£15 million York Council contract for security services

A new contract has been awarded to Gough & Kelly Ltd to run security services for the Council.

The contract started on 1st November and is expected to be worth £15 million over the next 5 years.

The services to be provided include, “Manned Guarding, Key Holding, Intruder Alarm Monitor and Investigation, Supply of Security consumables, locks, padlocks and locking systems”.

A separate contract sees the outsourcing of the Councils CCTV monitoring service

Given the size of the contract – and the sensitivity of CCTV monitoring – the contract has attracted remarkably little debate in the Council!

There has been a similar lack of debate about the cost of a one year contract for “Independent Mobility Assessments” for the issuing of disabled parking Blue Badges. The contract will be worth £52,950 and has been awarded to Premier Physical Healthcare Ltd

Experimental bus lane for Low Poppleton Lane

Rising bollards will rise no more as ANPR cameras march goes on!

Low Poppleton Lane

City of York Council will be introducing an experimental bus lane for 18 months on Low Poppleton Lane in the new year.

The new CCTV ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) system will replace the current rising bollard system.

The changes were proposed to help increase pedestrian and cycle safety by stopping people ignoring the current restrictions. They were agreed in consultation with the  executive member for transport and planning by the Director for Economy and Place in September.

The Council says,

Construction is due to start on Tuesday 2 January and is expected to be complete by 12 January, weather dependant. Work will take place from 9.30am – 4pm, Monday – Friday. During this time, bus service 10 will divert via Boroughbridge Road and Station Road.

All traffic other than local bus services and the Manor School mini bus will be prohibited from passing through this restriction.

As with any construction work there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption. Residents can be assured that we will do everything possible to minimise this.

We have written to residents and businesses in the area to inform them of the changes. Temporary signs have also been put in place to give motorists advance warning of the new bus lane.

Once in place, motorists who breach the restrictions will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). This will be £60, reduced to £30 if payment is made within 14 days.

Any comments on the trial can be sent to lowpoppletonlane.trial@york.gov.uk. All comments will be considered before a decision is made on whether to make the scheme permanent or to revert to the old restrictions.

Dramatic increase in fines issued to Coppergate drivers

There has been a  big increase in the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued to drivers breaking the access only restrictions on Coppergate.

The latest figures suggest that the York Council could receive as much as £1/2 million in fine income during a full year.

The Council originally budgeted to receive around £100,000 in fine income

The change has come since officials stopped issuing “warning letters” to first offenders.

Since these stopped in the summer, the number of notices issued has crept up to reach 801 in November the latest figure available on the Councils web site 

Coppergate before ANPR cameras were re-introduced

The main concern, when the Council chose to switch ANPR cameras back on at the beginning of the year, was reputational risk. The ill-fated spy camera trial in 2014 – which encompassed Lendal Bridge as well as Coppergate – hit visitors to the City particularly hard with many vowing never to return.

How many of the new batch of offenders is local has not been revealed although Freedom of Information requests should break though this secrecy.

It was pointed out last January, that Coppergate was deserted for most of the day and therefore the camera surveillance was unnecessary.

It seems though that the Council has discovered a major “cash cow” and now needs to maximise the fine income to balance its books.

 

Some buses running in York today (Boxing Day)

Boxing Day New for Boxing Day running every 30 minutes from 8am to 6pm

4 – Acomb – Foxwood Lane and York city centre
5 – Earswick via Huntington and York city centre
6 – Tang Hall, York city centre and Clifton Moor

Park & Ride buses to York city centre running every 15 minutes from 8.30am-6pm/6.30pm

3 – Askham bar
7 – Designer Outlet
9 – Monks Cross

More at https://www.firstgroup.com/york/christmas-timetable-0

Lendal arch junction set to be upgraded in the new year

City of York Council is due to upgrade the traffic signals at the Lendal Arch gyratory in January 2018.

This includes the junctions of Station Road, Station Avenue, Station Rise, Rougier Street and Lendal Bridge

The upgrades will include a full renewal of the traffic signal equipment. Changes to the pedestrian crossing facilities, including widening and realigning the crossing to make the area safer and better for the thousands of pedestrians who regularly use the crossing.

The pavement in the area will also be brought up to date and widened and the junction will be resurfaced.

