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I WAS in a black cab returning from the vet with a spayed bitch on my lap, wishing I had a bike trailer to tow the dog in. We were discussing the roads, as you do. The cabbie was no happier than I am about the fact that private hire vehicles - minicabs - will soon be allowed to use Oxford's bus lanes. He predicted a lot more accidents. I didn't disagree.

Just when you think it's safe to go out on yer bike again, the jungle gets denser. At the moment, Oxford's 100 black cabs are allowed in bus lanes, as are bikes. The city's 350-plus private hire vehicles (PHVs) are not allowed in bus lanes. Perceiving unfair competition, PHV drivers campaigned for nine years for permission to use bus lanes - and won. The council had been concerned about the effects of an increase in traffic within bus lanes on cyclists and buses, but a traffic survey last November apparently said there would be no harmful effects. Honest.

There are lots of reasons private hire vehicles should NOT be allowed in bus lanes. The main reason is the lanes were installed specifically to give buses the edge over other traffic and to attract customers to public transport and bikes.

I don't know why black cabs were ever allowed in them, but they were. But to permit potentially thousands of extra PHV journeys daily in bus lanes is crazy.

PHVs in bus lanes will mean a lot of dangerous manoeuvres as they weave in and out of the main traffic to pass buses and cyclists. Cyclists who cycle too closely to the kerb (don't do it!) can expect to have minicabs brush past them at speed. While cyclists may not have noticed the odd black cab in a bus lane, we sure as hell will notice the sheer volume of PHVs.

What next? Why not let motorbikes use bus lanes? They're always in a hurry. Or will delivery drivers now campaign to have access to bus lanes? It'd make as much sense as letting minicabs in. The only good news is that the PHVs in bus lanes gaffe is just for a year's trial. The council giveth and the council taketh away. Fingers crossed, they taketh away in a year's time.

To take the sting out of the bus lane fiasco, the council has this year taken huge steps towards making Oxford a better place to cycle. Cyclists are elated about the council's widely-reported bid for a special £4m grant to boost cycling. Bravo! If successful, Oxford will be able to boost its cycle journeys to north European levels. The council wants "to achieve the highest level of cycling in the country" no less.

Watch out for my new column. No longer "the view from the gutter" (although I do rather like that) but "the view from the cycle superhighway in the sky". The council plans to massively upgrade cycle parking facilities. Spot on. There is talk of training, and the proposal for a Paris-style cycle hire system. It also proposes to join up the holes and blackspots in the city's cycle route network.

Good job about the cycle routes. We're gonna need 'em if the bus lanes are full of private hire vehicles.

2:56pm Monday 7th April 2008

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