Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd (centre) has announced a pilot scheme to allow taxis in certain classes to use designated bus lanes in Belfast during road works associated with the Grand Central Station project.

The move aims to alleviate traffic congestion and support the taxi industry during the construction period. 

Classes A and C taxis, which are currently restricted from using bus lanes, will be permitted to do so under the pilot scheme.

A full road closure of Durham Street will be in place for up to 12 months to facilitate the necessary public realm works.

Minister O’Dowd said: "My department has worked closely with Translink to manage traffic flow during the ongoing construction, however some level of disruption is unavoidable while these important works are carried out.

"In order to alleviate some of the disruption, and to support the taxi industry, I have asked my officials to urgently bring forward proposals which will permit Class A and Class C taxis to use certain bus lanes in the vicinity of the works.

"My department will be taking forward the necessary legislative arrangements as quickly as possible and I will announce further details on the commencement of the pilot in the near future."

The decision to allow taxis to use bus lanes has been welcomed by business improvement district Belfast ONE. Martina Connolly, CEO of Belfast ONE, praised the temporary measure but emphasised the need for additional measures to address the broader traffic congestion issues in the city.

She called for a meeting with the Infrastructure Minister to discuss further proposals to reduce congestion.

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A woman has been sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting a taxi driver and causing £500 worth of damage to his cab.

Kimberley Smith, 25, called a taxi on 9 September to take her shopping.

After being dropped off, she was unable to pay the fare using her card and claimed her phone battery was dead.

The taxi driver agreed to let her transfer the money later, but when she failed to do so, he returned to collect the outstanding payment.

Smith became angry and verbally and physically assaulted the driver, punching and kicking the side of the cab and damaging the wing mirror.

Police were called and arrested Smith, who continued to be aggressive and resisted arrest.

At her sentencing hearing on 10 October, Smith pleaded guilty to assault, police assault, fare fraud, resisting arrest and statutory breach of the peace.

Sheriff Alison Michie imposed a six-month jail term, citing the severity of the assault and the damage caused to the taxi driver's vehicle.

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On Tuesday 9 October, City of York Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee met to discuss its draft new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire policy.

The proposed rules include:

• All hackney carriages to be painted black to distinguish them from private hire vehicles which would be barred from being so

• All hackney carriages to display the council’s crest and their licensing details

• All vehicles would have to be built to Euro VI emissions standards

• All vehicle rear windows would have to have a minimum light transmission value of 30 per cent or above to help passengers feel safe - drivers would be offered free checks to see if the tint in their vehicles’ windows comply

• From November, new licences for taxis will only be granted to those vehicles that meet standards on emissions and follow the rules on colour and window tinting.

• Licences will not be renewed for vehicles which do not comply from November 2027, though councillors recommended pushing the date for wheelchair accessible vehicles back by a further three years.

• Councillors heard drivers would only be required to replace their vehicle once it is 10 years old, provided it meets emissions standards.

• The proposed policy also encourages the use of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and electric ones over all others.

• Large private hire operators, those with 99 vehicles or more, will be required to always have at least one adapted vehicle operational.

Councillors heard Government grants were available to help drivers buy wheelchair accessible taxis built to low or zero emissions specifications.

However, several drivers who spoke at the committee meeting told councillors they were concerned about the cost of buying new vehicles or changing them to meet standards.

They argued that these restrictions will ultimately limit the availability of adapted vehicles and could lead to increased costs for passengers.

There were also concerns that the ‘right to roam’, which allows drivers licensed outside of York to work in the area, could undermine efforts to enforce standards.

Arshad Mahmood Chairman of York City Taxi Association said, "Many taxi drivers already own vehicles in other colours and would face financial difficulty to change their existing taxi to a new black one.

"In fact, there are currently only four used wheelchair-accessible taxis listed for sale online which would meet the proposed new standards

"Surely as long as a vehicle meets the euro emissions standards and is well maintained it should still be re-licensed to drive.

"Getting an MOT at a separate time and then also tested six months later is a good enough test process to check that a car is both road worthy and environmentally friendly.

"The fact is, with the taxi trade facing a significant decline in business many York taxi drivers cannot afford to buy new vehicles, and this will eventually drive them out of business, just like we are seeing happening to the hackney trade in London."

A decision on the proposed policy will be made at the council's Licensing and Regulatory Committee on 22 November 2024.

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Black cab drivers in London are facing a significant issue due to a cyberattack on Transport for London (TfL). 

Thousands of drivers have wrongly received penalty charges for entering congestion charge or ULEZ zones, despite being exempt.

This has caused considerable distress and financial worry for the affected drivers.

The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) has been inundated with calls from members seeking assistance.

The LTDA's general secretary, Steve McNamara, believes the number of affected drivers is in the thousands. Many drivers are concerned about the potential escalation of penalty charges if not addressed promptly.

"Some have asked if they should just pay them to make them go away," Mr McNamara said.

The IT glitch that caused the issue is believed to be related to a recent cyberattack on TfL.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred, as a similar issue arose last month. However, the current situation is exacerbated by the inability of drivers to reach TfL through their phone lines.

The LTDA has urged TfL to resolve the issue promptly and provide adequate support to the affected drivers.

Lee Drinkwater, who runs a fleet of electric taxis, said he knew of 300 penalty charge notices sent to his drivers. 

Mr Drinkwater said TfL advised him to send in licence details for each driver to have the charges cancelled.

"I can't have staff spending this much time on the tickets... it's not acceptable," he said.

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A new bus gate in Preston has generated £1 million in fines in just three months.

It was installed six months ago on Corporation Street in Preston by Lancashire County Council (LCC) in a bid to reduce traffic at peak times and allow buses right of way.

But it has not been without issues, as initially drivers flouted the new rules, causing congestion that meant Preston Bus had to divert its vehicles away from the gate and on to other routes.

Buses, hackney carriages and cyclists can use the bus gate, but cars and PHVs cannot.

One passenger, who uses the bus regularly, said: "I think that it doesn’t add anything, if anything it’s made things worse.

"I’m waiting for a bus now, it’s nearly 15 minutes late and it seems to be a regular thing that happens."

Thomas Calderbank, commercial manager at Rotala, which owns Preston Bus, said: "Bus journeys are a little bit slower now that we no longer have access to Friargate and that’s unfortunate but it’s the ambition of the city to improve the pedestrian links up to the university and it wouldn’t be right of us to stand in the way of that."

Figures from the authority show that 36,135 fines have been issued so far, with 26,627 paid to date.

Fines are £70, discounted to £35 if paid within two weeks and have so far netted LCC £968,415, with some still outstanding.

There had been an initial grace period after the bus gate went live on 21 May, with the council sending out fines from 25 June.

A spokesman for LCC told the BBC: "Any funds generated go into countywide highways budget that the council has to improve the highway network, including introducing safety schemes and filling potholes."

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