Councillor Ian Gillies, executive member for transport and planning said “These essential works continue our traffic signal renewal programme which ensures that signals at key junctions across the city are up to standard and working effectively. This is one of York’s busiest junctions and the work will bring it up to modern standards and ensure that traffic can continue to be well managed on the inner ring road.”

Work is set to start on Monday 22 January and is expected to take nine weeks to complete, weather dependant. Work will take place seven days a week from 8am – 6pm with some evening work required throughout the scheme.

Due to the location and nature of these works, motorists should expect significant disruption. Whilst everything reasonably possible is being done to keep this disruption to a minimum, motorists should expect delays. We are advising motorists that regularly travel through this location to plan an alternative route where possible.

To keep disruption to a minimum the junction will be operating under temporary signals during the works. We will be managing the network to reduce delays but drivers are asked to plan their journey carefully and leave plenty of time. Bus passengers are encouraged to visit www.itravelyork.info for more information on how the works will impact on their journey.

Other road works, connected to the development at Stonebow House, are also scheduled for January.  These works will by carried out by utilities companies.  The following traffic management will be in place to allow the safe construction of the works:

  • 4 way temporary traffic lights at the junction of Piccadilly / Pavement for 2 weeks starting 8 January 2017
  • Outbound closure on Piccadilly between Pavement and Merchantgate for 2 weeks starting on 29 January 2017

The five year traffic signal asset renewal programme was given the green light by the councillor responsible for transport and planning in November 2015 at a public meeting.

The total replacement programme will cost £2.62m over five years and will be funded through the capital programme budget and the existing Local Transport Plan budget.

For information about bus diversions during the works visit: www.itravelyork.info/

Uber and out

….or not as the case may now be in York!

The council decided last night that – because of data protection issues and complaint  levels – Uber’s York private hire license would not be renewed.

Whether it will make much difference remains to be seen.

The committee heard that the vast majority of Uber drivers in the City do not live in York anyway.

The company has a right to appeal.

Whatever people views might be about this particular company, many customers these days clearly do want to use an “App” to summon private hire vehicles. Knowing in advance the likely cost of a journey, and when the vehicle is likely will arrive, are viewed as advantages. Automatic billing is another plus point as is the opportunity for drivers and passengers to record their views on the quality of their journey experience. .

There seems to be a window of opportunity for an enterprising local company to set up a service using one of the rival IT platforms. Hopefully this would guarantee at least some “tech savvy” local drivers would have the opportunity to benefit from any growth in demand for private hire cars in York.

Currently the City has around 800 licensed private hire and taxi drivers. Of these, 10 locally registered Uber drivers.

 

UBER York private hire license up for renewal

A meeting taking place on 12th December will determine whether to renew Ubers operating license in York.

Uber London recently lost a similar license  on the grounds that they are not a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold
a licence.

Over the last year the Authority has received 155 complaints relating to Uber vehicles/drivers. There were also 141 complaints about non Uber vehicles/drivers.

Uber driver complaints

A majority of the complaints about Uber related to matters such as alleged plying for hire,to many out of town vehicles operating in York, dangerous driving, smoking in vehicles and fares charged.

The majority of Uber drivers were from Bradford and Leeds.

Only 4 of the Uber complaints related to York registered vehicles/drivers

If the license application were refused, Uber drivers licensed in other local authority areas would still be able to operate in York.

Council officials say there is no obvious justification for not renewing the Uber York licence

 

Free parking at Piccadilly between 3:00pm & 9:00pm on Thurs/Frid

Late night park and Ride on Thursdays
  Residents and visitors to the city will get an early Christmas present this year with an extended Park & Ride service and free parking in Piccadilly multi-storey car park.

First York has extended Park & Ride services to run every Thursday evening from Thursday 16 November until Saturday 23 December. These services proved popular last year allowing people to enjoy the York Christmas Festival for longer, which starts on Thursday.

York Business Improvement District (BID) has worked with the council to offer people free parking at Piccadilly multi-storey car park from 3-9pm every Thursday and Friday. Free parking is available every Thursday and Friday from 16 November until 22 December.

Space availability signs

Usage of the Piccadilly car park has reduced since the advanced car parking space availability signs, which used to be available on arterial routes into the City, stopped working 4 years ago. 

