Private hire drivers demand use of Portsmouth bus lanes
FRESH calls have been made to allow private hire vehicles to use bus lanes in the city in a bid to cut congestion and air pollution.
The separated lanes in Portsmouth can currently be used by buses, cyclists, hackney cabs and the emergency services.
However, private hire vehicles - which are pre-booked taxis - are not included.
Now private hire drivers are looking to revive a bid that was previously thrown out by the city council in 2015.
Darren Hobb, who works as a private hire vehicle driver for Aqua Cars in Portsmouth, was keen to pull together a petition on the matter if the council would not reconsider.
The 47-year-old, who has worked in the business for 14 years, said: ‘Aqua drive around about 100,000 passengers every week. I'd say we get more customers than the taxis because so many people like to book transport over the app or on the phone.
‘We pay to be registered as private hire vehicles every year, just the same as taxis do, yet we’re not allowed to use the lanes.
‘We think it will improve traffic flow and congestion, which improves air pollution. The council keep going on about how we need to do that and this is one way.
‘It also makes the journey better for passengers. They won’t have to set aside so much time for the journey as they do now. For example a common journey I do is from Southsea up to QA Hospital.
‘It's not far but because of traffic people give themselves an hour to get there, which is a waste of their time. We could get them there much quicker and save them the worry of being stuck in traffic.’
Cameras were installed on bus lanes across the city in October 2015 to catch drivers illegally using them.
As previously reported a total of 1,757 fines were issued after non-authorised vehicles used bus lanes in Portsmouth, totalling £50,362, between June 2017 and December 2018.
Fines for wrongly driving in bus lanes in the city cost £60 a time, or £30 if paid within 14 days.
Portsmouth City Council was approached for comment.