Taxi Driver Online

Usual airport stuff. Sounds like a good idea in principle (the payment system, I mean, and not the charges per se ), but it's a bit like the plate thing in the Lakes, or bus lane exemptions, or whatever - if you forget to update than it can cause a lot of cost and hassle

Don't know if other airports have this system, but I don't think Edinburgh has...


Andy Burnham speaks out on taxi driver's £170 Manchester Airport fine

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... s-32280147

“I know there are other complaints about the system"

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Image: Manchester Evening News

Andy Burnham has branded a taxi driver’s £170 Manchester Airport fine ‘harsh’ and ‘a little heavy-handed’.

Cameras were installed at the Airport to automatically charge motorists earlier this year, removing the need for payment barriers so traffic can flow more smoothly. Drivers have until midnight the following day to pay the £5 drop-off or £6.40 pick-up fee.

When it was rolled out in March, Sue West, Manchester Airport’s landside operations director, said: “We’re always looking for ways to make our passengers’ lives easier.

“By removing barriers in our drop-off and pick-up zones it will speed up the process and make it feel seamless – and it will stop people from going into more expensive pay brackets while they wait at the barriers.”

But calling into the mayor’s regular BBC Radio Manchester Neil, a private hire driver, said he registered his taxi and debit card to Manchester Airport’s payment system, so drop-off fees he is charged while working are paid automatically.

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Image: Manchester Evening News

However, Neil told listeners he upgraded his taxi to a new car and forgot to update the registration plate on Manchester Airport’s system. He didn’t notice his mistake before the payment cut-off, so was issued a £100 fine.

But Neil said the first letter ‘went astray’ and debt collectors have now contacted him demanding £170.

Mayor Andy Burnham said the approach was ‘a little heavy-handed’ and revealed his office has had complaints about the new system.

“It’s a system I do not control,” he said. “It feels harsh in some ways, given they know you as an operator.

“I know there are other complaints about the system. I feel we need to work with the Airport so everyone understands the system. I think some people have been in a position where the change has come in and they know about it.”

Manchester Airport was contacted for comment.