DEMISE OF LONDON BLACK CABS
percentage of the fleet that would be accessible, in order to be financially viable, there should always be adequate user subsidies.
The authorities and disability lobbies argued that people with disabilities, including wheelchair users, should be afforded equal rights and, like any able bodied person, be able to utilise any licensed London taxi.
The main day to day opposition for the work London taxis still have, comes from other taxis. So, while taxi numbers will continue to decrease, why would it be of any concern to a taxi driver who’s out there working hard, that the old boys are being forced off the road and, week by week, we’re getting ever closer to the death of what was, undeniably, the greatest taxi service on the planet.
Which also leaves one issue that seems to have been overlooked.
In 1987 the first fully accessible taxi was introduced in London. At the time some trade representatives argued that this would increase manufacturing costs substantially and while there should be an agreed
Consequently, since 2000, when there were around 20,000 taxis and no licensed private hire in London, all taxis have met the legal requirement for accessibility. The licensing of private hire in London began in April 2004 with no accessibility requirement and today, in the era of electronic hailing and with TfL licensing around 110,000 vehicles, only a fast dwindling 13% are legally required to fulfil this need.
As the development of the self-driving taxi gathers pace, let’s hope they take this issue on board and that, one day in the future, while London may not have taxi drivers any longer, it’s saving grace will be that, once again, it will have a taxi fleet that’s fully accessible to everybody. But for now, the size of the London taxi fleet looks set to continue reducing unless we start looking at ways to retain the skills of drivers who, as with many of their generation, would like to keep doing their job for a few hours a week.
PHTM DECEMBER 2024
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