not “Pre-Booked in Advance” Travel on the Inter-grated Hackney Carriage Passenger Transport Network, and therefore, as we the Hackney Carriage Trade need to keep the “Hackney Carriage Lanes” known as “Bus Lanes” free flowing, and not filled up with “Hire Cars” that also have Chauffeur Services without Plates fitted to the vehicles remember, who`s customers supposedly say they do not want to be seen, and therefore need the “Tinted Windows” is the view of certain “Private Hire Operators, who now want different “Vehicle Specifications” meaning they are not the same as a “Hackney Carriage Taxi” & we the Hackney Carriage Industry in North Tyneside, agreed with them on this issue, meaning those Operators agree that a “Hire Car is not entitled to “Hackney Carriage” privaliges.
Kris, I know this is not what you want me to say, but I am just having a friendly debate with you mate, as I think you may be the Kris that was in the room on Monday at the Licensing Forum, if not then I apologise for the confusion mate.
Thanks.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Chris Woodrow,
Hello Chris,
Sorry for the confusion, its just the way the previous articles from Kris were written seemed to indicate, someone who may have been at Mondays meeting mate.
Sorry for the confusion Chris.
Thanks speak later.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade