Taxi Driver Online

Well I'm sure this all makes sense to people who know the B&H trade and the local geography

But can certainly sympathise as regards lack of consultation and removal of ranks etc

But one important point seems to be whether the rank in question is actually used during the day - the council says it isn't, while Mr Peters claims the opposite. Can't really say I find his explanation too compelling, though

There are captions for the photos on the Argus website - not to mention a shedload of comments - but can't be bothered with them on here...


Taxi drivers outraged after seafront taxi rank is moved for new bus lane

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/taxi-drivers- ... 00582.html

A cabbie representative is outraged at the removal of a taxi bay on a busy seafront road.

Brighton and Hove City Council is currently trialling a traffic regulation order, which started on May 1, introducing a new bus lane on Marine Parade, Brighton and removing an existing parking, motorcycle, loading and taxi bay on the seafront above the Sea Life centre.

Andrew Peters, who represents the Brighton and Hove Cab Trade Association, said the council acted “recklessly” and “bypassed the local taxi trade to enforce what it wanted” without consultation.

Mr Peters, who has been driving taxis in Brighton and Hove for 42 years, said: “It is absolutely not acceptable that we have to wait for a consultation period to be carried out to get back the 24 hour rank that the council effectively snatched from us when a decision can immediately be made to return the rank to its full and long-established 24 hour status.”

The council has removed the 24 hour taxi bay on Marine Parade west of its junction with Madeira Place, and the loading bay east of its junction with Broad Street, on the beach side close to Soho House and the Sea Life centre bus stop. This is for trial last lasting at least six months.

As part of the trial there is now a 24.6 metre shared taxi and loading bay on Marine Parade east from its junction with Charles Street.

The new taxi and loading bay will operate as a loading bay from 6am-6pm and a taxi bay from 6pm-6am.

The council has said that the reason for these changes is to make use of “available space more effectively”, and that surveys have shown that taxis use “these bays at night”.

Mr. Andrews has claimed that a taxi rank survey being held is “totally flawed”.

He said: “A taxi rank is in place for hackney carriages to pull-on and pull-off at any time. A taxi may be on the rank for 10 seconds, ten minutes or however long it suits the drivers.

“There is no clause under legislation for the use of a taxi rank by taxi drivers and it is not down to the council to make decision on taxi ranks without full and proper consultation with the local taxi trade.

“The appearance of local taxis on the rank for however long or short time ensures that the public knows that if they stand at an empty rank for a taxi then one will be along in no time.

“Additionally, the local taxi trade runs a network that informs drivers of where people are waiting.

“This is how we serve the city.”

The council stated that the reason for the traffic regulation order is to improve bus reliability in the location.

The council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan received funding from the government in summer 2022. One of the projects that received funding was a westbound shared bus and cycle lane on Marine Parade.

The road traffic regulation states that cyclists would be able to use the bus lane westbound, and that implementing this new scheme in early 2025 complies “with funding requirements” whilst supporting the bus network during the construction period for Valley Gardens.

The council has stated that the temporary changes are to trial the bus lane and allow for a consultation to be held for the first six months whilst the bus lane is operational.

Andrew Peters added : “As the council is aware, the local taxi trade is battling under the pressure from Uber bringing in literally hundreds of out-of-town cars that predominantly work here without any monitoring from respective local licensing control and who are constantly forming ‘ranks’ in high footfalls.

“Yet the local trade appears to have been treated with contempt by its own council over this rank.”

Councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport, parking and public realm, said: “The times for the taxi bay followed a six-week public consultation of the Marine Parade bus lane scheme and data which showed the bay had limited use during the day. It has been kept as a taxi bay between 6pm and 6am.

“However, as the new scheme has been installed on an experimental traffic regulation order, this gives us flexibility to make changes within the first six months based on the further feedback we receive.

“As a listening council, we are keen to respond positively to feedback from the taxi trade as part of the ongoing public consultation for Marine Parade. We are looking at options for a day-time taxi rank that works well in this location soon.”

For what it's worth, this is the link to the Argus version with all the comments - the above is the Yahoo version, but it'll just be the same text but without the below-the-line comments

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/2517456 ... ank-moved/

The consultation with the trade was zero, and the council has plenty of form in that regard.

