DEREG DILEMMA
‘TOO MANY’ TAXI DRIVERS IN NEATH PORT TALBOT
Cabbies in Neath Port Talbot say the area has reached ‘taxi satu- ration point’ and that too many hackney licences have been granted by the coun- cil.
Neath Port Talbot Council have been asked to introduce a three-year freeze on new hackney carriage licences to protect existing drivers, which they agreed to look
into last November. The council said they would carry out an unmet demand sur- vey. However, nine months on the survey has still not been car- ried out.
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The average wait for a taxi at the city’s official ranks is five minutes, according to a survey. The Edinburgh Eve- ning News reports that, the city council carried out the moni- toring of nine of its taxi ranks in April and May. It studied the number of taxis and passen- gers, arrival and departure times, wait- ing time and whether
the customer walked away without getting a taxi.
The report found that the average wait for the 137 passengers monitored was four minutes and 57 sec- onds, while 26 of the potential passengers walked away without getting a taxi. The longest amount of time a passenger had to wait was ten min-
utes and ten seconds. The council also con- firmed it had received two complaints from members of the public reporting difficulties obtaining taxis.
In a report on demand, the council’s taxi licensing officer Peter Lang said that the find- ings suggest that there is no significant unmet demand for taxis in Edinburgh.
TAXI SURVEY CUT IN WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
A survey of taxi avail- ability in Windsor and Maidenhead will not be commissioned in an effort to save coun- cil cash - despite cab drivers calling for it to happen.
Supply and demand in the trade has not been investigated since the council merged all three taxi zones in the borough in 2008. Licensing officers said there is the option to
commission the sur- vey if and when a challenge is made from potential drivers for refusing to issue more licences. Waheed Azam, of the borough’s Hackney Carriage Association, told councillors that the borough is already awash with cabs and carrying out the sur- vey would show there is no unmet customer demand.
Cllr Bicknell told the Maidenhead Advertis- er: “We would be wasting £10,750 at this time to prove what we already know.” Mmm... We were brac- ing ourselves for this. To our knowledge this is the first unmet demand survey being shelved due to council budgetary cutbacks... unless you know dif- ferently. We shall keep you posted - Ed.
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PAGE 34
North Devon Council’s licensing committee has turned down a plea to limit the number of hackney carriage licences it distributes. According to the North Devon Journal, Barn- staple taxi driver and Unite union member Bob Lethbridge ad- dressed the commit- tee to ask for a cap on licences.
Mr Lethbridge told the committee: “We’re competing against
cream-time drivers who are constantly undercutting full-time drivers. Some drivers are working 7am to 10pm and going home with £20. It’s a desper- ate situation.” However, the commit- tee decided not to review the policy on the basis that it had already been looked at as recently as January this year.
Committee vice-chair- man Councillor David
Luggar said: “We are going back over old points here. Our job is to regulate, not to pro- tect the livelihoods of taxi drivers.”
Cllr Jasmine Chesters said: “You’ve got to take the good with the bad. The recession means that lots of businesses are strug- gling at the moment.” Mr Lethbridge added: “The decision to change is in your hands. This is an absolute sham.”
PHTM OCTOBER 2010
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