7:07pm Thursday 6th September 2007
By Chris Buratta
OXFORD private hire cab drivers have not ruled out direct action in their fight to use city bus lanes.
Furious drivers are considering strikes and go-slows after the county council rejected their request for access on a trial basis - but don't want to lose public support.
They are angry at rules which allow Hackney carriages (black cabs) to use bus lanes - but not private hire vehicles.
The drivers say the rules are unfair and mean their passengers are forced to pay more, just to sit in traffic jams.
A request to be allowed to use bus lanes on a trial basis for six months was turned down by the council's transport decisions committee yesterday.
Instead, members agreed to order a study of the situation and will review the issue in six months' time.
Driver Richard Barlow, who has collected 3,000 signatures in support of letting private hire cars use bus lanes, said he and his colleagues could not wait a minute longer.
He said drivers were considering protest action, including boycotting outlying areas such as Botley and North Oxford during rush hours, or bringing bus lanes to a standstill, but added: "We don't want to bring Oxford to a standstill. We might not get total public support but, at the momen, we have a lot of backing."
Mr Barlow said traffic jams could add £5 to a fare from Cumnor Hill, down Botley Road, to the John Radcliffe Hospital.
He said: "The meter goes on time and it's still going if we're stuck in traffic, we can't help that.
"When tourists are in the car they turn around, watching Hackney carriages going down the bus lanes and think they're being ripped off. They can't understand it."
The council's cabinet member for transport implementation, Ian Hudspeth, said distinguishing between a private hire vehicle and other cars would make enforcement difficult.
He added a trial could add to confusion if it had to be rescinded after six months.
Mr Hudspeth said: "We just want more information. We're not saying we're not going to do it."
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