Are Taxis not classed as public transport, i.e. any member of the public can opt to use on if they want?

As least if they were in a bus lane they wouldn't be sat on my rear bumper half way into the oncoming lane trying to overtake (usually in a 30 zone residential street).

I am surprised that the council aren't introducing measures that would smash a mini cab up should it stray into a bus lane.

Has anybody heared about the court case whereby the cctv Smartcar vehicles used by the council are illegal? I hear that a lady was in court as she was wrongly fined and the cars were being used under the wrong powers.

I know that sounds vague but from what I was told it was proven they were using anti terror laws to prosecute for a traffic offence (that was also revoked).

Laurie, Bramhall

I believe the reasoning behind revoking the fines issued as a result of the cctv cars was lick of proper signage warning of their operation.
It wouldn't suprise me if so called anti-terrorist law was being misused in this way though. Another reason not to think those with "nothing to hide have nothing to fear" from government.

Thanks, citycente. With all teh cctv the cars cost the council taxpayer £17,000 each, so one assumes that is £34,000 wasted. You would have thought that the council would check the legalities before spying on the public it is there to serve.

They would be better getting on with the serives that they are supposed to provide us with rather than getting involved in money making schemes that in fact have costs us money.

To all those criticising drivers who have had their cars written off at the hnads of the bollaards in town, take a look at the ccyv on youtube.

On one incident a silver car gets nailed, but look at the bus that goes through beforehand. It stop's at the bollards and they lower, but the bus waits five seconds.

Why? To let somebody off and note that the bus starts to drive as the passenger is still getting off. That, to me, is dangerous.

I wasn't aware that there was a bus stop right at the bollards either. Just another example of shoddy driving but he didn't get impaled like others who couldn't care less.

why should taxis be allowed to use BUS lanes???? there is nothing about taxis which makes them 'public' transport. you can hop on a bus or a train, but you are NOT allowed to just hop into a mini-cab. they are impatient and should have to get through traffic like the rest of us.

wanting to use the bus lanes, what a cheek.what is needed is for someone to check the roadworthiness of these veichles,their insurance, all the drivers should be subject to CRB checks,

Sorry drivers but u used any kind of sympathy up years ago. U want the council to do this, that and the other but what are you giving in return? To be ripped off anytime there is any kind of event in Manchester (i.e. Oasis gig)? It's a big city - suck it up (I had a driver wanting to stick £5 on my fare cos the traffic was busy due to a United match last year - tough). To be treated like a criminal when frankly we have much better jobs than you (having to be questioned and pay upfront when entertaining clients)? To pick up fares knowing that the passenger is uninsured (happens all the time esp outside the locks)? To employ people with barely any english and no regard to any highway code (lucky to still be here after shooting a few red lights on my way home from work last night).
Suggest u sort your own house out before making demands on people.
And I do appriecate you do have some difficult customer and Mr Joe Public can be demanding but I don't treat all mine the same as you lot do.

Buses can carry many people and as such they are the green option, and the bus lanes were set up to encourage travel on them. Private Hire, or black cabs are not a green option and so should not be given preferential treatment. Use the bus if you don't want to be stuck in a queue, or pay up and shut up like the rest of us have to do.

Hello everyone I hope Minnie Royle is still watching this space, we have over 246 million customers using private hire vehicles in Greater Manchester, and that figure is at least 24 million more customers than GM Buses.
With over 210 miles of Bus Lanes in Greater Manchester our jobs as private hire drivers are becoming increasingly more difficult, especialy when we try to pick up and drop off customers at chemists , doctors surgeries etc, remembering these bus lanes are outside customers houses and some bus lanes go on for miles, What are we suppose to tell these customers? Its suppose to be door to door service.

Disabled or not we have old customers who cannot get into Hackney Cabs but they can get into a private hire vehicle with the old routine, bum first then one leg at a time, why should Black Cabs be allowed to use these lanes when 50% of the time they are empty.

In Salford all Private hire drivers have at least a CRB check, most drivers now have an enhanced CRB, check, Vehicles are tested twice yearly, and there documents are checked by the operators and licensing departments.

