Southampton bus lane rules brought in for out-of-city taxis

Southampton City Council has announced that private hire firms that only have city-licensed vehicles will be able to use bus lanes.

It adds that, as well as this, to be eligible vehicles must have been first registered after January 2006 for petrol cars and September 2015 for diesel cars.

Those who do not fit this criteria are not obligated to abide by its rules on emissions, and so will no longer be able to use the lanes.

This decision comes after a public consultation was launched on the plans earlier this year. It was made as part of the council’s commitment to delivering clean air.

Environment chief Cllr Steven Galton said the steps will “work towards our clean air goals but will also benefit our local taxis and PHVs”.

He added: “We have one of the safest and cleanest taxi fleets in England and I personally want to thank all operators for supporting our efforts. We have only achieved this by being ambitious with our licensing conditions and by working closely with our taxi trade.”

The peak times when all vehicles will be able to use the lanes are between 7-9.30am and 4-6.30pm on weekdays with the restrictions set to be implemented on September 1.

• Calls to ban some taxis from Southampton bus lanes

City private hire organisations say they are “delighted” and Southampton private hire trade representative, Ali Haydor, who previously dressed as a clown and protested for this said: “For us the decision is fantastic because it shows that this council has recognised that they should be prioritising Southampton vehicles.

“The previous administration introduced low emission on Southampton vehicles but they didn’t do anything for out of town. This means that the drivers who work in Southampton, now have an incentive to be licensed by Southampton.”

Chairman of Southampton Hackney organisation, Sam Shahid added: “This is brilliant for the city as we all want greener cleaner and safer city.”