Taxi Marshals
Aim
To ensure a safe journey home after your evening out in the city centre.
How?
A team of dedicated Taxi Marshals who manage the city centre taxi rank on Colston Avenue. They will ensure the taxi rank is an orderly and fair place to hire a taxi for your journey home.
They are easily identified by their fluorescent bibs, radios and personal head cameras. They will ensure:
- Passengers are fit to travel
- An orderly and safe queue at the rank
- Priority service for vulnerable people
- Anti-social behaviour is not tolerated at the taxi rank
- Passengers have the necessary means to pay their taxi fare
For your protection, the area in which they operate offers:
- Improved lighting
- Designated CCTV cameras
- A direct link to the Police, if needed.
They are on duty from 11pm until 3am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
The Bus & Taxi Marshals are now coordinated by the Bristol City Council Transport Department (ph: 0117 922 2949).
Bristol has won a top award for an innovative scheme aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and violence in the city at weekends.
Nightsafe, which is a partnership between the Police, the council, First Bus and the licensed taxi trade, is the first of its kind in the UK. The scheme enables safe management and dispersal of taxi and bus passengers.
The scheme has been nominated for the award for Innovation at the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2007. The results were announced at the awards ceremony in London on 12 March 2007.
The taxi and bus marshal strategy was launched in 2004, when the Safer Bristol Partnership Violent Crime delivery group identified an increase in alcohol-related violence in the city centre. Problems arose when large groups of people, tired and impatient to get home, queued for buses and taxis late at night. We approached the problem by introducing taxi marshals at the city centre taxi rank, and improving CCTV cameras in the area.
Under the scheme, the taxi marshals:
- Ensure no food or drink is taken into the taxi
- Are easily identifiable in branded, fluorescent jackets
- Manage the queues and discourage anti-social behaviour
- Are trained to Security Industry Authority (SIA) standard
- Only allow licensed and reputable Hackney carriages to use the rank
- Prevent people from using taxis when they are not in a fit state to travel
- Have a direct radio link to the CCTV headquarters and to a dedicated police officer
In 2006, the second phase of the Nightsafe project was launched. Bus marshals were introduced on eight weekend Night-Flyer bus services out of the city. The bus marshals operate in a similar way to the taxi marshals, but also travel on the bus to help prevent any anti-social behaviour. The marshals work in pairs and are fitted with head cameras, which are able to record any incidents that might occur.
Since the launch of the bus marshal scheme, 8,800 passengers have travelled on Night-Flyer services with marshals. Only 13 minor incidents have been reported in that time, all of which were successfully managed by the bus marshals. In addition, the police report that incidents of violent crime in the areas near the taxi rank and Night-Flyer bus stop have fallen by 40% since 2004.
In the awards submission, Deputy District Commander, Supt. Tim Lee said:
“The joined-up taxi and bus marshal service has made a major contribution to making the city centre a better place for everyone at weekends.”
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Seems like a good idea, on another point Noda now have a office inside the Gate & are sending punters into the top end of low friar street, to be collected. Can’t see it working myself, as after 1 minute waiting the punter is just going to jump into one of the Hacks & away. Plus there is nowhere for PH & Hacks to both park up at the sametime, it was bad enough with the bandits picking up outside the Co-Op & blocking the road. Alot of Noda PH have already said that if this were to happen & there fares got into another car, then they were just going to flimp as much as possible. Might be worth the so called enforcement officers to use that area for there sting operations!!!!!!!!!!
On yet another point I have worked all over the country,abroad & at sea & I have never had to work alongside such a bunch of backstabbing spineless bast**rds. Just swapped Hacks & mine had ‘DAVES TAXIS’ on top sign & within 1/2 day had someone grassing me to office, Sir, Sir his taxi doesn’t look like mine.
If it had been the office staff then fare enough as it is there job, but a driver done it & I know it was because that is what I was told by the office.
I bet the driver cum in his pants when he saw that my taxi didn’t conform to regulation 7.8a (1 a) subsection 46a z xx w t,
Get a life you sad tw*t