Pretty well impossible for anyone on here except Chris to evaluate whether the council's argument here compelling in terms of allowing the usual bus lane exemptions would cause significant problems, or whether it's just council BS.
But I'm sure we can all identify the general principle
Passengers 'paying extra' as buses get priority over taxis at Plymouth roadworkshttps://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/p ... y-10401170Cab passengers 'paying increased fare to be taken around the circuit' at WoolwellCouncillors say taxis should be allowed to use a bus route during a £45m Plymouth road upgrade - because it is costing cab passengers extra. Buses are allowed to turn right from the A386 Tavistock Road at the Woolwell roundabout during the work on the ambitious Woolwell to the George junction improvement scheme - but taxis aren’t.
It means taxis have to take a lengthy diversion up and around the Belliver Roundabout, near the Plessey Semiconductors factory. This is despite taxis being able to use bus lanes throughout the city.
Plymouth City Council said allowing cabs - and bikes and motorcycles - to use the Woolwell turning would interrupt the flow of traffic coming into the city and cause tailbacks onto Dartmoor. But opposition Tory councillors have called the arrangement “unbelievable” and said it means taxi passengers are having to pay more money.
Tory leader Andy Lugger, who represents the Southway ward, told PlymouthLive: “The rule of the highway in nearly all towns and cities is taxis and cyclists are permitted to use bus lanes. It is unbelievable that taxis are prohibited from turning right at Woolwell.
"This is something I have raised as a concern months ago, which has fallen on deaf ears. Quite simply, residents in my ward and neighbouring wards are paying an increased fare to be ‘taken around the circuit’ to get to Tesco Superstore.
“I serve on the taxi licensing committee and one driver told me that the additional fare could run to £5. If taxis were simply allowed, like their fellow public transport vehicles, to turn right, the injustice would not exist.”
Cllr Lee Finn, Tory councillor for the Budshead ward, said: “Taxi drivers should be able to follow buses, like in bus lanes. The taxis are instead on a loop and the extra cost to members of the public is quite big depending on the amount of traffic.”
He added: “It’s at odds with the rest of Plymouth - where buses can go, taxis can go. So common sense should say that the same rule applies everywhere.
“And it is putting taxis off going out there, and reducing the ability of people to access the Woolwell area, due to delays and the ability to pick people up and charge them a reasonable fee.”
Cllr Finn said that not allowing cabs to turn right at the roundabout makes “no sense” and added: "Especially when they are trying to encourage people to use public transport. “Taxis are a form of public transport, helping the disabled, elderly and those with mobility issues.”
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “The right turn from Tavistock Road into Woolwell Road, at Woolwell Roundabout, is temporarily banned to all traffic except buses and emergency vehicles. This is to ensure that southbound traffic, which has been reduced to one lane, can flow more freely without having to give way to right-turning traffic at the roundabout.
“The only exemption is for the very small number of buses serving Woolwell, to help them keep to their published timetables. Implementing normal bus lane restrictions to allow taxis, motorcycles and cycles to use the turning would increase interruption to the southbound traffic flow, reducing the benefit of this measure and increasing the queue back towards Belliver Roundabout and across the moors.”
The Woolwell to The George scheme is well underway now having been in the pipeline for years. The council wants to solve one of Plymouth’s worst traffic bottlenecks and provide better links to and from the north of Plymouth as it grows.
About 4,400 new homes are planned in the north of the city – including 2,000 at the Woolwell Urban Extension. This and other developments, such as the new district shopping centre in Derriford, will see an increased amount of traffic along the route. The whole scheme will cost £45m, which includes £24.9m of Government funding.
In the spring, Woolwell residents complained of gridlock at the A386 roadworks and Tory MP Rebecca Smith said there has been a “public outcry” about traffic crawling at “a snail’s pace”.
Last month a new left turn from Tavistock Road into Woolwell Crescent opened, ahead of schedule, allowing inbound traffic to turn into Woolwell without going around the Woolwell Roundabout.
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