Taxi Driver Online

One of my pet subjects, so this is utterly fascinating - I suppose people might call me a 'taxi rank-spotter'

But looks like a cul-de-sac with a huge rank running down either side, and with the drivers needing to do a three-point turn at the bottom to come up the other side and get back out.

Obviously a u-turn would be preferable for the drivers, but looking at the design I think they should be grateful for the space they're allocated here, rather than moaning and trying to make it absolutely perfect for the trade.

(The photo shows a wee indent in the pavement to the right, which looks like where the cars do the three-point turn - not ideal, but chances of the council widening the road so they can u-turn seems remote - maybe drivers should be careful what they wish for )

And the property owner with the vacant premises seems to want it totally pedestrianized, which would presumably mean bye-bye rank

So I think the trade would be better trying to simply retain the rank rather than wanting the carriageway made wider so they can u-turn rather than do a three-pointer


Taxi drivers want Ipswich council to broaden Lloyds Avenue

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/2420 ... ds-avenue/


Image: Ipswich Star

High-res version of the photo here...
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/resources/images/17898949

An Ipswich taxi driver has called for Lloyds Avenue to be broadened to allow the public to more easily access their vehicles.

Lloyds Avenue on Ipswich's Cornhill has been chosen as a key location for redevelopment by the Ipswich Borough Council.

This funding will come from the council's Town Fund, which was a £25million deal granted in 2021 - half of the deal have been designated redevelopment projects.

The avenue currently has a taxi rank in between the vacant Debenhams and Lloyds Bank "is not wide enough", says taxi driver Steve Becker.

"It does not allow for space to even U-turn on this road with a dead-end," he added.

Mr Becker said other drivers like him want the road to be made wider so that it is more accessible for them.

The council has previously acknowledged this and carried out a consultation on February 21 with taxi drivers to ask for their views on the concept and design of the area.

An Ipswich Borough Council spokesman said: "With funding being provided by the Towns Fund, this public realm improvement project is underway, and those businesses potentially affected by any redevelopment have been consulted by the project team about the early concept designs."

Amongst those businesses is Unex, the owner of Ipswich's former Debenhams department store which has been vacant since 2021.

Adrian Morris, Unex's managing director, had previously told the BBC the firm had seen interest in the building – but the avenue needs to be pedestrianised to secure a deal.

He said: "However due to the depth of the floor plates we do ideally need Lloyds Avenue to be pedestrianised to make it more appealing to potential tenants that will front onto Lloyds Avenue."

However, taxi driver Andrew Scott disagrees with this notion.

He said: "It's not going to help if the area is pedestrianised – how would it work if people can't get their shopping bags to us in the taxi rank?

"We drivers want to see the opposite of this, we want a larger area, more space for taxis and more space for shoppers overall."

The proposal for Lloyds Avenue will be discussed in early May.

This is the StreetView from the other end of the cul-de-sac, with the turning point for the taxis presumably at the bottom left here - looks fine to me, and chances of narrowing all these pavements to help moaning drivers turn round here seem less than zero

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.0584464 ... ?entry=ttu

But the other interesting thing isn't mentioned in the article - what's actually going on here in terms of the official rules and rank etiquette?

Is it one big rank and thus one side is a feeder rank, effectively? Or are they two separate ranks, officially?

The design is very like our old bus station rank, and there it was just a free-for-all. So to that extent there might be four main pick-up points on the Ipswich rank, namely the front and back cars on either side of the street

And the lone car on one side in the Streetview is interesting in that regard - is he simply first car on the official rank on one side, or is he just trying to steal a march on the other drivers by hanging back at the front of the feeder side? My own experiences would suggest the latter, but who knows.

But what we do know, of course, is that it wouldn't happen like that in Market Harbourough

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.058953, ... ?entry=ttu

And that's the streetview from the other direction - check out the gap between the first and second cars - locally, on occasion passengers would get into car 2 rather than the car in pole, merely because of the huge gap between the two cars

And the driver of cab 2 would just grab the fare (unless, perhaps it was a half-mile card-payment student run, say ).

But, as I said, our bus station rank was very similar in design to the Ipswich rank as it's currently arranged. Not perfect, but along came the council and they actually proposed abolishing the rank altogether to make more space for the buses, and they only reconsidered once drivers had threatened a blockade or something like that (the rank wasn't really a regular haunt of mine back then about 2000, so I never really got involved).

But the redesign made such an ar$e of the whole thing that for the likes of me it's now almost totally off-limits and, for example, has caused a lot of conflict between the taxi drivers and bus drivers, which just didn't happen with the old design.

So, as regards the Ipswich drivers, maybe they should be careful what they wish for

That is quite a big rank, and they need to fight like buggery to keep it.

As for trade etiquette I suspect it's quite good. Especially as anyone taking a fare on the wrong side has got to go past the taxis on the correct side.

And a smack in the mouth is a way of reminding drivers about the rules.

_________________
IDFIMH

Hardly a great surprise here.

But it's the council's methodology that's the giveaway here - basically, more people expressed support for motherhood and apple pie rather than the taxi rank. So the tables and chairs and 'green spaces' win out

Lots of photos and graphics via the link if anyone feels the need...


