Bahrain Mujagata

THE youngest black cab driver in the capital says life is “much harder” following the pedestrianisation.

Newly qualified Bahrain Mujagata, 21, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service 10 and 20 minutes were being added to his journeys from the West End towards Paddington.

“Yesterday I felt the real-time repercussion”, he said, “there was so much traffic on Regent Street with nowhere else to go. Sitting through traffic that I used to bypass makes life much harder. Regent Street going northbound is very crowded, with a cycle lane on the left and a central reservation.

“If a bus picks up passengers, you have to stay behind it. If it’s like that at night I can only imagine what it’s like during the day.”

Mr Mujagata said that he was not against the idea of pedestrianising Oxford Street in principle but that the new scheme was not the best option.

“We will evolve and get used to it, like whenever they change a road or turn, but drivers who knew how it was before will always remember,” he said.

More popular!

Mohammed Essalhi

Mohammed Essalhi, 31, who works at a crepe shop, told the LDRS: “I think our shop will be more popular as more people can come to the street, but I think pedestrianisation will be bad for businesses on Oxford Street. You have too many restaurants and businesses which need to get deliveries,” he said. “We get our supplies delivered twice a week so this is going to be really hard to organise now.”

Only issue…

Maryam Gasimova

Maryam Gasimova, 19, who lives nearby, said that it would be good for business, as shoppers and tourists would “have more space to walk around”, telling the LDRS: “I assume a lot of cars would’ve come down here. I guess that is the only issue but for people this is perfect.”

Kane’s pain

Even Harry Kane’s big Ballon D’Or victory in the West End had to be delayed by 30 minutes due to traffic caused by the pedestrianisation.

A young crowd had turned up hoping to catch a glimpse of world football’s biggest stars.
Each night since the road was blocked there been several reports of large groups of teenagers riding bikes through the street at night.

The latest craze is “snapping” where riders wheelie up to scare pedestrians before suddenly swerving away.