Traffic congestion around Belfast city centre has been an ongoing and widely reported issue over the last few months
This has been for various reasons – the disruption caused by the new Grand Central Station, the roadworks in and around the city, and the sheer volume of vehicles entering and transversing the city as weather worsens and many returning to office working.
Interested parties from industry, government, commerce and the general public have commented on the issues with some ideas for short term improvements, others with suggestions of longer term investment in bus and rail transport.
While some might argue, in our opinion taxis are public transport and are as much a part of the solution to these issues as buses and trains. The difference however, is that increasing bus and train provision (which we wholeheartedly support) is a long term solution which requires significant operational and financial investment, whereas improving taxi efficiency could be delivered quickly and with little cost to the public purse.
At present, congestion in the city centre is reducing the number of journeys that taxi drivers can complete – one Belfast based operator commented that if taxi journey efficiency was returned to pre current congestion levels, it would allow them to offer an additional 2000 bookings per week, and that’s just one operator.
Even 2000 bookings, with an average of 2.5 passengers per booking would mean that 5000 extra passengers could be assisted – whether that’s getting to work, the pub, the hospital appointment, or to the supermarket. All of these additional journeys will help improve the fortunes of the hospitality and retail sectors and surely will help reduce specific time related delays around missed hospital and doctors’ appointments.
Wednesday December 11th will be two months from when Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd announced he was going to allow some taxis into certain bus lanes in Belfast to help alleviate the traffic congestion in and around the Great Victoria Street area in Belfast.
In these two months, despite numerous Members questions and requests to officials from the taxi industry as to details on the initiative, no specific information has been offered by the Minister or officials from his department. We appreciate there are complexities around any change to policy and legislation, and to help speed up the process, we propose the following
• We ask that the Minister clarifies his position, and allows Class A taxis the use of all city centre bus lanes for a period of twelve months, starting as soon as possible
• We suggest that Class C taxis should not be included in this initiative. Class C taxis do not have any external signage and allowing them into the bus lanes will complicate the enforcement of same as they are harder to identify and distinguish from a private car. Furthermore, as many look like standard private vehicles, their inclusion will only cause confusion with private drivers assuming “if its alright for them, it must be alright for me” and subsequently being penalised for this
• Only allow taxis into the bus lanes when they are working. This should be when they have passengers on board or are on their way to collect passengers. This can be enforced by the taxi driver providing evidence of a booking if questioned while in an empty vehicle.
Allowing Class A taxis the use of bus lanes might not solve the congestion problems, but it will help, much like the mitigation measures implemented by the Department for Infrastructure (DFI)
There have been concerns raised about allowing Taxis into the bus lanes.
• Allowing taxis into bus lanes will increase congestion
When allowing taxis into bus lanes was last trialled in Belfast, the DFI produced a comprehensive follow up report on how the results of the initiative. This was published by the DFI and can be found on their website at https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/class-taxis-bus-lanes-trial-2017-data-review-technical-report
This report states
8.4 Where comparison was possible the data indicates that allowing Class A taxis to use bus lanes was not having any discernible impact on bus services in terms of journey times and speeds, despite the additional volumes of traffic using the bus lane, which should in theory adversely impact both.
And
4.2 Data was provided for the periods 6 weeks before and after the trial, as well as during the trial itself, for both the in-bound and outbound.
4.3 The data does not show any significant difference between the bus speeds measured before, during or after the twelve week trial.
4.4 This in some way defies logic. It could be expected that an increase in the volume of traffic using the bus lane should on balance decrease speeds, however the data mostly shows an increase in speeds – though the increases are relatively small.
In other words, allowing Class A taxis into bus lanes did not increase congestion. Furthermore, the 2017 trial was at a time when there were 7073 Class A drivers in NI, whereas now there are 5200 (source: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/driver-vehicle-agency-activity-statistics) with only 3143 of those based in the greater Belfast BT1 – BT19 postcode areas.
Driver numbers have decreased significantly since the last successful trial and cannot increase quickly because of the slow and rigorous testing regime for new drivers. Allowing drivers into the bus lanes will not result in an increase in drivers working in the city, only allowing the existing ones to move around the centre more efficiently.
• Allowing taxis into bus lanes will decrease cyclist safety
While we do not wish to encourage any initiative that would decrease the safety of other road users, the DFI report at https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/class-taxis-bus-lanes-
trial-2017-data-review-technical-report does not suggest that allowing taxis into bus lanes would increase the number of cycle collisions in the city. The report does not specifically reference the previous trial period, but table 7 details that in the city centre there were more than twice as many collisions involving a bus, and more than five times as many collisions involving “other vehicles” for the period April 2013 to March 2016 than there were involving taxis.
A review of collision statistics for Dublin by irishcycle.com does not indicate that allowing taxis in bus lanes, where they have been allowed to travel legally since the mid 1980’s, has contributed to an increase in cyclist collisions. The data at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dbV6PZjKZEXqx0qn29pPJT_cpNgqznLyZ_PO0mDmfR0/edit?gid=962936607#gid=962936607 shows a welcome and continuous decrease in these numbers from when first recorded in 1979. Is there a reason why the experience in Belfast should be different from that in Dublin.
