County council cabinet member for transport management Andrew Gant made the decision at a meeting yesterday (September 5) which gives a 24 hour exemption to Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles in and around the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford.
Mr Gant said there was “a lot of history” to the topic, as members of the City of Oxford Licensed Taxicab Association (COLTA) turned out to the meeting to show their support for the recommendation.
READ MORE: Oxford LTN cameras divide opinion amid taxi group praise
COLTA chairman Mr Ahmed said: “The city of Oxford is home to around 4950 businesses employing approximately 128,000 people – tens of thousands of which travel to Oxford.
Mr Ahmed speaks out at the meeting. (Image: OCC.)
“Taxis are an important part of public transport
“Over 30 per cent of Oxford’s hackney carriages are now electric.
“By 2026, 100 per cent are planned to be electric.”
Mr Ahmed added it was “very reasonable” to allow taxis through the Westgate link and that drivers were “professional and well trained”.
The news comes after the taxi group, in June, praised the introduction of ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras) at LTN (Low Traffic Neighbourhood) points as it meant their vehicles could be permitted access through the residential roads due to no longer being physically blocked off by bollards.
Secretary Sajad Khan said at the time the black cab trade had “suffered immensely as a result of the introduction of LTNs” but suggested the group was pleased at the new cameras and “would like to thank the decision makers including officers and councillor Gant who made this happen”.
An officer at yesterday’s meeting said the decision to allow the cabs 24 hour access had been made following an experiment between 7am and 7pm giving cabs access and as “no issues arose”.
He added there had been “no accidents involving taxis” in the area and air pollution “had significantly reduced on the basis of the ZEZ”.
There were a total of 180 responses to a formal consultation which Mr Gant described as a “very high level response”, of which there were ten objections, 157 in support, two partially supporting, and 11 raising no-objection.
Among those who did object was a Beech Road householder who said: “We should be doing all we can to encourage the use of non-car traffic around Oxford.
“While I appreciate that taxis need to make a living, the centre of Oxford particularly around the Westgate Centre should be restricted to pedestrians, cyclists and buses only, to encourage the use of buses and public transport.”
But Mr Gant said: “I see this very much as part of our collaborative partnership working with our taxi operators.
“We rely on sharing the same objectives which include safe, reliable public transport across our city.”
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi