'It's gonna be bedlam': London taxi bosses warn huge cab shortage will get worse
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London's Black Cabs are stuck in a vicious circle of financing, regulation and staffing issues but there is hope
If you've had trouble hailing down a Hackney carriage on the streets of the City in the past few months, you're probably not the only one.
Now taxi bosses are warning it could get even worse unless two key issues are addressed for London's taxi industry.
They say that more and more drivers are chosing to leave the trade - and the time it takes to learn 'The Knowlege' means that new recruits can't fill the gap.
They also say that it's becoming more and more difficult for cab operators to get finance as "the cab trade is not the flavour of the month".
The warnings were voiced at a roundtable discussion between three industry-leading figures on the latest episode of the LDTA (Licensed Taxi Drivers' Assocation)'s podcast.
Michael Glassman, Colts Cabs Company Director, who is in charge of London's largest fleet of taxis outlined the difficult situation.
He said: "The finance companies have got no confidence in the trade. In the past it's never been a problem and now I feel like Oliver Twist and saying 'please Sir, can I have some more?'"
Glassman and many taxi bosses depend on finance companies to convert their fleets to electric vehicles as quickly as possible. He reports having 150 drivers on waiting lists desperate to drive the newer, cleaner vehicles.
"I'll certainly go forward with electrics, I'm not looking to go back to diesels," he added.
Regarding drivers themselves, the situation is tough. Many have resorted to overtime or second jobs to make ends meet or have simply left the industry instead.
As London's taxi drivers need to complete the arduous but prestigious 'Knowledge test' to join the industry fully, it is taking too long at present to replace the drivers who left during the pandemic even if vehicles are available.
This leads to a vicious circle for operators. "It's gonna be bedlam," one boss suggested.
One of the most striking visualisations of the downturn is a multi-storey car park in Ilford, which has been used as a storage facility for taxi vehicles which have been decommissioned or stood down until trade recovers.
Last month, MyLondon reported that several taxis had been either vandalised or fallen into a rather sorry state, a depression reflection of the shock to the capital's transport industry the lockdowns were.
Changing regulations mean that taxis are being prematurely withdrawn from usage because they are too polluting, too expensive or simply too old to run.
Combined with the difficult conditions around financing new taxis, it is leading to shortages. Lee Dacosta from Cabvision alerted: "A lot of those fleets are just abandoning those vehicles, they won't bring them back."
Glassman said: "In my view I think it[the shortage]'s gonna get worse. Huge. Huge. We are gonna be losing, I'm told, somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 cabs possibly this year."
He directly drew a link to financing being an obstacle to a solution. "If you can't get finance, then you can't build up the fleet."
It's not all doom and gloom though, the remaining taxis on the streets are now one of the cleanest taxi fleets on the continent, with almost all taxis either electric or using Euro VI diesel/hybrid vehicles.
Transport for London (TfL) rules mean the most polluting taxis will be banned once they reach a 13 year age limit from November 1. In effect, this means taxis will only continue to get greener.
There are around 13,000 licensed London taxis in circulation (excluding unlicensed private hire operators like Uber), down from 18,000 pre-Covid but those remaining have been resilient as travel across the city starts to pick up again.
Nightlife returning to the capital is helping. Steve McNamara, LTDA General Secretary also explained that the prevalence of contactless payments across London's taxi fleet is helping to attract spontaneous customers again.
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or take another job in the meantime) that the Knowledge of London is inhibiting new drivers from entering the trade. New drivers to drive cabs that the fleet owners can't get finance for anyway.