quisquose Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Nothing to do with the OP though. Everything to do with the OP. He is only asking to be treated equally. Since you agree that taxis should be allowed to use bus lanes, perhaps you would consider the following? Which driver should be given the choice of using a dedicated lane on the road: 1. The taxi driver taking a family member to the shops to buy a new outfit, or 2. The van driver delivering urgent materials to construction workers waiting on site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_dave Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Everything to do with the OP. He is only asking to be treated equally. Since you agree that taxis should be allowed to use bus lanes, perhaps you would consider the following? Which driver should be given the choice of using a dedicated lane on the road: 1. The taxi driver taking a family member to the shops to buy a new outfit, or 2. The van driver delivering urgent materials to construction workers waiting on site? The taxi driver as he has a licence and it is legal for him to do so. It's nothing to do with personal circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 When someone drives a private car the pollution and congestion that their car causes stops when they reach their destination. If that person instead decided to use a taxi for the journey that taxi would pollute and congest for the journey to the pickup point, the journey to the destination, and the journey onwards from there. As it also contains one extra person (taxi driver) who is going nowhere in particular it will weigh more and therefore use more fuel. For any given journey a taxi will polute more than a private motorist doing the same trip. As I said earlier, a taxi taking me to the station makes 4 journeys compared to just two if I drove myself. The taxi also weighs more as it is carrying an extra person, and the mpg of the taxi is far worse than my car. The preferable journey is by bus of course, but the fact that the taxi driver is also allowed to use the bus lane actually discourages me from taking this option. I'm afraid that political lobbying rather than logic has resulted in taxis being allowed to use bus lanes. ( Can you tell it's my lunch hour ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 The taxi driver as he has a licence and it is legal for him to do so. It's nothing to do with personal circumstances. Whilst you are correct, I find the answer "they should because they can" somewhat uninteresting. Ultimately, I, and I suspect the OP and others, would like an logical reason why they should. Just to make debate more interesting you see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It's also fairly obvious that if taxis didn't use bus lanes, he would be stuck in traffic for longer. So if his problem is just inequality, maybe he should consider that it would take longer if only buses could use the bus lanes. Maybe so. However I was merely pointing out that your statement:- It sounds more like you mean "Why can't I use bus lanes, I'm very important and need to get somewhere quickly". Isn't at all what the OP meant (IMHO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_dave Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Maybe so. However I was merely pointing out that your statement:- Isn't at all what the OP meant (IMHO). Actually you said it was the opposite of what the OP meant, which you still haven't explained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Actually you said it was the opposite of what the OP meant, which you still haven't explained. If you say so, I think I explained it fine. The only person who seems to be confused in the thread is you, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radar Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 taxis haven't always been allowed to use the bus lanes, in fact the rule change came about due to pressure on the council to come in line with London. The taxi trade which tradotionally was the black cabs have always been described in law as a 'public servicel just as the buses are regarded as a public service. All the while the council run the buses they indeed seemed like a loc authority run service for the benefit of the travelling public, but when deregulation came in 1985 and big business took over the buses the taxi trade across the country hilighted the unfair advantage accorded to the buses especially when plans were being drawn up to restrict ordinary cars from city centres. After campaigning the taxi trade got their way I think in 1995. Private hire were given equal status shortly after the black cabs as confusion over definition of what a taxi is ensued. Hope this helps as it has nothing to do with fuel consumption or number of passengers or any other scheme to annoy you but a matter of what os defined as a public service. There still are some places where taxis are not allowed to use bus lanes. sheffield council was cornered when they decided to restrict cars from large chunks of city centre and when they were pushed to explain how a whellchair user or an elderly person needing to be in the retricted area hires a taxi to town, how are they going to get near as possible to their destination? So when they allowed for bus lane use they had to allow all bus lanes and gates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHYTOT Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Perhaps we should all just register our vehicles as private hire cabs and drive in the bus lanes to shorten our journey times. The fee for a new private hire vehicle licence, or to renew an existing licence is £71 for a six month licence, or £136 for a twelve month licence (twelve months is for vehicles under three years of age only). There is a one off additional fee for the vehicle identification plates which is £34. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*_ash_* Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Perhaps we should all just register our vehicles as private hire cabs and drive in the bus lanes to shorten our journey times. I heard once that some people in London have done that to get around the congestion charge. Perhaps we should all just register our vehicles as private hire cabs and drive in the bus lanes to shorten our journey times. The fee for a new private hire vehicle licence, or to renew an existing licence is £71 for a six month licence, or £136 for a twelve month licence (twelve months is for vehicles under three years of age only). There is a one off additional fee for the vehicle identification plates which is £34. In Sheffield you cannot register your car as a taxi and then drive it. Only PHV and Hackney licensed drivers can drive PHV's, even when all the stickers and plate are removed. If you look at the list of licensed drivers in Sheffield, there are more women registered than actually drive taxis for a living. I suspect it's more widespread, but I know of at least one of these, who got their badge so they could stick to only owning one car, and drive their partners car. Also your figures are incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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