Plan to open up Portsmouth bus lanes to private hire and taxi drivers is slammed by cyclists' group

Cabinet member for transport Lynne Stagg is set to approve a scaled-back trial at a meeting this afternoon (July 5) covering five bus lanes, having first backed the idea in December.

'Taxis and private hire vehicles are an important mode of transport for many, providing 24-hour on-demand travel across the city,' a report recommending a new October start date says. ‘This trial would support this mode transport option, potentially enabling improved journey times through access to the priority lanes.'

But Portsmouth Cycle Forum has urged Cllr Stagg to scrap the trial and keep the status quo through which bus lanes can only be used by buses, Hackney taxis and bikes.

‘A similar proposal was considered in 2015 and kicked out due to lack of evidence and the council's dreadful road safety record,’ the group said in a statement. 'At that time, the atrocious safety record of Hackney and private hire drivers in collisions with cyclists showed that in 70 per cent of cases, the PHV/Hackney driver was at fault.

‘There is no evidence that this has improved in the last seven years and Portsmouth still has one of the worst casualty records in the country.’

The trial had been due to start earlier this year but was postponed by Cllr Stagg as a result of changes to the Highway Code and in response to a review of crash data.

Since then each of the city's bus lanes has been assessed for its suitability to be used with five, all of which have alternative routes for cyclists, now chosen to be included. These are:

Cavell Drive,

Marketway,

Mile End Road,

Bishop Crispian Way

and Queen Street

The cycle forum said the alternative cycling routes in these areas would take 'much longer' meaning most cyclists would continue to use the busier bus lanes, with the attendant increased risk of danger.

The council has estimated the scheme will cost £56,000, including the use of air quality monitoring equipment.