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South Wales Echo
August 9, 2007, Thursday
Road closure sparks taxi access row
A ROW has erupted between rival Cardiff cabbies after the partial closure of St Mary Street. Private-hire drivers say they are forced to charge passengers more as they can only access the popular strip by one route, Guildhall Place, while Hackney cabs can use bus lanes.
City centre traffic changes have heightened the gulf between city cabbies, the private-hire drivers claim. The long-running row between black-and-white cabbies and private-hire minicabs has reached fever pitch after the changes to restrict access to St Mary Street, Cardiff, and surrounding roads.
Private-hire drivers say they are forced to charge passengers more as they can only access the popular strip by one route, Guildhall Place, while hackney cabs can use bus lanes at all ends.
Cardiff council told the Echo it would consider changes as it reviews the impact of the trial period - but any change will provoke objection from hackney drivers.
Carl Tritschler, of Dragon Taxis, said Cardiff should copy 54 other UK councils, including Glasgow, Newport and Swansea, which let private-hire drivers use bus lanes.
He said: "The problem is hackneys are regarded differently here because they have been militant in the past."
His view was backed by many other drivers and the chairman of Cardiff council's public protection committee Councillor Bob Smith.
Dad-of-three Kevin Millward, 47, a private-hire driver for six years who lives off Broadway, Roath, Cardiff, said: "I pay pounds 55 for a badge and pounds 275 a year for a licence so why shouldn't I be allowed to do what a hackney carriage does?"
But black-and-white cab drivers, who have repeatedly complained about private-hire drivers breaking the law by picking up fares who hail them down, rejected the argument.
Chairman of Cardiff Hackney Carriage Association Mohammed Javaid said: "Private-hire cars are prohibited from bus lanes but they do have access to St Mary Street through Guildhall Place so I'm not sure where the problem lies.
"I don't see any reason for them to use bus lanes."
Hackney and private-hire drivers pay the council the same amount every year. Hackney cabs can wait and pick people up from the street while minicabs have to be booked. But in 2004, the Government began consulting local authorities with a view to only issuing hackney licences.
A spokeswoman for Cardiff council said: "During the trial period Cardiff council will review the effects of traffic regulation. "The relaxation of the order to permit private hire vehicles to use bus lanes will be considered: however, a number of regulatory and policy issues need to be resolved before an outcome can be found." Comment: Page 20: 'I'm forced to take customers the long way around':Dad-of-one Mark O'Brien is one of the private hire drivers left fuming by the restrictions on St Mary Street. He said he had already been forced to take passengers the long way around several times. "People don't understand why," he said. "As far as they are concerned, they've booked a cab. Not a black-and-white or a minicab, just a cab.
"Some people think you're having them on."
The 44-year-old, from Canton, Cardiff, has driven a cab in the city for four years and said allowing both private hires and Hackney cabs to use the St Mary Street bus lanes would solve the problem.
Another minicab driver, who asked not to be identified, said he had picked up a fare to Wood Street at the Marriott Hotel on Mill Lane but, because he could not use St Mary Street, had to drive him all the way around via Churchill Way, City Hall and the castle at a cost of an extra pounds 3 and 10 minutes. "The situation's a farce," he said.
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