Taxi Driver Online

There's no photo caption, but that looks like Fat Sam's nightclub in Dundee (or whatever it's called these days). Interestingly, fleet owner Jimmy Marr quoted below once owned the Mardi Gras club next door, which was the place to be in the area once upon a time.

Long term readers on here may also remember when Mr Marr's 203020 PH firm were using an enclosure beside the two clubs as an effective rank, on the grounds that it was private property. The local press was full of stuff about that for a while, but I think the council closed it down eventually.


'ONGOING PROBLEM' Scotland’s taxi ‘drought’ leaving young women stranded and forced to walk home alone

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/s ... ome-alone/


Image: Scottish Sun

A TAXI ‘drought’ is leaving young women stranded and forced to walk home alone.

Hundreds of drivers quit when the night-time economy shut down during lockdown with figures showing there are 473 fewer licensed taxi drivers in Tayside and Fife than in 2019.

Now pubs and clubs are open, but taxi drivers have not returned to the streets, leaving stranded revellers forced to walk home in the early hours.

Jimmy Marr, who runs a fleet of taxis in Dundee, said: "There are very few taxi drivers are now wanting or prepared to work on Friday and Saturday nights.

"I've listened to several young women saying they have stood outside city clubs for an hour trying to get a taxi.

"Many are deciding to just start to walk home."

One young woman said: "One night recently I had to wait ages for a taxi outside a city club and decided to walk home.

"Twice on my way, before I could finally hail a taxi, I was approached by groups of lads.

"I don't honestly think anything bad was going to happen, but it made me really scared."

Many taxi drivers took other jobs when coronavirus devastated the trade and have not returned, while those who are left are choosing to work during the day, leaving a shortage at night.

Freedom of Information figures from Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross councils all reported a drop in licensed taxi drivers, from 3,749 in September 2019 to 3,276 last month.

The biggest loss was in Fife, which is down 196 drivers, while in Dundee, 118 drivers have given up licences, closely followed by 114 in Perth and Kinross and 45 fewer in Angus.

Mr Marr, who owns a fleet of 60 taxis, said he was concerned about the future of the trade.

He said: "I warned in the summertime things were looking bad, and the situation keeps getting worse and worse."

He added: "I have 60 cars but have only been able to recruit around 30 drivers.

"Drivers have handed their licences in because they can't afford to be in the business. This is leading to a complete drought of taxis available in Dundee."

Unite union taxi driver representative Chris Elder said it was "impossible" for drivers to make money during lockdown.

"There is little doubt this is an ongoing problem," he said.

"There are far fewer taxis around than there were pre-Covid.

"The lack of people going about meant there were barely any fares for taxi drivers, so it just wasn't worth their while to keep going.

"As a result, many handed in their licences and turned to other work, like driving delivery vans."

TAXI SHORTAGE

He added: "There are plenty of plates and plenty of cars around, but no drivers.

"When you consider a taxi driver has to pay out £100 a week for their radio, as well as pay all their car costs, they have to be making a decent amount of money before they start to make a profit - and that just wasn't possible.

"They realised they could make money doing other things without the problems associated with driving taxis.

"When they were picking people up from outside pubs and clubs when they finally got back, many were refusing to wear a mask in the taxi.

"Taxi drivers weren't prepared to accept this and open themselves up to the risk of contracting the virus. We can only hope that things will start to improve slowly, but there's no guarantee, and it's going to take time."

So precisely the same numbers as he stated in an article in July. So I wonder how long he'll retain a fleet of 60 cars with only 30 drivers?

Although the article is very similar to the one in July, with quotes from Jimmy Marr and Chris Elder of Unite, so maybe the Sun's article is just a rehash of the Courier's July article, but brought up to date with the latest stuff about women's safety, etc.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37222&p=411365

Hows about those BSOG grabbing fat cat bus operators sticking on a late bus or two and earn their government handouts.

You also have the problem in Dundee where you require an SVQ qualification or equivalent. That is hundreds of pound extra on the cost.
Which by the way was a real waste of the tax payers money as none of the rules are adhered to.

So by describing it as a 'problem', you disagree with the NVQ and would like to make it easier to get a badge?

Of course, I can understand why Jimmy Marr wants to make it easier, but not as regards Unite and the other unions.

And, of course, wasn't Unite instrumental in putting the NVQ process in place originally?

Anyway, if the Scottish Sun rehashed the Dundee-based Courier's stuff from the summer, the Courier has in turn rehashed the Sun's rehash, and the result is a very similar article. The main differences as far as I can see are the inclusion of numbers for Angus and Perth & Kinross, which are areas covered by the Courier as well as Dundee and Fife.

But whoever's rehashed who, precisely, it's quite a good piece, and includes a graphic on the badge numbers, and about half a dozen other photos, so they've obviously put a bit of effort into it

But only the first photo in the piece hasn't appeared before, so I've missed out the ones of Jimmy Marr, Chris Elder, and the 'real' taxis on the ranks etc - the only photo I haven't seen previously is the one below of, yes, you've guessed it...

