Portsmouth bus lanes to allow private hire cars from autumn

Bus lanes including Marketway in Portsmouth will be used by private hire vehicles in the trial

A new trial that will allow private hire drivers to use bus lanes will begin in October.

Five bus lanes have been approved for the scheme in Portsmouth.

Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council's cabinet member for transport, said she had "agonised" over how to run it.

Cycle groups have raised safety concerns, while private hire drivers have asked for more lanes to be made available.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, Ms Stagg said she decided it was "better to do five lanes properly than 53 badly".

She added: "We are not against PHVs [private hire vehicles], what we want is all vehicles to be driven safely and all pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooter riders to ride safely."

'Potential roadkill'

Drivers will be able to use the Cavell Drive, Marketway, Mile End Road, Bishop Crispian Way, and Queen Street bus lanes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Peter Sutherland, representing Uber drivers in the city, said he was in favour of the trial but wanted access to be increased to "almost all" bus lanes.

He added: "Bikes and e-scooters have access to bus lanes without going through any sort of proficiency training - and we have no idea how many of them there are.

"Yet you throw your hands up in the air at the very thought of skilled, professional private hire drivers having access."

But Portsmouth Cycle Forum founder Mike Dobson said the council was treating cyclists as "potential roadkill".

He said: "The only safety measure proposed by the council is to check monthly the number of so-called accidents reported to the police.

"Noting Portsmouth's appalling death toll in the last 12 months of eight pedestrians killed by motorists, it seems the council has got a very high tolerance for road fatalities and is indifferent about cyclist casualties."

An interim report on the £56,000 trial will come out before the end of the year, after which it may be extended to more bus lanes.