Minicab chief calls on drivers to ignore bus lanes in London

The chairman of the UK’s largest minicab company has told its 3,500 drivers to use bus lanes in London in contravention of traffic regulations.

John Griffin made the call in a letter sent out to Addison Lee drivers ahead of a judicial review to be held later this year. He said the company would indemnify the drivers from any fines or payments that result from their actions – potentially up to £1,000 per offence.

Griffin claimed that the current Bus Lane legislation was anticompetitive and unfairly discriminated against passengers that use the company.

“Minicabs perform the same function as Black Taxis and are licensed by the same authority, so there is no reason that they should be penalised due to outdated legislation,” he argued.

The company claimed to have been instrumental in the axing of the M4 bus lane in 2010, when more than 200 tickets and 130 court summons were scrapped.

Griffin said black taxis enjoyed other advantages in addition to being able to use bus lanes, such as publicly-funded parking spaces and ranks in London streets and special allocations for ranks at airports and train stations.

Addison Lee’s chairman added: “Black Taxis are not a public service, they are a business just like minicabs – and we will fight the injustice in the current legal system that subsidises them as if they provided a public service.”

But Transport for London warned drivers that they faced personal criminal prosecution if they broke traffic regulations and could lose their PHV drivers’ licences if they did so repeatedly. It also said police resources would be deployed today to ensure bus lanes were only used by vehicles permitted to use them.

TfL also said it was urgently considering legal and regulatory action against Addison Lee.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “The letter from the management of Addison Lee is utterly irresponsible. By issuing it, Addison Lee risk regulatory action against themselves and leave their staff liable to criminal prosecution.”

Daniels said TfL had asked Addison Lee to withdraw Griffin’s letter immediately. Letters will also be sent to all Addison Lee drivers warning them that they risked losing their licences if they repeatedly broke traffic regulations.

The TfL chief added: “London’s bus lanes are in place to ensure the efficient operation of the bus network, which carries more than six million passengers a day. Allowing tens of thousands of Private Hire Vehicles to drive in bus lanes would seriously disrupt the bus network and our passengers’ ability to get around the capital.”

TfL pointed out that taxis can legally ply for hire on the street, picking up passengers from pavements. PHVs, like those run by Addision Lee, are not allowed to ply for hire in this way.

There are currently 24,000 licensed taxis and more than 60,000 licensed PHVs in London.