Finally, when the last taxi in bus lane trial was conducted in 2017, the majority of taxi drivers would have been working with licences issued under “Grandfather rights” – in other words, tested before more strict driver testing was introduced in 2014. Now in 2024, a significant number of drivers will have earned their licence under the new regime, passing an additional theory and an additional practical driving test to do so. This makes them better qualified than previously and arguably safer than private drivers having undergone this “double testing”.
• Allowing taxis into bus lanes will increase pollution / emissions
The proportion of low and zero emission taxis on the fleets of the two biggest taxi operators in Belfast is around 25%, higher than the uptake of these vehicles by private users. Taxis are arguably greener than many private vehicles on the road
Secondly, a standard ICE car which is stuck in traffic and stationary will have twice the emissions as one in motion (https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/fines-for-idling and many others)
If a taxi journey (or any ICE vehicle journey) can complete more quickly because of easing its journey, it will use less fuel and produce less emissions as a result
In our opinion, not allowing taxis into bus lanes is being influenced by perception, not by facts or previous experience
There are other steps that could be taken quickly and cost effectively to help ease traffic congestion in Belfast.
• Allow southbound Great Victoria Street Traffic to turn right from GVS onto Hope Street and onwards south through Sandy row – this would require a minor remodelling of the turn and a change to the lights / signage, but would add an additional exit route southbound through the city and help return much needed passing trade to the businesses on Sandy Row who are suffering from a collapse in footfall
• The temporary southbound bus lane on GVS which was created to ease congestion from Lanyon Station to Great Northern Mall for shuttle buses is no longer used or needed and removing it would free up a lane for all traffic
• Dublin Road in recent years has been reduced from three traffic lanes to one, plus one cycle lane, plus one bus lane. This was previously planned and implemented because car traffic was to be diverted to use Durham Street instead. This does not work if Durham Street is closed. The cycle and bus lanes on Dublin Road could be temporarily combined, freeing up an additional lane for general traffic to move southwards through the city
• Review southbound traffic on Bedford Street to determine whether it would be worthwhile making all traffic turn left onto Ormeau Avenue, onto Ormeau Road, and then diverting back to southbound arterial routes further out of the city. This would help ease congestion on Dublin Road
• Review excess crossings / traffic lights across the city. Bridge End at bottom of Newtownards Road prime example. Two sets of lights within 30m of each other, out of sync and stalling traffic as one is often red while the other green. One set of pedestrian lights would suffice – can one set temporarily be disabled? Can the same exercise be conducted in other locations?
Traffic congestion in Greater Belfast appears that it is here to stay.
While Great Victoria Street is a particular hotspot at present, this is only partly due to the opening of Grand Central Station and the closure of Durham Street. There is no guarantee that traffic flow will improve and congestion will ease once works are complete
It is clear that congestion on main arterial routes such as the Westlink and the Sydenham bypass, roads not directly influenced by the opening of the station, is also a major problem.
The worrying prospect is that this is not a problem for just the next year, rather that congestion will remain a permanent problem without intervention
Long term, the best solutions are to reduce the number of private vehicles using the city and to improve and expand public transport – two effective initiatives, but ones which will take time, money and willingness to implement – the city needs help now.
(supplementary)
Why are taxis public transport?
•Simply, they are vehicles used to transport members of the public from one location to another, in the same way as a bus or train would
•Taxis require a PSV certificate (Public Service Vehicle) not an MOT. They are tested at a higher standard (and a higher cost) than privately owned vehicles
•Class A and B taxis work to a set fare structure, just like buses and trains
•Taxis have a qualified, licensed and vetted driver, just like a bus or train
•Taxis must have specific insurance which allows them to transport the public and operate as “public” hire
•Taxi operators must offer customer service, lost property and other public services, just like bus and train operators
•One of the factors that determines taxi fares which are set by the DFI (the same regulatory department as buses and trains) is the alignment of expected taxi driver salaries with those of bus and train drivers
•During the pandemic, the government determined that taxis as a transport provider were deemed essential workers, in the same way as buses and trains
Why are taxis different from private cars?
•A survey by one of the largest Belfast Taxi companies found that taxis carried an average of 2.5 passengers per journey in addition to the driver. Taxis are significantly less likely to be driver only (as is the case with many private cars) as an empty vehicle is not cost effective for a driver (dead miles)
•Private cars are only driven for 4.4% of the day and has not exceeded 5% in the last 30 years (source https://www.racfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/standing-still-Nagler-June-2021.pdf see page 17) Many compete two journeys on average (to and from work) Taxis are in motion on average 35% of the day and complete an average of 20 journeys a day
•Private car drivers must now pass a theory and practical test to earn a driving licence. A taxi driver must have a private licence, plus three years’ experience, plus an additional bespoke theory and practical test, plus a medial and repute check.
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