First Newcastle, now Gateshead: Cash-strapped council to introduce six bus lane camerasGateshead Council, which has sustained £130m of cuts since 2010, is seeking to raise extra revenue by rolling out bus lane fines
Private hire drivers have raised objections to plans for new bus lanes
A cash-strapped council is set to start issuing bus lane fines in a bid to drum up extra revenue.
Gateshead Council confirmed on Thursday that from spring next year a number of cameras will be installed on bus lanes across the borough, with £60 fines to be issued to motorists who incorrectly use them.
The authority, which has had to cut £130m since 2010 and is planning further cuts totalling £92m over the next five years, is hoping to raise around £148,000 by introducing the cameras and by also increasing car parking permit charges, ramping up parking enforcement and charging for event car park closures.
It is believed six cameras will be installed, although the council is yet to reveal the exact locations.
Bus lane fines were due to start being issued this month, but the switch-on was pushed back until April 2017 after a row broke out with the private hire trade.
The row centred around the fact that private hire cars were not exempt from fines, while Hackney carriages were.
At the time, council leader Martin Gannon said that it would be too costly for private hire drivers to use the lanes - but now the authority has done a U-turn.
Anneliese Hutchinson, service director for development and public protection, said: “We listened to the comments made by members of the private hire trade and after further discussion we have now agreed to allow their vehicles access the same bus lanes in Gateshead that Hackney carriages have access to.
“The Department for Transport’s advice in cases such as this is to allow Hackney carriages in bus lanes where possible but that private hire vehicles should be excluded, and this is why they were initially excluded from these proposals.
“However, having looked at the role they play in public transport in Gateshead , we have decided to allow private hire vehicle the same access as Hackney carriage vehicles.
She added: “Not every bus lane in Gateshead is open to Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles and this will remain the case.
“However, those which do permit hackney carriages are clearly signed and will, from next Spring, be permissible for private hire vehicles to use.”
David Kennedy, manager of Gateshead Central Taxis, said that it was a victory for the private hire trade but predicted a similar outcry over the fines as has been seen in Newcastle.
He said: “It’s a result as far as the trade is concerned, private hire drivers should have been exempted from the outset.
“We felt like they were creating a two-tier system between Hackneys and private hire drivers.
“More people use private hire nowadays so if more of our cars are stuck in traffic you’ll have less taxis available and even more people using their own.”
He added: “As far as general motorists are concerned I think a lot will be caught out by this, but they shouldn’t really be in there in the first place.”
source:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... h-12158873
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