This should really be added to the thread a few weeks ago, but this one deserves a thread all of its own
But, I mean, some of the stuff in here
And I was waiting for the 'driver shortage' bit, and thought I'd jumped the gun and it wouldn't happen. But then it appeared, and didn't disappoint
Then the 'sensory' stuff. Maybe better not to say too much
But a timely reminder that it's not just entitled and perma-victim school run parents complaining about stuff like that
Perth cabbies fear for their livelihood competing with 24 more taxishttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/loca ... g-36598388Last year Perth and Kinross Council agreed to allocate 24 additional taxi licence plates in Perth, despite strong opposition from the taxi tradeCabbies - who say they work an average of 10 hours a day and six days a week - fear they face a 30 per cent pay cut due to competition from additional taxis in Perth.
Drivers are worried their livelihoods could be at risk with 24 more taxis on the city's ranks.
They also argue Perth and Kinross Council's (PKC) mandatory requirement for all new taxis to be wheelchair-accessible actually excludes disabled passengers - and cabbies - who cannot travel in the large, rattly cars due to sensory issues.
In December 2025 PKC's Licensing Committee unanimously agreed to a new scheme to allocate 24 additional taxi licence plates in Perth. All 24 vehicles must be wheelchair-accessible.
Drivers say they already work around the clock to make ends meet and often wait longer for a fare than passengers do for a taxi.
This month the Local Democracy Reporting Service met with around a dozen local cabbies at the Perth Bus Station taxi rank on Pomarium Street on a midweek morning. Not one customer appeared looking for a taxi the entire hour we were there. The rain was lashing down - as we huddled under a bike shelter next to the stacked up rank - and the bus station was relatively busy with passengers coming and going. But - according to drivers - sitting in ranks waiting for fares was nothing new.
Donald Stewart said: "I did three yesterday and that was from 9am to 3.45pm. £5, £6 and £10. I spent £15 getting the car washed!"
James Gilruth added: "It's not feasible for the cars that are out there now to make a decent living just working the rank. You need work elsewhere."
James, like many of his fellow cabbies, boosts his income with a couple of school contracts and customers who phone him directly.
Cabbie Barry Mitchell fears for his future.
He said: "Perth, like many other cities, has taken longer to heal from driver loss during COVID. However, it will heal and when a full fleet of drivers return this is going to be a smack in the face to the ones who have stuck it out and served their communities by seeing a 30 per cent reduction in real terms - putting businesses at severe risk of closure.
"In 2021 the average waiting time was 12 minutes and 31 seconds and five plates were released. In 2024, the latest survey, the waiting time was five minutes and 20 seconds and we've got 24 plates released. That doesn't add up!"
He added: "I love my job but I really fear I'm being pushed out my job."
Malcolm Nicolson said: "I think the council has been treating the taxi trade like second class citizens."
John Paterson added: "They're increasing the taxi fleet by 30 per cent. That means for me to go out and work, I'm going to have to go out and work 30 per cent longer to earn the same sort of income."
Asked how long they all worked, the average worked each day was about 10 hours, more at weekends and the majority working six days a week.
The trade has also reported an issue recruiting drivers.
Cabbie Kevin Dickson said: "I had an advert for a driver in the job centre for months. I didn't get a single application."
They questioned how 24 larger cars would fit in the existing ranks and said making them "accessible" actually excluded some passengers - and cabbies - from using them.
Paul Scott, a taxi operator from Blairgowrie, cannot drive a wheelchair-accessible vehicle due to his hearing impairment.
He said: "The insistence on wheelchair accessible vehicles for disability is actually excluding a large percentage of disabled people because it takes no account of sensory issues.
"I'm deaf in one ear. These wheelchair cars make a lot of noise. I cannot drive a wheelchair car because I cannot hear my passengers.
"If a guide dog is going any distance in a noisy wheelchair accessible vehicle, it is not fit to work at the other end until it has calmed down. That goes the same for autistic children and adults, including autistic drivers. This has been completely ignored by the council even though it's been highlighted to them on several occasions, even on the day I won my only electric exclusive plate in Perthshire."
In March 2025, Paul challenged PKC's Licensing Committee on the wheelchair accessible vehicle policy for new plates and requested a licence for a vehicle that was fully electric but not wheelchair accessible.
Paul added: "My quiet [electric] vehicle is used regularly by autistic customers and guide dogs.
"To put in all these extra disabled plates, they're actually putting up barriers to disabled passengers."
Jason MacDonald added: "For people with limited mobility, these vehicles are too high up for them to get into."
And seeing a passenger in a wheelchair at the rank is rare.
In all Mick Jones' 24 years as a local taxi driver he has never seen someone in a wheelchair approach the rank.
He added: "I once had three London cabs and people at the rank said they would not get in because it's too big."
Kevin Dickson - a cabbie of 30 years - has only once picked up a client in a wheelchair from the rank but it was such a memorable event he could recall the day, time, customer and where he was going.
Perth and Kinross Council has insisted Perth needs 24 more taxis to meet the "significant" unmet demand. The 2024 LVSA survey found there was "significant unmet demand for taxis" in the city.
In 2024 the LVSA surveyed five Perth taxi ranks from the morning of Thursday, June 20 to the morning of Sunday, June 23.
During the course of the 2024 survey, 943 taxis were observed leaving the ranks with passengers compared to 1,959 vehicles in the 2017 survey.
The proportion of taxis which left a rank empty was approximately 33 per cent - higher than the 24 per cent proportion observed in 2017. The number of Perth taxis had risen from 75 in 2017 to 80 in 2024.
Out of the 1,451 passengers observed using taxis in 2024, 331 had to wait. Not all passengers waited; 40 were reported to have "left the ranks in frustration, having waited at the rank for a taxi to arrive".
The longest wait time observed, by the LVSA, in 2024 was 39 minutes 30 seconds. The average wait was five minutes and 30 seconds, compared to two minutes and eight seconds in 2017.
A PKC spokesperson said: "The council can only limit the number of licensed taxis where there is no unmet demand. An unmet demand survey was carried out on behalf of the council, and published in December 2024, in line with Scottish Government guidance, good practice and our own previous surveys.
"It found that there is significant unmet demand for taxis in Perth city. The situation in 2024, when compared with 2017 was that use of the ranks had reduced, passenger waiting had increased even though the number of taxis in the fleet had also increased. The increase in the number of taxis had not addressed the increased passenger waiting.
"It also showed that passenger demand for taxis has increased since 2021, and noted many wheelchair users will not visit taxi ranks because they believe no wheelchair accessible vehicles were available.
"The options set out in the survey for the council to meet the unmet demand were to either raise the limit on new licences or to remove the limit. The council decided to issue 24 new licences and has a scheme for how these will be allocated. A further unmet demand survey will be carried out in due course.
"We are aware of the concerns of some taxi operators and drivers. Our consultation on the unmet demand survey was extended to ensure members of the trade could contribute both their views and any evidence they wished to submit in relation to demand. Members of the trade also had the opportunity to express their views during the committee process. No evidence to counter the findings of the unmet demand survey was submitted. We continue to engage with the trade."
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