Similarly the “York Live” on line parking information – which should be updated in “real time”  – continues to project an inaccurate picture of space availability in the City centre (click here to test)

Real time parking information in York click to access

Park & Ride services will run every 15 minutes from all Park & Ride sites every Thursday. The Designer Outlet service will run later from Monday to Saturday.

Full timetable information is available online, but most services will now operate until 9.30pm on Thursday evenings, or Monday to Saturday from the Designer Outlet.

The Park & Ride services will run every 15 minutes, with the last services leaving the city centre at the following times:

Askham Bar (white line – route 3) – Rougier Street at 9.33pm

Designer Outlet (red line – route 7) – York Railway Station at 9.46pm

Monks Cross (silver line – route 9) – Rougier Street at 9.30pm

Poppleton Bar (turquoise line – route 59) – Station Road 9.33pm

Rawcliffe Bar (green line – route 2) – Museum Street at 9.30pm

Grimston Bar (yellow line – route 8) – Piccadilly at 9.30pm

For more information about travelling in and around York visit www.itravelyork.info
(more…)

Taxi safety shock following checks in York

Another series of checks on taxis and private hire vehicles in York has been carried out in a multi-agency operation involving council and police officers, to ensure the vehicles are providing a safe service to passengers.

Officers from partners including City of York Council, North Yorkshire Police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) supported the operations. Bradford and Calderdale councils were also involved as they represent some of the neighbouring authorities which licence taxis and which can legally operate in the region.

The operations ran throughout the evenings and into the mornings of Friday 13 October and Friday 3 November. Over the two operations, a total of 44 private hire vehicles and hackney carriages which were operating in the city that evening were stopped and checked.

All vehicles underwent full mechanical examinations for defects by the DVSA at the council’s MOT test centre at Hazel Court or at the roadside. Checks were also made to ensure that the drivers were properly licensed, insured and that the vehicles they were driving were safe to carry customers on the roads.

As a result, seven vehicles were ordered off the road by the DVSA due to the faults found including:

  • a defective tyre (sidewall bulging/casing separated)
  • a tyre with less than the minimum tread requirement
  • defective or inoperative headlights or brake lights
  • a serious fuel leak.

Another seven vehicles were found to have faults and the drivers were given three days to fix them and get MOT approval. The variety of mechanical defects included:

  • defective
  • engine oil
  • split drive shaft cover
  • defective seat belt
  • anti roll bars inoperative

A further eight drivers were advised to repair minor vehicle defects and several others were also warned by taxi enforcement officers about breaches of taxi licensing rules.

In addition, eight private hire vehicles were suspended from working due to mechanical defects and other breaches of taxi and private hire licensing rules.

A pizza delivery vehicle was also seized by police for having no insurance.

“Anyone with concerns about the conduct of drivers or the condition of their vehicles should email public.protection@york.gov.uk so we can investigate.”

Inspector Andy Godfrey, of York City Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We have continued to conduct joint operations with City of York Council in an effort to improve safety for taxi customers.

“Members of the public who use taxis and private hires in York can be reassured that once again, the majority of vehicles are safe and in good order.

“Our most recent operation, however, has identified some issues and I would remind all taxi drivers that it is their responsibility to ensure their vehicle is in good order, and free of defects before they use it, regardless of if it is a company vehicle.

“We will continue to carry out similar operations in the near future to ensure that standards are being maintained.”

 

Better beacons promised at 14 zebra crossing sites in York

Foxwood Lane among those to be upgraded.

The Council is to upgrade the Belisha Beacons at 14 pedestrian crossing sites in York

New beacon design

A report says,

“There are 43 zebra crossings across the city and outlying villages. A
zebra crossing is required by law to have a black and white striped pole
with a flashing yellow globe on each side of the crossing. If there is an
island in the middle, additional beacons may be provided as considered
appropriate. For years this equipment remained fairly standard, but in
the last decade new products have come onto the market using high
intensity light emitting diodes (LEDs) to enhance the conspicuity of
the globe.
In recent years 9 zebra crossings have been upgraded to high
conspicuity units as part of road safety schemes. Feedback on these
has been very positive. The remaining 34 crossings have equipment of
variable age and condition”.
The new design is promised to be more visible with diodes also lasting longer than older type.

The work is expected to be completed before the end of January.

Crossing sites to be upgraded