Taxi Driver Online

TAXIS at Glasgow Airport should lose their monopoly on picking up passengers coming off flights, city council bosses said today. They believe cabs running empty to and from the airport are clogging the M8 and polluting the city.

Right now city cabs can't queue at the airport and pick up passengers, while airport cabs are not allowed to pick people up from city ranks. The only way to get a cab other than by waiting at the airport is to order one by telephone. Council leaders now think a compromise is required.

A council spokesman said: "Almost a quarter of airport traffic is taxis and the current restrictions on pick-ups at the airport and within the city means many vehicles are running with no passengers. "This is not good for the environment and adds to traffic congestion. We need to solve the problem, but this will need compromise from current arrangements involving Glasgow and Renfrewshire taxis."

The recommendation is one of several made by Glasgow officials in response to a consultation by BAA Scotland, the owner of Glasgow Airport, over its masterplan for the site. Bill McIntosh, of the Glasgow Taxi Owners' Association, said: "It is an interesting concept, but it would have to be discussed with the licensing committee and the taxi trade."

A spokesman for Cab Fly, the firm that manages the rank at Glasgow Airport, said he doubted the system could be changed to allow, say, Glasgow cabs to queue in Renfrewshire. He said: "It would be against the law. It is illegal for taxis to rank in an area in which they are not licensed." Even if the law was changed, the spokesman for Cab Fly said he did not think changes to the airport monopoly would go down well with Renfrewshire drivers. He added: "The operators here would not be happy."

Councillors were expected to approve a draft response today to the consultation by BAA. The response questioned the way people and goods get to and from the airport. It suggested the airport was still relying too much on cars, despite plans to open a rail link to the airport by 2008.

Glasgow Airport's plan is essentially a blueprint for massive expansion and includes a huge increase in car parking. That was questioned by council officials, who would like to see more people travel to the airport on public transport. Buses, they said, should run earlier. The earliest bus from Glasgow city centre arrives at the airport after 6.20am - after many people are due to have checked in for early flights.

Officials also questioned the planned location of the airport's rail station. It is proposed to site it around 100 yards from the main terminal and link arrivals and departures by a "travellator".

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IDFIMH

Nice to know that the manager of the rank knows f*** all about taxi licensing law.

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IDFIMH

Under statement of the year methinks.

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IDFIMH

I suppose a compromise could be in the pipeline.

I seem to recall a story about an Airport cab moaning over doing several short fares to Paisley?

So if they could ply for Hire up town, and the City Cabs vice versa???





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