Private Hire Taxis To Be Allowed To Drive In Belfast Bus Lanes

Private hire taxis in Belfast have been permitted to drive in bus lanes for at least a year.

The taxis are allowed to use the lanes as part of a new pilot scheme from the Department of Infrastructure.

The Department held a trial last year which let Class A taxis use the Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) bus lanes in east and west Belfast, as well as the 12-hour city centre bus lanes.

The change is to come into effect later this year.

However, Unite the union said the decision is "completely unacceptable".

Regional Officer, Davy Thompson, said: "More than £100 million has been spent on the BRT project and now because of an organised lobby of private taxi operators the integrity of this investment is to be cast aside. It is imperative for the success of this project, and to deliver the step-change we need to public transport provision in our city, that only buses be allowed to access the dedicated BRT bus lanes.

"The BRT buses are much longer than the standard city bus so the impact of taxis blocking lanes will be dramatic – resulting in extended delays as these longer vehicles are unable to change lanes. What's more, the project centres on an attempt to replicate some of the advantages – at a lower cost – of a tram operating on dedicated lanes and having significantly shorter journey times. This move will completely undermine that objective.

"But what is most inexcusable is that in an apparently craven attempt to 'buy-off' the objections of a well-connected, private sector lobby, unelected Department of Infrastructure officials have offered to open all bus lanes to Class A taxis across the city. This will have a very significant and adverse impact on the travelling public. It will mean increased congestion and pollution in a city with already one of the worst congestion problems in the UK and where hundreds every year suffer chronic illnesses resulting from car fumes."

(CD/LM)