Cyclist sharing the road with bus in Belfast city centre
Sustrans, has rejected calls by a group of taxi companies, to allow taxis in all Belfast bus lanes on a permanent basis.
Taxi trial
In February just before the recent Northern Ireland Assembly elections, the Transport Minister announced a 12-week trial to allow Class A taxis to use a limited number of bus lanes in the city. At the time Sustrans criticised the decision, which was made suddenly, without any consultation and described it as a potential setback for cycling in the city.
The taxi companies have begun a campaign to keep taxis in Belfast bus lanes and expand this to all bus lanes in the city on a permanent basis. The campaign fronted by Fona Cab owner William McCausland have claimed that just six weeks into the trial they can “already see benefits”, such as reduced congestion and traffic moving quicker.
Sustrans has challenged Mr McCausland to provide any evidence for these claims. Mr McCausland continues that taxis are “a vital public service” which reduce traffic and are beneficial to the environment by reducing congestion. We all know that taxis are private hire vehicles which are not a substitute for an efficient public transport system.
Purpose of bus lanes
The purpose of bus lanes is to provide sustainable transport corridors to improve the efficiency of moving people around an urban area, while reducing congestion and air pollution. Belfast simply cannot support the predominance of private vehicles on our road, including taxis.
Mr McCausland also claims that increased regulation and training of drivers has ensured taxi drivers treat road users with respect and are conscious of ensuring safety at all times. The evidence we have been gathering does not support this claim. We have been monitoring bus lanes and already have several reports of near misses of cyclists by taxi drivers.
“ Taxis in bus lanes are today considered the biggest problem for cycling safety in Dublin. ”
Safe Urban Driving Course
In order for cyclists to be more visible and safe when cycling on a road or bus lane, the recommended position is at least one metre (an arm’s length) from the kerb. Given that the majority of bus lanes in greater Belfast are 3m wide, when cyclists are in the safest position on the road there is insufficient space for taxis to pass cyclists within the lane.
In order to pass cyclists safely, taxi drivers have to move into the outside lane. Sustrans has been running a very successful safe urban driving course with lorry and bus drivers which has been helping to improve safety. We would welcome the opportunity to offer this training to taxi drivers as we want to share the road safely with everyone.
Repeating mistakes
We are concerned that this ‘trial’ will be repeating the mistake made in Dublin where taxis were allowed into bus lanes for a temporary period in 1997 which then drifted into a permanent arrangement. Taxis in bus lanes are today considered the biggest problem for cycling safety in Dublin. Cyclists are among the most vulnerable road users.
We believe this trial contradicts the government’s own strategy to promote sustainable transport and active travel as it will hinder people ‘to have the freedom and confidence to travel by bicycle for everyday journeys’ - Department for Infrastructure Bicycle Strategy.
Investment in safe segregated cycle infrastructure
We have consistently argued that the Department should be developing parallel routes to Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) to offer cyclists a safe alternative to bus lanes. The Department is currently consulting on a Belfast Bicycle Network which we hope will lead to a modern network of safe, segregated cycling infrastructure, but this must be backed by immediate investment.
Mr McCausland also states that taxis in bus lanes helps patients get to hospital appointments quicker. Not everyone travels to hospital by taxi, or can afford to, so why should taxi passengers get the privilege of using bus lanes. Not only was this trial not consulted on but it would never pass any equality assessment.
Equality
The taxi boss also claims the trial has been met with “widespread approval” – again where is his evidence? In fact, the last time this issue was consulted on by the Department in 2012, the overwhelming majority of respondents (86%) were opposed to taxis being permitted into bus lanes.
The real common sense proposal is to invest in active travel and our public transport system – that is the future. Taxis have an important role in our cities but should not have a preferential role, and certainly not over sustainable transport.