Drivers get points for just about anything of the council LICENSING DEPARTMET, if we get 10 points then we are off the road these points arnt on your driving license they are on our permits to drive/ Badge, if my car is dirty I get 2 points, if I dont wear my badge I get 3 points etc.
So I can say, the customer comes first when travelling in Salford.

So should these bus lanes now be called Taxi Lanes? there are only 2,000 buses in Greater Manchester compared to 15,000 Private hire Vehicles.
We work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, can you say the same about your bus company? We dont get any grants thrown at us by the goverment like the bus companies do.
we are asking Greater Manchester Councils to consult with us, and stop saying NO full stop.
They keep telling us they cant tell the differance between a car and a private hire vehicle, perhaps all of you drivers who have had fines can confirm that the cameras the councils use to fine people driving in Bus Lanes can see the license plates very clearly !

Open the debate, lets have your views next time you see a Bus Lane

Is it full of Buses?
How many Buses use the Lane?
How often do the Buses Run?
How many Black Cabs can you see with no passengers?
Perhaps you can tell me why councils seem fit to make our workplace differ from our counterparts the Black Cabs.

OK, we have too many cabs and private hire vehicles in the Manchester Area in the first place.

So if they want this to happen, then help out licensing and report those who work without a licence, charging passengers too much for the fares, have a certificate of safety on the vehicles, that all drivers must be able to speak to English.

From there we can then move forward and sort this fiasco and then we may get some action and allowance to do something to get this to happen but until then, I shall look forward to the year 2100

I think most of us who drive vehicles of any kind have had reason to query Taxi drivers and their way of driving. ie: stopping at short notice, dropping off at bus stops/picking up when there is a bus waiting, and if you have ever been to bootle strand they stand in the middle of the road talking.

Private hire vehicles are subject to a mot type test each year. We can then be called in for a 6 month test to check that the vehicle is still road worthy. I am a private hire driver, i have an NVQ in passenger care & safety. I generally drive 3 times more than the average driver which gives me 3 times more experience. I have drove Private hire for 20yrs plus and resent that some of the previous comments seem to attack us, and they havnt had a drink.!! We are a service for the public, not a proffession to be scorned at. Would previous comments change if we had meters that clocked up while i was sat in traffic. Perhaps you would back us to use the bus lanes then. If your mother had to be dropped 100 metres away from the doctors surgery would you then back us. Look at the bigger picture please

I have no problem with the taxi drivers protesting. After all even though most of them drive like complete idiots and have no consideration for any other road users, especially us motorcyclists. They do still have a job to do and they want to be able to do it as easy as possible. My only gripe has to be the fact that once again they had no consideration for anyone else. I had to appolagise to a client twice for the fact that he could not hear me down the phone due to the excessive horns. After that I had to give up contacting my clients until the idiots stopped. I wouldn't mind if I worked close to the Albert Hall but my office is located next to the Palace Theatre. And they were driving past there over and over again.

Roy Evans, How can a bus be a green option at 4mpg per mile and thats running half full to empty.

I would like to organise a protest to keep taxis out of the bus lanes, does anybody second that ?

Laurie, Bramhall, . @ 4/08/2009 at 17:30,

There you go again with the bollard attack. Have you been a victim but are not prepared to own up to your mistake?

Yes, I've seen all of the Youtube footage. Just to clarify, because it's obvious you don't understand the system; the bollards have a sensor and when a bus approaches they drop. They remain down, no matter how long the bus is stationary, regardless of the standard of driving/stopping/waiting or whatever, and then when the bus has cleared them, they rise up. If a car gets caught behind the bus;

a) It's in a restricted area
b) It's tailgating
c) The driver should be fined for reckless driving

If the bollards catch out a careless driver it has NOTHING to do with the driving standards of the bus driver!

The CCTV cameras which were installed at the following junctions that monitor and fine bus lanes were originally installed for crime prevention:-

Wilmslow Road/Platt Lane
London Road/Store Street
Piccadilly/Portland St
Wilmslow Road/Old Hall Lane.

