Leeds City Council has been urged to relax rules around so-called “no-go zones” in the city centre for taxis. Private hire vehicles are banned from using or picking up passengers on a number of roads before 10pm.
The zones have been phased in by the council over the last couple of years to ease traffic, as only buses and hackney carriages are allowed to use them 24 hours a day. But Labour councillor for Harehills, Arif Hussain, said he wanted the restrictions scaled back to a cut-off time of 6pm.
A senior council officer said he was willing to look at reaching a compromise. Councillor Hussain, a former taxi driver himself, told a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday: “Private hire vehicles are providing a public service to local residents after the bus services have stopped.
