Taxis will be prohibited from using the light rail lane because they would get in the way of the train service and prevent it from proceeding as scheduled.
By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Haifa's taxi drivers have lost a court appeal against their being prohibited from driving in the traffic lane designated for the new light rail line, reports Yediot Haifa. The court upheld a decision by the city that once the light rail begins operating in 2010, its lanes should be restricted to trains and buses only.
According to the report, the city and the Yafeh Nof building company decided that taxis and all private vehicles would be prohibited from using the light rail lane because they would get in the way of the train service and prevent it from proceeding as scheduled. But the taxi drivers appealed against the decision, saying that customers would not use taxis if they were stuck in the same traffic as every other vehicle, and that taxis should be treated like other forms of public transport, notably buses, which will still be allowed to travel on the train line.
"That state has decided to bury the taxi wing slowly but surely," a local taxi drivers' spokesman said after the court loss. And a national taxi drivers' organization spokesman said taxis should have the same rights as buses, and the organization would mount a public campaign to make its point.
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