Creating safer streets in Coventry

In a 6-month pilot scheme in the Spon Street area of Coventry, we have recently contracted Taxi Marshals to Coventry Business Improvement District to make travelling home safer and quicker for night-time visitors.

The service is monitoring that all taxis picking up in the city centre are licenced while ensuring taxi ranks are being used only by Hackney Carriage Vehicles, better known as black cabs. The Marshals are also monitoring private hire vehicles to ensure they are stopping in a safe location, not blocking roads or endangering pedestrians.

The training has been provided for the taxi marshals by taxi licencing at Coventry City Council and the city council have been carrying out extra enforcement in the evenings to support the marshals and ensure that taxis are abiding by the rules.

The service aims to create safer streets for visitors in the city centre by reducing the number of vehicles sitting and waiting unsafely, while also ensuring a smoother service for taxi drivers at the official taxi rank, resulting in quicker pick-ups for customers.

Mohammed Amjad, a taxi driver in the city centre, praised the initiative and its impact to date.

He said: “Before the introduction of this service there was no real coordination at taxi ranks.

“Private hire drivers would come in and block up the area and as a result we would lose customers.

“I have definitely seen a change since the programme was introduced. It is making it safer for our customers too when they are trying to get a taxi.”

In a 6-month pilot scheme in the Spon Street area of Coventry, we have recently contracted Taxi Marshals to Coventry Business Improvement District to make travelling home safer and quicker for night-time visitors.

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