TAXIS will be allowed to use a Huddersfield bus lane.
It was agreed at a council meeting last night that an 18-month trial on Wakefield Road, running through Waterloo, Dalton and Almondbury had proved a success.
Clearly marked taxis - both private hire and hackney carriage - will now be allowed to pass the traffic by using the bus lane on the busy road.
Suhail Rashid, of the Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association, welcomed the news and said the public were the ones who benefited the most.
"You never see a bus lane full of taxis," he said. "It makes perfect sense for us to be allowed to use the lanes because we are definitely a form of public transport.
"The best thing about the decision is the passengers will get cheaper fares.
"Wakefield Road can get very busy and fares can get higher than they should be.
"But if we are allowed to bypass the traffic then those people are getting a better deal. Some people have said that we are not public transport but that is rubbish.
"Getting the bus is fine but there is not going to be a bus waiting outside the train station for someone who has a lot of bags to carry - taxis are the only option a lot of the time."
However Clr Peter McBride hit out at the plans and said that both Metro and the police had expressed their concerns.
He said: "Are we seriously saying that private hire taxis are public transport?
"This will put us out of line with other authorities and it encourages other people to follow the taxis and use the bus lane as well."
But Clr Andrew Pinnock defended the plans: "What we are suggesting here is making a bus lane open to what could also be deemed public transport.
"It makes sense because it seems to me that for some people taxis are the only feasible option," he said.
