London’s bus lanes to become more congested

Following London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s statement on Capital Radio that Private Hire Vehicles would be allowed to use the London bus lanes, the London Taxi Board, which represents 9,000 Hackney Carriage Drivers, says this is a recipe for extended congestion across the Capital.

There has been no consultation, no assessment of the impact that 42,000 Private Hire Vehicles will have on congestion in bus lanes and no consideration for buses or London’s taxi fleet has taken place.

Currently only buses and Hackney Carriages have access to the principal bus lanes but the proposed plans would undermine the system that has worked effectively for London’s commuters. Some bus lanes have also been opened up to motorcyclists and that too causes added congestion.

Lee Scott MP for Ilford North, a constituency with a high number of Hackney Carriage drivers said, “This off-the-cuff remark would cause chaos to London’s surface transport and is very concerning for commuters using London’s bus services or black cabs.”

“More concerning for many of my constituents is that this is part of an ongoing attempt to move Hackney Carriages and PHVs together and will undermine their future employment.”

Lee Scott added, “There is now a political campaign by PHV operators to get access to bus lanes. The campaign claims, among other things, that PHVs and licensed private hire cars do the same job as a Hackney Carriage. This is not the case if you consider London taxis are an internationally recognised icon, they all have full disability accessibility and transport 4,000 disabled people each day in London. Each driver has a detailed topographical ‘Knowledge’ of the city and black cabs can of course be hailed on the street which PHVs and others cannot - they have to be pre-booked.”

LTB Chairman, Brian Rice said; “Taxis are part of the ‘integrated’ transport system in London and they rightly have access to bus lanes but recent plans from the Mayor will undermine our unique trade, which is internationally recognised as the best taxi system in the world.”