Minicab drivers told bus lanes are for hire – if they pay £10kMinicab drivers could be asked to pay £10,000 to fund a trial of allowing them to use the city's bus lanes.
Members of the National Private Hire Association want Stoke-on-Trent City Council to relax its rules over bus lanes to improve passengers' access to shops and other locations.
Council leaders are set to agree to a 12-month trial to test the idea, but only if the private hire trade is willing to pay for it.
And while it may take until autumn 2016 for any trial to even begin, a proposed three-year city-wide review of all bus lanes may eventually make it redundant.
A report on the issue will go to cabinet on Tuesday, although no final decision will be made at this point.
It lists a series of recommendations made by the city renewal overview and scrutiny committee last year.
The proposed cabinet response states: "We agree that a 12-month trial should take place at a particular bus lane site, providing it is paid for by the private hire trade.
"We will consult with the private hire trade to ask if they are willing to pay for the cost of the trial and, if so, to identify and agree an appropriate site.
"After 12 months, we will evaluate any trial and reserve the right to end the trial without any reimbursement of costs."
Only buses, Hackney carriages and cyclists are currently allowed to use the city's 1.09 miles of bus lanes.
The NPHA says its members have to drive an extra one million miles each year to avoid the lanes.
The committee also recommended carrying out a review of bus lanes to ensure they are still required, which could see some removed.
Dave Currie, regional secretary of the National Private Hire Association, welcomed the possibility of a bus lanes review, but accused the council of dragging its feet on the issue.
He said: "What we are asking for isn't just to create a level playing field with Hackney carriages, but to improve things for the people of Stoke-on-Trent as a whole. People make 1.4 million more journeys by private hire than by bus each year.
"I don't understand why the council is taking so long over this, and why they're being so churlish over £10,000, when that is just a drop in the ocean for them. But if we have to pay this to get the trial, then we will pay it.
"I think a review of bus lanes is needed. They were introduced at a time when buses were the main means of transport, but that is no longer the case."
But Selwyn Brown, chairman of public transport users' group Aces, said bus lanes were still needed.
He said: "Our members tell me how important bus lanes are, especially during busy times when they see other vehicles using them illegally.
"But it would be a good idea to review them."
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