But for anyone who's read all the previous stuff, there's really nothing much to see here.

The bar chart can't be shown here without a lot of fannying around, so I've plugged in the actual numbers instead. Have also included the drops in terms of percentages, which is surely more important than the bare numbers as portrayed by the Courier, and as described below the article.


Taxi crisis: 500 fewer cabs in Tayside and Fife sparks fears for women’s safety

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/pe ... ns-safety/


Image: DC Thomson

Terrified young women are walking home at night as new figures show there are almost 500 fewer taxis in Tayside and Fife than before lockdown.

Driver numbers have plummeted during the pandemic, leading to fears for safety as people struggle to find a cab home.

Figures obtained through Freedom of Information show there are 473 fewer licensed taxi drivers in Tayside and Fife than in 2019.

Many drivers left the industry to make a living when the night-time economy shut down during lockdown.

Now pubs and clubs are open but drivers have not returned to the streets, leaving stranded revellers forced to walk home in the early hours.

This situation comes amid national calls to keep women safe, following reports of attacks and spikings.

Jimmy Marr, who runs a fleet of taxis in Dundee, said the lack of cars at night is a serious concern.

“Very few taxi drivers are now wanting or prepared to work on Friday and Saturday nights,” he said.

“I’ve listened to several young women saying they have stood outside city clubs for an hour trying to get a taxi.

“Many are deciding to just start to walk home. In the current climate, with recent high profile attacks on young woman out alone at night.”

Women have reported walking home after waiting for taxis which never appeared.

One said: “It’s getting really difficult to get a taxi after you have been out at night.

“It has actually made me think twice about going out.

“One night recently I had to wait ages for a taxi outside a city club and decided to walk home.

“Twice on my way, before I could finally hail a taxi, I was approached by groups of lads.

“I don’t honestly think anything bad was going to happen but it made me really scared.

“It also made me fearful about being left stranded in the future.”

Where are the taxis?

Many taxi drivers turned to delivery work or other industries when coronavirus devastated the trade and did not return.

Those who are left are taking advantage of the reduced supply and choosing to work during the day and weekdays, leaving a shortage at night.

The three local authorities in Tayside – Dundee, Angus, and Perth and Kinross – all reported a drop in licenced taxi drivers, alongside Fife.

The number of licensed taxi drivers in Courier Country has dropped in every area

Fife
September 2019 - 1,800
September 2021 - 1,604
Percentage decrease - 10.9%

Dundee
September 2019 - 1,109
September 2021 - 991
Percentage decrease - 10.6%

Perth & Kinross
September 2019 - 652
September 2021 - 538
Percentage decrease - 17.5%

Angus
September 2019 - 188
September 2021 - 143
Percentage decrease - 23.9%

In September 2019 there were 3,749 licensed taxi drivers in Tayside and Fife.

By September this year, it had dropped to 3,276.

The biggest loss was in Fife, which is down 196 drivers.

In Dundee, 118 taxis have given up licences, closely followed by 114 in Perth and Kinross.

There are 45 fewer drivers in Angus.

More problems to come

Mr Marr, who owns a fleet of 60 taxis in Dundee, said he was concerned about the future of the trade.

Mr Marr said: “I warned in the summertime things were looking bad and the situation keeps getting worse and worse.

“Many drivers are now working Monday to Friday only, not doing weekends or late-night work because the drop in taxi drivers means there is more demand during the week so they are earning enough and don’t need to work the unsocial hours.”

He added: “I have 60 cars but have only been able to recruit around 30 drivers.

“Drivers have handed their licenses in because they can’t afford to be in the business.

“This is leading to a complete drought of taxis available in Dundee.

‘Plenty cars but no drivers’

Unite union taxi driver representative Chris Elder said it was “impossible” for drivers to make money during lockdown.

“There is little doubt this is an ongoing problem,” he said.

“There are far fewer taxis around than there were pre-Covid.

“The lack of people going about meant there were barely any fares for taxi drivers so it just wasn’t worth their while to keep going.

“As a result many handed in their licences and turned to other work like driving delivery vans.”

He added: “There are plenty plates and plenty cars around but no drivers.

“When you consider a taxi driver has to pay out £100 a week for their radio, as well as pay all their car costs, they have to be making a decent amount of money before they start to make a profit and that just wasn’t possible.”

“They realised they could make money doing other things without the problems associated with driving taxis.

“When they (drivers) were picking people up from outside pubs and clubs when they finally got back many were refusing to wear a mask in the taxi.

“Taxi drivers weren’t prepared to accept this and open themselves up to the risk of contracting the virus.

“We can only hope that things will start to improve slowly but there’s no guarantee and it’s going to take time.”