But to cut a very long post (that could have been) short, the council today have reversed their decision and the rank will once again be 24/7.

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IDFIMH

Noticed this morning that the rank has already been painted up and good to go.

It just shows that councils can act quickly when they want to, or in this case, when they screwed up big time.

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IDFIMH

Seems the Argus has caught up with the news from Sussex (and I mean both the person and the county ).

Some interesting points here, I suppose, at least compared to how it works elsewhere

But this below does drone on a bit

But I suppose the fine details are best appreciated by the locals


Brighton council reverses 24 hour taxi bay decision

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/2518722 ... -decision/

A city council has re-instated a 24 hour taxi bay on a busy seafront road following outrage by taxi drivers.

Brighton and Hove City Council has said it will reinstate a 24 hour taxi bay in Marine Drive, Brighton after removing it for an experimental traffic regulation order.

Andrew Peters, who represents the Brighton and Hove Cab Trade Association, has welcomed the decision by the council but has said that the local taxi trade is “still seeking accountability” for what it believes is a lack of any “official stakeholder consultation”.

The council removed the ‘24 hour’ taxi bay on Marine Parade west of its junction with Madeira Place, and the loading bay east of its junction with Broad Street, on the beach side of the A259 close to Soho House and the Sea Life centre bus stop. This is for a trial last lasting at least six months.

As part of the trial there is now a 24.6 metre shared taxi and loading bay on Marine Parade east from its junction with Charles Street.

The new taxi and loading bay was to operate as a loading bay from 6am-6pm and a taxi bay from 6pm-6am. This new shared bay will now be available for taxis 24-hours a day.

Councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport, parking and public realm, has reiterated that the matter of the design plans was part of a six-week public consultation, which included “potential arrangements for the taxi rank”.

He said: “This [the public consultation] informed our initial design, which always included retaining a rank on Marine Parade.

“It has been an important part of the design for a taxi rank to be included with the bus lane.

“As the scheme is part of an experimental traffic regulation order, we have the flexibility to respond promptly to further feedback, which is what we have done here.

“The daytime status of the rank has now been reinstated alongside evening hours and we were already in the process of doing so before we received the complaint.”

Mr Peters had lodged a Stage 1 complaint on May 15 to the council for removing the ’24 hour’ taxi rank on Marine Parade.

A Stage 1 complaint will be handled by the council service the complaint is about.

The council says it aims to respond to complaints at this stage within 10 working days of it being acknowledged.

The complaint was lodged on the grounds of the “change in timings”, the “lack of consultation with the local taxi trade” and the “taxi survey” which was carried out by the council.

He said: “The Stage 1 complaint was immediately lodged as it was indicated to us by the projects manager that this was an experimental traffic order with the consultation open until November 1.

“So, we were not prepared to standby whilst out-of-town Uber cars use the then marked loading bay during that time to rank up on.

“However, it is very obvious that the council realised that they did not undertake the correct procedure of a full consultation with the local taxi trade.

“Consequently the council acted swiftly to resolve the matter to restore the long-established rank back to its 24hr status for the drivers to use whenever it suited.

“We have always striven to work closely with the council so when the relationship breaks down it can be very frustrating.

“Still, the speed of the outcome of this does go a long way in restoring that working relationship.

“Whilst we praise the council for acting quickly, we are still seeking accountability from the council for the lack of any official stakeholder consultation with the local taxi trade to ensure that this does not happen again.”

The council stated that the reason for the traffic regulation order is to improve bus reliability in the location.

The council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan received funding from the government in summer 2022.

One of the projects that received funding was a westbound shared bus and cycle lane on Marine Parade.
The road traffic regulation states that cyclists would be able to use the bus lane westbound, and that implementing this new scheme in early 2025 complies “with funding requirements” whilst supporting the bus network during the construction period for Valley Gardens.

Cllr Muten added: “As a listening council, we’re always keen to work with the taxi industry and I’m pleased we have found a solution which allows this important traffic scheme to progress but also supports our local taxi drivers.

what a magnificent demonstration of the competence of our politicians NOT

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And a good demonstration of the trade not bending over and taking it up the rear.

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IDFIMH