They were paid for my the Manchester Council Tax payer to prevent and detect crime, they have since be hijacked and used to fine persons using the bus lanes, cameras which should be protecting the public are turned away from crime hotspots for bus lane monitoring and crimes have been missed. As such because these cameras were installed for this reason any fines issued from them are not enforcable as there purpose is crime prevention not traffic enforcement, I am sure the residents of Rusholme are happy that cameras that they have paid for which were designed to protect them are now being used to fine them.

If you obtain a ticker you can contact Manchester CCTV via the website and for £10 ask for a Data Subject access request, that means they will have to check other camera in the area to see if they can identify your vehicle and by law have to provide you with the footage, of every person caught in the bus lane did this the service would possibly go bankrupt, worth thinking about.

Unvle Buck, no I haven't. Why didn't you comment on the bus driver drooping off at the bollards and moving away before the passenger had got off? Are you a bus driver?

All I am against is the utter mess that Manchester has become and I know many people who don't bother coming in anymore due to the chaos. Buses go through red lights, Metrolink is ripped up, roadworks everywhere, emtpy apartment blocks, building work has closed off streets, mothballed aprtment blocks etc etc.

The council is doing it's utmost to bring more and more people in but is making it more and more difficult to actually get them in. The two don't match.

People who hit the bollards, well that is not good, but go stand at a crossraods and count the buses that blatantly go through when pedestrians are crossing on a green man. That goes unpunished but the holir than thou come crashing down on people who have fallen fould of the bollard.

My parenst used to go into town regularly but have jsut given up due to the complete cano's that it now is and having over zealous wardnens everywhere ready to pounce should you return two minutes early, cctv smartcars witing to catch you out etc. To a 66 year old it isn't an easy prwelcoming place any more and especially at night when it is taken over by the drunk, puking majority.

I love Manchester but it is driving people away, which to me isn't very goo is it?

I have looked at the bigger picture Charlie. You have passengers that want to pay you so that they can avoid congestion that others have to suffer. Sorry....its not on. I support any initiative that keeps all cabs out of bus lanes.

People need to protest against taxis blowing their horns outside peoples homes at all times or some of the poor drivers,or some drivers you cannot understand because they find it difficult .
Or the state of some of these private hire cars.Or the way the drivers just stop in the middle of the road to let people out of their taxi.Never mind the lazy sods that want to use the bus lanes as well.Or like Chris has pointed out that taxis get right up the bumper of your car .

Ok lets resort to the english dictionary shall we.
TAXIS (CAB(TAXICAB) a car that may be hired along with its driver to carry passengers to any specified destination.
When approaching a bus lane it says taxi. It doesnt say HACKNEY it says TAXI.
I suppose all the nice people who have made comments, have never gone over 30 in a 30 zone or over 50 in a 50 zone etc. As far as emissions go, next year all salford private hire vehicles will have to meet Euro 4 emission standards or they wont pass the test. Therefore these vehicles will be running as clean as any other area in the country. Does your car run clean!!!!

I a private hire driver in Salford who took part in yesterdays demonstration and I will at next Tuesdays planned demonstartion in Salford and the next in Wigan the week after.

My enhanced CRB certificate informs me that I am a Taxi Driver not a private hire driver. The Council and Police check this certificate at my expense.

So why do the Police and these cameras the councils put up fine us, when they tell us on the CRB Certificates that we are Taxi Drivers?

Simple, they make money out of us all, and make you loved passengers wait in traffic jams whilst all the Black CabS drive past empty.
Some sence in that!

Just to remind all Salford residents and Zimmerman in Manchester, In Salford we get 3 points on out Private hire Badge for bibbing our horn to let customers know we are out side, we get 2 points if our cars are dirty etc, if we manage to get 10 points and thats very easy to achieve in Salford with so many ways of getting these points we have to attend a meeting with the Licensing committee, and we could have are Private Hire Badge Terminated.
The Cowboys have gone for good in our business, we have many sheriffs called several names including Common Law who maintain our services to you the general Public at a very high standard.
I only wish the Police could do the same for the minority of the general Public who blatently cause us problems whilst trying to do our jobs in getting to you as soon as possible.