Written answers
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Taxi Regulations
Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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200. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide justification for the fact a licensed taxi driver (details supplied) who paid a considerable sum of money to acquire a taxi licence and has reached retirement age is concerned the taxi licence cannot be sold or transferred to the person's child, who is currently out of work, and now the person faces a considerable financial loss as a result; and if he will reconsider the position of the Taxi Regulator. [19885/14]
Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Action 14 of the Taxi Regulation Review Report, 2011, recommended the prohibition on the transferability of small public service vehicle (SPSV) licences with effect from 1st October 2012. The underlying principle for the recommendation was that a licence should determine a person's suitability to carry out a function and it should have no monetary value or be traded on the open market. The Report's recommendations were widely published to the industry, including through the National Transport Authority's and industry updates as well as on the various taxi forum websites.
It was intended that the measure would be introduced with effect from 1st January 2013 by way of regulations to be made by the National Transport Authority who have responsibility for the regulation of the taxi sector. However, it was concluded that it would be more appropriate to include such a provision in primary legislation.
The measure was therefore included in Section 14(1) of the Taxi Regulation Act, 2013 which was commenced with effect from the 6th April 2014.
Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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201. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will investigate a situation (details supplied) whereby a person has identified that any erosion of permitting taxis to use bus lanes when on the way to pick up passengers will have a detrimental effect on an industry which has been under considerable pressure for some time and taxi drivers feel that such a move is anti-competitive in view of the fact that all off-duty buses continue to have the lanes available to them at all times; and if he will reconsider this matter and commit to a process of consultation with the taxi industry in advance of any proposed change. [19909/14]
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Bus lanes have been put in place, at some expense to the public, to provide on-street priority for buses. Their aim is make public transport more attractive by increasing the speed and reliability of bus journeys. When bus lanes were first introduced, it was agreed to allow taxis to use with-flow bus lanes while in service. This was a decision based on the fact that taxis are available for on-street hire. The National Transport Authority advise that the reference in section 11.4 of the recently published Integrated Implementation Plan to potential restrictions on the use of with-flow bus lanes by taxis, relates to possible interventions which might have to be considered in the future in specific circumstances.
Where high capacity public transport corridors, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or Luas extensions, are being implemented, it may be necessary, at certain locations, to assess whether all of the taxis seeking to use the Bus/BRT or Bus/Luas lane can be accommodated without impeding the high capacity vehicles. It is not an acceptable outcome of such infrastructure investments if the level of taxi usage diminished the effectiveness and efficiency of the BRT or Luas facility.
The principle that will be operated is that where taxis can be accommodated without delaying or impacting the operation of the BRT or Luas vehicle, they will continue to be able to use the Bus/BRT or Bus/Luas lane. However, where they would create delays to the BRT or Luas service, then consideration may have to be given to additional local restrictions to address that issue.
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