Galway taxis’ income has dropped 70% in three years
Too many licences and customers' changing habits blamed
A combination of too many licences and changing social behaviour has resulted in Galway taxi drivers’ income plummeting by almost 70 percent over the past three years.
Sources within the taxi industry in Galway told the Connacht Sentinel that a recent study had revealed that incomes have been decimated – over the past year alone, they had fallen by 35%.
A declining number of people socialising during the week and at weekends has had a huge negative impact on their trade.
And the fact that taxi drivers who want to get out of the business will not get social welfare benefits for a year, has resulted in them having no choice but to try and eke out a living in the industry.
At the moment there are around 1,200 taxis in Galway city, which is several hundred more than is required in the current environment.
“There are about 300 drivers who would pack it in immediately if they could sell their licences back to the taxi regulator but this is not an option at the moment”, said Gerry Corbett of Galwegian Taxis.
He said there were some taxi drivers earning as little as €200 a week because the business was not there anymore.
“People’s social behaviour has changed dramatically with less and less going out at night simply because they cannot afford to do so. It is crippling the taxi industry”, he said.
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