Of course, with analyses like these there's always a question mark over whether badges and plates are properly separated. Presumably it's consistently badge numbers they're talking about, but the highlighted text suggests it's actually plates, but I suspect that's just poor phraseology.

But I looked at the Scottish Transport Statistics to check plate numbers in Dundee, and indeed the above figures must be badges. But the STT figures suggest there were 808 HC badges in 2020, which is inconsistent with the Courier's numbers above. If the figures for all three years are to be believed, they must have dropped like a stone between 2019-20, then increased substantially between 2020-21. But the other three councils are consistent with a gradual decline over the three years, so there may be a discrepancy with the Dundee figures somewhere.

Another complication is that our Scottish 'taxi' badges are dual badges, while there are distinct PH-only badges available.

So Dundee, Fife and P&K don't issue many PH badges, because the PHVs there will generally be driven by taxi badge holders

However, there are quite a few PH badges in Angus, so the above figures aren't really comparing like with like, although if looking at the thing in terms of a drop in supply, it probably doesn't matter if only comparing the figures for each council between 2019 and 2021

Finally, the Courier states that the biggest drop is in Fife, which is correct in terms of absolute badge numbers. But of course Fife is the biggest authority, and in fact my percentage figures suggest Fife and Dundee are more or less identical in terms of the percentage drop, while P&K lost a lot more, and Angus lost almost a quarter of its drivers. So the Courier makes it sound like the drop in Fife numbers is the most problematic in terms of the driver 'shortage', but the percentages suggest the situation in Angus is significantly worse.

Which is ironic, because recall that Angus's Covid grant scheme for *badge* holders was significantly better than any other council in Scotland - £2.5k more, was it?

Anway, there's also maybe other questionable aspects to the numbers, such as whether badges are granted/renewed on a rolling basis or all in one batch, which could distort comparisons. And, for example, it could be the more peripheral part-time/weekend drivers who have given up (as stated in a previous Fife article), as compared to the full-time drivers, so to that extent the drop in supply wouldn't be as great as the simple badge numbers suggest.

But even when drafting this last night, kind of regretted going down this particular rabbit hole, so mabye that's enough for now...

Yes you are correct. It was unite who introduced the SVQ. Which also described by unite as the greatest recruiting drive unite has ever done.
What we are saying at the RMT is if SVQ is up and running in the city then the rules and regulations should be adhered to, as a lot of tax payers money went into it.

Shouldn't all existing taxi/PH drivers be dancing in the street at the reduction in taxi/PH drivers?

I know I am.

_________________
IDFIMH

Interesting that taxi numbers in Eire are only down 4.5% over the last year.

But down nearly a third over the last decade.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40729239.html

_________________
IDFIMH

It's the old Problem though.....To much demand just 5% of the time and not enough demand the other 95% of the time.

How do they suggest the trade gets around that little enigma?

Come on Sussex, you know the answer to that.

A large number of years ago Eire stopped limiting numbers anywhere. Taxi numbers went up everywhere.

It has taken years for the Trade to get towards Market Forces numbers - and it's still progressing.

_________________
Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

But the article is mainly about *driver* numbers, and I suspect they didn't increase nearly as much as vehicle numbers when the cap was lifted, so to an extent at least it's a more complex scenario than you suggest.

(Naughty Sussex, referring to taxi numbers when it was actually about drivers )

But there may have been an initial overshoot caused by deregulating numbers, and a subsesquent correction based more on market forces, as you suggest.

But as the article mentions I suspect other factors have been more important, such as increased quality control on drivers and vehicles, particularly as regards WAVs for new plates, as I recall it. And the age profile suggests that younger people simply aren't joining the trade, so as older drivers retire they aren't being replaced. Of course, that will also be linked to the stiffer entry barriers for new drivers.

In the UK over the last decade or two inward EU immigration and migration from further afield has kept driver numbers here higher than they would have been otherwise, I suspect. Which I'm in turn guessing hasn't been so much of a factor in Dublin and Ireland more generally. The article says two thirds of drivers there are 50+, and suspect that in my gaff the reverse is true, and younger migrants have been instrumental in that regard.

Now, of course, the pandemic seems to have reduced driver numbers everywhere.

I was talking rot, of course, because the Scottish Sun's article did mention the Perth & Kinross and Angus figures.

So the Sun's piece simply looks very like an abridged version of the Courier's article.

But as far as I can make out, the Sun's article appeared the day before the Courier's. But it's very odd that the Sun would base an article of its own on just the four council areas covered by the Courier.

And, although such articles are often shared across titles and platforms, not sure if there's any obvious connection between the Scottish Sun and the Courier.

But if I had to guess, would say that the Courier first published the piece in its paper version, but only put it online after a day or two, which I think is common practice for them.

But the Sun rehashed it, but put it online immediately, so if you just read these things online then it looks like the Sun got there first.

Anyway...