City of London Corporation votes to ban taxis permanently at London’s Bank junction

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The City of London Corporation’s most senior decision-making body has today voted to make the 16-month experimental safety scheme at the Bank junction, permanent.

This decision will be seen as a bitter blow for the London taxi trade who have now seen their access permanently denied. The Court of Common Council made the final decision after months of rigorous scrutiny and consideration by a range of City Corporation committees. With over 4,200 responses to the consultation, the wide-ranging needs of local road users and other stakeholders were considered along with the operational needs of the Square Mile.The scheme, first implemented in May 2017 on an experimental basis, restricts vehicle access to Bank junction to buses and cyclists only, Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm.Chris Hayward, Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee at the City of London Corporation said:“It has been a pleasure seeing the Bank junction monitoring area become a safer place for members of the public to enjoy.“Compliance to the scheme is currently at 96%. Additional measures will be explored to further improve the scheme’s performance and reach that end goal of 100% compliance at the junction.“This would inspire City workers, visitors and residents to truly enjoy the iconic surroundings such as the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange.“I look forward to applying our learnings from this project and continuing to spearhead positive changes across the Square Mile after the City Corporation unveils it’s 25-year Transport Strategy next year.”The ‘Bank on Safety’ experimental scheme is part of ‘All Change at Bank’, an improvements programme which describes the City Corporation’s broader aspirations and long-term proposals for Bank junction.

September 13, 2018 at 04:54PM https://ift.tt/2ufVjKI THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT