Taxi Driver Online

A cap on taxis and private hire cars could be lifted to improve the availability of late-night transport in Glasgow.

A public consultation is expected early next year to review the current rules which place a limit on both taxis and private hires. It could lead to the cap being scrapped, retained, or a new level set to reflect the needs of the public and businesses. Business leaders say the city is unique in imposing a private hire cap and it is affecting travel options.

Councillors on the licensing committee will be asked to approve carrying out the consultation in the New Year. It will allow drivers, owners, businesses and the public to give their views on the number of taxis and private hire cars in the city.

Studies have looked into the night-time economy in Glasgow city centre and the experiences of customers. The reports, by Edinburgh-based research specialists, the Progressive Partnership, and Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre, highlight the post-Covid challenges faced by the late-night city centre economy, including decline in footfall, growth in socialising at home, impacts of people having less disposable income and a perception of high prices. A lack of late-night transport options, including availability of taxi and private hire cars as deterrents to coming into town, was also highlighted.

Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: "The city centre is the heartbeat of Glasgow’s economy, but it is still facing significant challenges in recovering from the pandemic, with footfall yet to return to pre-COVID levels. A vibrant night-time economy is crucial to this recovery and ensuring that people can travel to and from the city centre easily and safely is key to its success. Our research shows that the availability of taxis and private hire cars is a significant factor, particularly at peak times. Glasgow is the only city in the UK to operate a cap on private hire cars and this is limiting the options for late-night visitors to get home. This is not just an inconvenience but is actively deterring people from coming into town, which is something we cannot afford if we want to see growth and vitality return to our city centre.”

Most recent figures for January 2023 show there were 1416 licensed taxis and 3176 private hire cars. In 2019 there were 1420 taxis and 3759 private hire cars.

Alex Wilson, chair of the Licensing Committee, said: “The primary purpose of licensing is to serve the needs, and protect the well-being, of the public. The availability of safe and licensed cabs at night is key part of that. Both the city centre and the taxi and private hire trade have undergone significant change over recent years and it’s my view that it’s time for a conversation on whether the overprovision caps for taxis and private hire cars are still required. We need to consider if they still serve the needs of the public, the trade, our city centre economy and Glasgow’s transport network. My hope is the responses to the consultation will tell us that.”

Angus Millar, Convener for City Centre Recovery and co-chair of the City Centre Taskforce, said: “The Council and our partners commissioned these reports to build an evidence base of how we can support more people to access the city centre economy, and we know that building people’s confidence in the availability of safe and secure late night transport is a factor which needs addressed. We have a responsibility to respond to the findings of both reports and help ensure a strong future for the city centre and our late-night economy, and this consultation will help set the direction of provision for Glasgow. I’d urge as many people and businesses as possible to make their voices heard and take part in this conversation in the new year.”

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/248 ... d-glasgow/

Where to start with all this?

Could easily write a couple of thousand words in response

For a start, it would include comparing the convener's statements here with what he's said in the past. Including the quite recent past...


And the numbers are completely out of date as well...didn't the LEZ implementation earlier this year result in around 1,000 HCs remaining, rather than the historical numbers of just over 1,400 stated here, which have been more or less static for maybe 30 years?

And I wasn't sure if there was still an HC cap in Glasgow, but if LEZ got rid of hundreds of HCs, it's surely a fair bet that lifting the cap wouldn't make a whole lot of difference. And the main problem was probabaly a lack of HC drivers anyway, at least if the worry is late-night availability.

Ditto the PHC cap - dumping it isn't going to attract many new drivers into the sector - they're probably renting a car as it is

I mean, what was he saying just a few months ago?

And the test for HCs is significant unmet demand, not overprovision, which is for the PHCs

Yes, no mention of the LEZ – I’d be surprised if there’s still 1416 active HCs right now.

I’d much rather see another demand review commissioned first. The 2023 report indeed concluded that the likely cause of unmet demand is driver (not vehicle) shortage. The night tariff for HCs was brought forward to 9pm three months ago – not aware of any impact assessment being done since.

Unless it’s properly structured, a public consultation will likely get responses based on peak times/events. HCs and PHCs are always going to be scarce when other public transport closes or when thousands leave venues like Ovo Hydro and 02 Academy. But the general public has no real interest in total HC/PHC numbers - it's availability that matters and that's what they should be asked about.

Also no mention of the Glasgow subway’s antique timetable – closes at 11.30pm Mon-Sat and 6pm on Sundays (well a whole 8.30pm until this week).

Even the likes of me on the South Coast know that many Glasgow hackneys have been decommissioned, mainly down to the new emissions rules. So I'm not sure much would change if they removed the upper limit.

As for PH, I wonder how many of those restricted PHs are owned by large firms, so maybe removing that limit will allow more individuals to license their own vehicles.

