Liverpool-based Anthony and Jane Mullane have to wait to see what action Traffic Commissioner (TC) Simon Evans is to take over a number of issues including the operation of an unregistered bus service for three years.
The partners, trading as A&J Taxis, with a two vehicle restricted licence, had been called before the TC of concerns over main occupation, over drivers’ hours, a failure to notify a conviction, non-compliance of an undertaking not to operate vehicles with eight passenger seats or fewer without obtaining written permission, and the operation of the unregistered service.
Mr Mullane said that his main occupation was as a taxi and private hire operator. He held a special restricted licence and operated a registered bus service called Taxi One Bus Service.
He was being bullied by Arriva and Stagecoach. Due to ongoing works a bus stop was moved to Lime Street – one his firm was supposed to be able to use but it had been “bullied out of it” by Stagecoach using nine buses.
Traffic Examiner (TE) Tim Aspull was wrong in stating that he had been driving a minibus that was not displaying a taxi or private hire plate. The driver had been his son.
The TE had established that the bus service, which he had been operating for three years, was not registered. That was corrected within 48 hours. He agreed that the minibus, which had fewer than eight passenger seats, had been operating under his PSV O-Licence on the service without a PSV MoT.
He said that his error was that he had thought it was covered by the O-Licence, which he had thought had replaced his special restricted licence.
He had not been trying to circumvent the law. He was operating a successful bus service for Liverpool Football Club supporters 25 times a year and he had had absolutely nothing to gain.
The fact the bus service had not been registered was not his fault. He had never been told by the TC or Mersey Travel that it had not been registered for three years. He had corrected his errors as soon as they were brought to his attention.
He agreed that he had personally originally held a special restricted licence while in partnership with his wife, saying that that had now been corrected with a special restricted licence in the name of the partnership.
When the licence was transferred over, the registration was cancelled without anyone telling him. He agreed he had been operating the small minibus on the service for three years. He said it had been taken off the road for two weeks until it was licensed as a private hire taxi and it now operated as it should.
The conviction for failing to use a tachograph arose out of an error on his part. He had not realised that he needed to use a tachograph because of the short distance being travelled, some 15 miles. He had not realised he had to notify the TC.
The TC is to issue a written decision at a later date.
