Taxi Driver Online

LIVE: Bristol traffic gridlocked as taxi drivers stage protest in Bearpit

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bris ... xi-4649629

There were huge tailbacks of traffc on the M32 and A38 due to the protest


Image: Bristol Live/Twitter

Taxi drivers blocked one of Bristol's busiest junctions this morning (October 29), causing gridlock around the city centre.

The cabbies staged a protest at the Bearpit (St James Barton) roundabout, and were stationary there for more than an hour.

An eye witness said he saw around 50 drivers parked around the roundabout at 8.30am, stationary.

The taxis had left by 10am but congestion is taking some time to clear completely.


Image: rmlordy/Twitter

Bristol Blue Licensing Taxi Association is calling for Bristol City Council to reinstate their rank outside the Hippodrome, claiming that its removal has hit trade hard.

The council says the rank is "unsafe" and that an alternative space has been provided nearby.

Traffic service Inrix advised: "Queueing traffic due to a Taxi demonstration on A4044 Bond Street at A38 The Haymarket (St James Barton Roundabout).

"Congestion to Back along the A4044, up to J2 of the M32, as well as back on both directions of the A38 out of the city centre.

"Taxis are driving around the roundabout slowly in protest."

Some First Bus services had to terminate early to avoid the worst of the congestion, with passengers travelling through the centre advised to expect delays.



Not much above about why the rank was removed, but these are official statements from the trade and the council:



I was guessing it might be a Covid-related move, like here in St Andrews

But no indication from the above that it's other than a bog-standard rank relocation. But, of course, just like in St Andrews, what looks adequate on paper and sounds reasonable in a council's press release may just be a shambles in practice

I'm guessing the Bristol Red Taxi Association hasn't got that many members.

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IDFIMH

groaannnnnnnnnnn

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

looking at google maps the Hippodrome is a very wide pavement area with a large bus stop adjoining the A38 so presumably this closure was to assist the buses

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Certainly looks like plenty of room in the vicinity, and according to the council they've provided rank space a wee bit further up at Boots, which is beyond the blue bench in the photo - you can just see the distinctive blue Boots shop sign, which is obscured by those annoying symbols Google puts on Streetview (obviously everything in Bristol is blue, so Boots fits in well).



So the replacement looks OK on paper and in the council's press release.

But maybe it's like ours in St Andrews, and just a few yards across the road changes the whole rank 'dynamic'

And, of course, what happens at night can be very different to a daytime Google streetview.

Recall when I worked nights in Dundee, and there was an informal rank of 10-20 cars snaking up the road from a couple of the city's biggest clubs.

Council came along and made a night rank of I think four spaces

Located bang outside the clubs, where the bouncers parked their cars. So the bouncers continued to park their cars on the new rank, and the taxis continued to snake back from a starting point a few yards away, and in a much more practical location.

But given the lengths the Bristol drivers went to yesterday, obviously the changes are a big deal to them.