March 09, 2003
Life in the Fast Lane
A bypass of another sort was the focus of media attention this week, when
Michael O'Leary announced that he had purchased a taxi plate so that he could
use the bus lanes around Dublin. Media comment was predictable, though quips
about a possible Ryanair taxi service (asking for Stephen's Green and being
dropped off in O'Connell Street, etc.) fall flat given the low regard with which the
rest of the Dublin taxi fleet are regarded.
O'Leary registered the plate in Mullingar which, apart from adding to the coffers
of Westmeath County council, means that his plate does not enable him to ply
for trade in Dublin (as far as I know, only Dublin-registered plates are allowed
to do so). O'Leary isn't the only business person to do this. Now, if everyone did
it, it would defeat the purpose of allowing taxis to use the bus lanes.
Of course, the easiest way of preventing this would be to check if a taxi plate
was actually being used for its intended purpose. Seamus Brennan has
proposed a method for doing this - by having a receipt system like they have on
the buses, which is a sealed unit that records all fares. Of course, that would
show exactly how much money was collected per taxi; useful for the Revenue
Commission. For some reason, taxi drivers were unanimous in their opposition.
Funny that.