Making airport taxi parking work for all

Improving facilities for minicabs at Heathrow will reduce anti-social parking in neighbourhoods near the airport, says Anthony Smith

Every day this time of year some 260,000 passengers go to or from Heathrow. Half of those passengers use a vehicle – either their own car or a cab. A key part of the work of the Heathrow Area Transport Forum (HATF), which I chair, is to get all stakeholders to focus on providing more sustainable travel choices for passengers and staff. While rail (particularly the Elizabeth line), coach and bus work for many, vehicle-based travel (even with a drop-off charge in place) is the current choice for most.

Cabs generally wait for bookings. Due to the size and dispersed nature of the airport, parking facilities can be some distance from the terminals. Cabs come from a wide area – a recent local authority enforcement exercise found cabs from 74 different local authorities – even as far away as Scotland!

Black cabs have a dedicated area just north of the airport. This has good facilities and a queuing system that seems to work – cost £3. Minicabs are treated differently. Uber and Bolt drivers are ‘geo-fenced’ into the Authorised Vehicle Area (‘AVA’) – again to the north of the airport off the A4 Bath Road. Other taxis can use the area – cost £1 per hour.

However, cab drivers can and do park legally or otherwise in the surrounding areas. Heathrow is surrounded by some quite rural communities as well as areas of denser population to the west. Parking restrictions differ between the various local authorities and enforcement is, understandably, patchy. Drivers spot approaching traffic officers and simply move on before they can be caught. Facilities are few and far between.

Just to complicate the picture further, the rise of rogue meet & greet parking companies has led to increased vehicle movements, nose to tail parking on streets and dangerous driving.

So, inevitably, there is a lot of anti-social behaviour – urination and defecation, littering and idling in addition to the parking and vehicle movements generated. Local residents who challenge drivers are met sometimes with aggression. No local communities should have to put up with this problem which is common to all airports.

The Heathrow Area Transport Forum has pulled together all the stakeholders who are needed to sort this problem: Heathrow Airport, local authorities, the police, the British Parking Association, Transport for London and others.

I needed to understand this issue better. So, Dr Roger Green (chair of the Heathrow Airport Local Communities Forum) and I spent a day driving around seeing the problem for ourselves.

We saw ample evidence of the problems. Vehicles parked illegally or dangerously on all sorts of local roads. Litter. Long lines of closely parked vehicles – indicative of rogue parking? Lots of vehicle movements on roads unsuited for this level of traffic. But we also saw cab drivers visiting local stores and cafes – good for the local communities!

The black cab facility at the airport is good. The minicab Authorised Vehicle Area (AVA) is not so good – tired, grubby looking facilities. This is unlikely to attract anyone with a choice of where to go.

You can read our report by clicking here

So far, we have made good progress. Heathrow Airport is, among other things, funding signs, a portal where local residents can log problems and enforcement officers.

The police, both airport and the Metropolitan Police, are taking a more active interest in both rogue meet & greet operators, resulting in prosecutions, and illegal cab parking.

The British Parking Association has speedily drawn up a good-looking kite marking scheme so consumers can book meet & greet with confidence – this will launch soon with attendant publicity. Local authorities are being more active with Spelthorne Borough Council in the lead. Spelthorne has introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which could result in offending drivers who are seen parking illegally receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

Heathrow has spruced up the AVA and will monitor its condition more frequently.

Much more to do but a good start has been made. This issue will never go away. Cab drivers who maybe only make one journey to Heathrow a year are hard to reach with information about official parking areas. A cost for parking will deter many – cab drivers are understandably sensitive to cost. Until another AVA can be built nearer Terminal 4/5 distances will still be too great for some drivers. Enforcement cameras – the ideal solution – relating to parking issues are currently not legal – however, we will lobby the government to make an exception for the areas around Heathrow.

Data is hard to come by on this issue. Anecdotes, some unpleasant, drive the debate. However, we will continue working to disrupt this activity to a point where it becomes the exception rather than the norm. Local people deserve no less.

Anthony Smith is independent chair of the Heathrow Area Transport Forum