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IDFIMH

Another source also includes a quote from the Scottish Private Hire Association

Presumably they don't represent the PHDs who applied for plates in Glasgow earlier this year, but were told to go away


To be fair, in the broad sense of the supply/demand equation he's probably bang on, for the reasons stated earlier - there's not going to be a huge rush for HC plates if the cap is lifted (and probably from existing HC jockeys or PHDs anyway), and PH plates probably similar - just rental drivers deciding to run their own car (heaven forfend...)

Don't know if it's just me, but I worked until closing time for more than 20 years, including the vast majority of Fridays and Saturdays during that time. Until lockdown, that is. Then, of course, we were surplus to requirements, and suddenly people getting stupidly drunk became a huge problem, and it was all shut down. Three times in Scotland over around two years in total

And they closed our main night rank here for a couple of years because of Covid, and then when they decided things should go back to normal, started moaning because there weren't enough taxis in the early hours

So I'd guess a lot of night drivers in Glasgow thought similarly to me, and haven't gotten back to it all, and instead are working days, or have exited the trade entirely, spurred on by the LEZ thing, obviously.

And, of course, Glasgow City Council decided to extend pub and club opening hours earlier this year, so that probably means a later finish for drivers for the same money.

I'd guess those are among the reasons there's a late night shortage of cars, and nothing much will change, even if they pull the plug on *vehicle* caps

Good to see early pushback from the PH side. HCs are probably on the same page but will be accused of protectionism. He's certainly right about Glasgow Central - almost constantly choked with HCs and PHCs. I tend not to work it for that reason.

Many drivers' preference for dayshift (rather than late or night) after lock-down came up on the Talking Taxis podcast a while back. There might be different reasons among drivers, but it is a thing. And tinkering with plate numbers won't suddenly change that.

I'd better not get started with my views about licence quotas

But while I have some sympathy for those who've bought a plate - and particularly where its value has diminished - I think the whole thing should be consigned to history, and certainly not replicated in the PH sector

But there's always rent-seeking and wannabee profiteers going around, and the response below smacks of that

Why on earth the Scottish Parliament and Glasgow City Council ever thought to extend it all to the PH sector is beyond me (other than, again, pandering to rent-seeking plateholders, cronyism, vested interests blah, blah).

But I'm sure everything's above board and legally watertight - oh, wait, guess who took the enabling legislation through the Scottish Parliament? Integrity-lite MSP Michael Matheson when he was justice secretary

Anyway, not even sure if this is worth posting - it's largely a rehash of the response by the PH Association quoted earlier, although this is the slightly extended version...


Private hire drivers hit out at claims over lack of cars

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/248 ... lack-cars/

Private hire drivers have hit out at suggestions they are to blame for a struggling nighttime hospitality trade in the city centre.

A lack of transport has been highlighted among reasons for people not coming into the centre in case they can’t get home.

This week the Glasgow Times reported councillors will be asked to approve conducting a consultation that could alter or even scrap the cap on private hire cars and taxis in the city.

Alex Wilson, chair of the Licensing Committee, said it had to be looked at whether the overprovision cap was still needed.

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said availability was “actively deterring” people from coming into town.

The Scottish Private Hire Association, however, has suggested they have the problem the wrong way round.

They said the problem is not people waiting too long for taxis and cars,but drivers waiting too long for a hire.

Neil Scoffield, Glasgow Convenor of Scottish Private Hire Association, said: “We’re very concerned about this."

He said the last time it was looked at the number of private hire cars was reduced.

The overprovision cap is set at 3450 private hire cars.

Mr Scoffield, said: “The problem is not taxis, the problem is the hospitality trade and people don’t have enough money to spend."

He said the cap on cars should remain unchanged or even be lowered again.

Mr Scoffield, added: “There is not enough work for the current number of drivers. We have drivers sitting about for hours during a shift. We have drivers hardly making a living.”

The evidence from drivers does not, according to the association, support claims there are not enough cars on the road.

He said: “The average wait for a car is four and a half minutes.

“Suggesting the problem is lack of taxis is a wild accusation from the hospitality sector.

“Taxis and private hire cars are not the problem, there are cars in abundance.

“At Central Station, for example, you will see a long queue of taxi drivers waiting for hires and private hires picking up bookings.”

A problem, he said, is there is not enough custom to support a full working week for drivers.

Mr Scoffield said: “There is a very short window where drivers can make money.

“They can be sitting for half an hour to 45 minutes between jobs.”

Rather than “blaming” the taxi trade he suggests more help for the hospitality sector.

Mr Scoffield said: “There is a bigger issue. Glasgow needs to do more to promote its nightlife in the city.

“We have 3450 cars. There are plenty of cars on the road. We have one of the highest ratios of cars per population in the UK.”

Yes, limiting plates creates opportunity for abuse. But I worked an area with unlimited plates back in the 80s and that was ugly too, just in a different way. If there's no attempt to regulate supply and demand, it can become a race to the bottom.

I'm an owner-driver and personally I'd like there to be more. But I get that not everyone's willing to sink thousands into a HC/PH - they'd sooner rent and be able to walk at any time.

Like most things, the truth's probably somewhere in the middle.