First part of the article is about drunks walking in the road, essentially, although it's obviously not portrayed quite like that
Second bit is about the quota. Not really much to see, but the (former) rep here doing the PR bit to retain the HC quota.
For what it's worth, there's been a couple of articles in the past about the same rep encouraging people to go to the ranks, as opposed to flag-downs.
Call for Lowgate to be closed to traffic at weekends following tragedyhttps://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hu ... ds-7206123Peter Nilsson says move would make the area safer for people enjoying a night outA former taxi association boss has called for part of Hull's Old Town to be temporarily pedestrianised to make it safer for people visiting bars in the area.
Peter Nilsson said Hull City Council needed to re-think the operation of Lowgate as a highway following the tragic death of a woman there last summer. Rebecca Kirby, 31, died after being in a collision with a car in the street last August.
An experimental evening closure of the road at weekends between its junctions with Alfred Gelder Street and Market Place was tried by the council several years ago following similar safety concerns. However, the council eventually reverted back to allowing normal through traffic.
Speaking at a council licensing committee, the former chairman of Hull's Hackney Carriage Association, said a re-think was needed over Lowgate in the light of last year's tragic fatality. He added: "Lowgate is dangerous and has been for a long time.
"When the public realm works were done, a decision was taken to de-clutter the city centre. We used to have railings outside the Jaz Bar in Lowgate which provided safety because they kept people off the road but they have now gone.
"I have spoken to the council time and time again about this and had hours and hours of meetings with the management at highways. They refuse to put any safety railings back there.
"A few years ago the council trialled a scheme that shut Lowgate on a Friday and Saturday night for three weeks prior to Christmas, We need what they do in other cities, we need to look at pedestrianising places like Lowgate for certain hours. The times I have put forward in the past were from 9pm on a Friday and Saturday evening until 3am."
Councillor Lyn Petrini said a review of the location of the existing taxi rank in Lowgate needed to be carried out after a recent report on taxi provision in Hull highlighted problems with its layout. The rank is currently the third busiest in the city centre.
She said: "We should be looking for an alternative rank rather than Lowgate because I don't think it's the best and safest rank in the city. The pathways there are very narrow and on a weekend, with the two pubs on opposite corners to each other, they are absolutely packed.
"I was out on the evening when that young girl lost her life and while it had nothing to do with a taxi, the fact is those pathways are so narrow. When people come out of the two pubs they have to walk on the road."
At the meeting, councillors agreed to maintain a limit of 170 on the number of hackney carriages or black cab licences in Hull for the next three years. Mr Nilsson, who recently stepped down from his role with the association, said he believed Hull's taxi ranks were now safer than they have ever been thanks to the introduction of taxi marshalls and CCTV cameras at each site.
He added: "We have worked hard over the last six years with the council's licensing team and we have made the ranks safer places for the public. We know there is a higher demand for black cabs at the moment, that's down to us because we have made the ranks safer.
"As well as the marshalls and CCTV at every rank, we have done public relations, TV, radio and social media saying to people: 'Don't walk the streets, get to the ranks because they are the safest places'. The demand is high but we have also got the waiting times on the ranks in this city down to the lowest they have ever been.
"The amount of people walking away from the ranks has also dropped by 34 per cent so we have done our job, we have made the ranks as safe as we can. An increase in plates would have a serious impact on the taxi trade. If we were at a point where there was a danger to our customers because of a lack of taxis I would stand here and say so but we're not there yet."
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