Ipswich taxi drivers still angered over Lloyds Avenue plans

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/2479 ... nue-plans/

Plans to pedestrianise Ipswich's Lloyds Avenue have been "overwhelmingly" backed by the public - but taxi drivers have continued to criticise the proposals.

Ipswich Borough Council had revealed plans to pedestrianise Lloyds Avenue up to the Blackberry Clinic, drawing £1.4million from the Towns Fund Deal, during an executive committee meeting in July.

The local authority conducted a public consultation in September, from which the council has now said that it had "overwhelming support" for the plans - which means that the next step will be submitting a planning application, expected in the new year.

However, local taxi drivers have been vocally in opposition to these plans as this would see their rank next to the Cornhill reduced from 21 spaces to 11.

A borough council spokesperson said: "The outcome of the recent public consultation was that the public was overwhelmingly in support of the proposals to redevelop Lloyds Avenue by increasing the space for pedestrians, increasing the space for businesses to use the frontages of their property for tables and chairs and providing a green space right beside the heart of the town centre."

The council spokesperson added that three-quarters of responses supported the introduction of trees and other plantings in Lloyds Avenue, with two-thirds supporting the new pedestrianised areas.

Additionally, more than half of the respondents said that pedestrianisation would help them spend more time in the town centre.

However, their most vocal opposition has been by taxi drivers, led by Mo Ali - who wishes to keep the number of taxi rank spaces.

He said that removing spaces would make it harder to meet demand and pedestrianisation would cause issues for access for disabled people.

Mr Ali said: "We have told the council that their final plan would not be viable as there wouldn't be sufficient space for current taxis which presently sit around 20 vehicles and pedestrianising the bottom half of Lloyds Avenue and narrowing of the remaining part of the road would be catastrophic to the future of the town centre.

"If [council leader] Neil MacDonald and the council were really serious about reviving the town and the night-time economy, then they wouldn't be looking to reduce the taxi rank in the first place."

Mr Ali has also spoken to Ipswich MP Jack Abbott to further his complaint, as well as previously receiving support from Green candidate Adria Pittock.

However, the council says that fewer than a quarter of the respondents made comments on the taxi rank in the plans for Lloyds Avenue.

It's because they only care when they actually need a cab.

That said 25% is quite a high return for any survey issue.

_________________
IDFIMH

Government grants to councils are like blood to a shark and the poor drivers are probably going to be the victims of the feeding frenzy

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

Don't think I even bothered reading the last installment of this, never mind posting it on here

But at least this is in a different outlet for a change...

There are a few paragraphs of this missing (couldn't copy them), but it's the driver's spiel, so anyone who feels the need can read his whole case via the link to the petitition.


Ipswich taxi drivers rally against Lloyds Avenue pedestrianisation plans

https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/ipswich/n ... a-9414074/


Image: Suffolk News/Archive.is

Taxi drivers in Ipswich are campaigning against plans to pedestrianise a key town centre street over fears for disabled people and businesses.

Campaigners are concerned that Ipswich Borough Council’s plans for Lloyds Avenue would kill off what remains of the high street.

They slammed Suffolk County Council for not stepping in to handle a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which is instead being implemented by the borough council.

A petition has been launched to reverse the proposals over what campaigners saw as a violation of the human rights of those with disabilities or mobility issues.

Neil MacDonald, the borough council’s leader, said the plans to turn Lloyds Avenue into a green gateway were vital in its ambitions for a vibrant town centre.

However, Shofik Ali, a spokesman for the campaign, believes the plans would ruin the area.[...]

The Lloyds Avenue plans, expected to cost £1.4 million, were approved earlier this month.

Under the proposals, the arch at the end of Lloyds Avenue would be refurbished and vehicle access would be cut off about halfway down.

In addition, the number of taxi rank points would be reduced from 21 to 10, phone booths would be removed and trees would be planted.

Mr Ali was concerned as to why Suffolk County Council – as highways authority – would not carry out the TRO, which he felt would be fairer.

Mr Ali said he did not want the consultation to be run by the borough council and feared residents, business owners and the taxi drivers were being ignored.

He called on the county council to step up and ‘do their part’ for the consultation.

Mr Ali also said Lloyds Avenue was fundamental to taxi drivers and changes could pose the risk of job losses.

Mr Ali added: “Our overall goal is to see these plans reversed. They’re unnecessary and the current system we have works well.”

A spokesman for the county council said it would normally handle TROs for highways schemes.

However, as the scheme is being promoted by another authority – the borough council – it decided to delegate these powers to the borough.

You can sign Mr Ali’s petition using this link.

Cllr MacDonald said the plans would create a space for residents, visitors and businesses to enjoy.

He added: “I am delighted that we have reached the milestone of gaining planning approval for those detailed redevelopment proposals, focused on transforming this key gateway at the heart of Ipswich into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly area.”

If you're a driver, particularly one who relies on that rank, or a taxi user who depends on it, then that's gaslighting

King [edited by admin] springs to mind

councils always get their way

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