Taxi Driver Online

The biggest taxi glut in Europe


Shout “Taxi!” in Dublin and you might have to wait 0.3 seconds for your car to arrive. That's because the Irish capital probably has the biggest taxi glut in Europe.

The most visible sign of the Irish recession is not the endless “For Sale” or “Price Reduced” signs that line residential and business streets; it is the sheer number of idle taxis. At some taxi stands in central Dublin, the cars are lined up a two dozen deep, their drivers bored rigid behind the wheel.


No wonder: There are about 16,000 licensed taxis in Dublin, up from about 2,800 in the late 1990s. That's a lot of taxis. New York City, which is 7 or 8 times bigger than Dublin (population 1.2-million), has about 13,000 licensed cabs.


A decade ago, Dubliners complained about having to wait an hour or longer for a cab. So the city deregulated the licensing process. Almost anyone could get in the taxi game and the numbers grew enormously. Dublin was growing too, with foreign companies from Google to Hewlett-Packard setting up their European beachheads in the country that would become known as the Celtic Tiger.

For a while, taxi drivers lived well.The Tiger is out of puff, the recession has hit and drivers are getting desperate. Dublin could do with half the number of taxis. Fare poaching is routine. When I called a cab from my hotel in Dublin, a driver entered the lobby, asked if I was the guy who had ordered a cab, grabbed my bag and we were off to the airport. About 10 minutes later, my mobile phone rang. It was the driver I had booked. He was patiently waiting outside the hotel.


The ease of getting a taxi licence has not backfired for every driver. A few years ago Michael O'Leary, the famously aggressive and impatient boss of Ryanair, Europe's biggest discount airline, paid about 6,000 Euros for a taxi licence for his private Mercedes and equipped it with a meter and roof-top taxi lights. He wasn't moonlighting. He just wanted access to the city's bus-and-taxi-only lanes to speed up his drive to work.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Can someone change the list of restricted councils.Bristol has de-limited with quality controls following an unmet demand survey.

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govnr

I suspect JD has taken note.

I suspect the pro quota mob wont be happy as they use Bristol as an example of where delimitation failed.

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IDFIMH

Taxi Regulator needs to wake up


As a taxi driver, I was delighted by the article highlighting the faults in the taxi service in Dublin (Herald, December 2).

When I sat my PSV test, there was a thorough scrutiny of the applicants by the Gardai, but now anyone seems to be allowed in.

People that have only been in the country a few months are working as taxi drivers. Something is drastically wrong and the Taxi Regulator is doing little about it.

Not only should the issuing of licences be stopped, there should be a re-check of all the PSV licences and driving licences.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

How come they have a regulator if they dont regulate..seems like a cushy non job ???

The list you looked at on that particular page is quite old and does indeed show Bristol in the regulated column. The most recent list which shows Bristol in the deregulated column has had its own page for quite some time at the following address.

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/quota.html

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

OMG We're not on your lists don't you care about us are we nothings to TDO

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

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IDFIMH

Isn't strange that they can de-regulate at whim but can't regulate unless there is a law to say so

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!