Fierce row over allowing private hire cars in bus lanes

CALLS to allow private hire drivers to use bus lanes in Birmingham have fiercely divided opinion among the city’s councillors.

A motion was put forward by Liberal Democrat councillors proposing such drivers should be allowed to use bus lanes while on duty in a bid to tackle congestion and air pollution in the city.

At a meeting of the city council, Cllr Ayoub Khan (Lib Dem, Aston) said private hire drivers are “instrumental” to the city but claimed there is “very little that gets mentioned or recognised in relation to the good work” they do.

“It is, in my view, one of the most difficult jobs to do,” he said.

“Picking up passengers that range from being pleasant to abusive and, in extreme circumstances, violent.

“Drivers having to carry passengers that are sometimes intoxicated, vomiting and even urinating in the back of a taxi”.

He said that allowing private hire vehicles to also use bus lanes would reduce congestion and emissions in the city as well as lead to faster journey times for passengers.

“Private hire drivers provide important services such as carrying our elderly, vulnerable passengers whether to shopping centres or hospital appointments, they carry our young children with special needs to school,” Cllr Khan said.

“These services are at peak travel times when congestion is the greatest.”

Council cabinet member for transport Cllr Liz Clements argued that bus lanes were helping reduce journey times on particular routes “because there are no cars in the bus lane”.

“The point of a bus lane is to allow the bus to pass freely through traffic, alongside queues of traffic, and that’s the way we persuade people to make the choice to use mass transit buses rather than relying on private hire cars,” she said.

“I absolutely agree with everybody who has spoken about the really important service that private hire vehicle drivers provide.

“The fact remains, once you’re in a private hire vehicle, you’re in a car and we’ve made a policy decision that we’re trying to prioritise buses and mass transit in those bus lanes.” The council had supported private hire drivers through the implementation of the Clean Air Zone and through the challenges of Covid, she added.

Cllr Phil Davis (Lab, Billesley), who is chair of the Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said the most used form of public transport in the city was buses and there would be an impact “if we were to open the floodgates” to thousands of vehicles from across the West Midlands.

Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard (Druids Heath & Monyhull) agreed that private hire drivers in Birmingham are an “integral and vital part of the city’s transport systems”.

However, he said the proposal put forward by the Lib Dems could have unintended consequences for other users of bus lanes and possibly “muddies” who can use them.

The motion was ultimately lost following a vote among the councillors.