THE CHAIRMAN of the town’s Hackney Carriage Association has welcomed recommendations to attract new drivers to the trade to resolve problems around waiting times during peak hours.
A review of the town’s Hackney cabs has been carried out by the council to look at whether there is unmet demand in the town, which is where a person turns up to a rank and cannot immediately hire a taxi.
It found there is significant unmet demand and this is down to there not being enough taxis working at peak ‘unsociable’ hours, namely Friday night into Saturday morning and Saturday night into Sunday morning.
A council meeting was held on Wednesday to discuss the issues and a raft of recommendations were made to alleviate the problem.
One of the suggestions was that consideration be given to shared driving where one vehicle is used by several drivers.
It is a move that has the backing of Mark Cocks, who is chairman of the Hackney Carriage Association.
Mr Cocks said while the report is right that some drivers do not want to work unsociable hours, he said there is a bigger issue getting new drivers in to the Hackney Carriage trade.
He said: “It boils down to a lack of drivers within the Hackney Carriage trade.
“It’s the most complex report for a few years but at the end of the day you’re looking at unmet demand for a two hour period on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.
“I would imagine that would be the same in any town and any city in the world.
“As I explained to the council, the average age of a driver is about 55.
“I do not know how we can convince anyone (to work unsociable hours) unless we get some young blood in to the trade.”
Mr Cocks said things had changed greatly since he started in the job 22 years ago when people went out almost every every night in Barnsley.
“Now it’s just one or two nights,” he said. “The economy isn’t there anymore like it used to be. The rest of the week it’s a day time economy.”
Mr Cocks said there are plenty of part time jobs going if anyone is interested in picking up the slack during peak hours.
“They can come down to the rank and ask if anyone is interested in a driver and I’m sure they will help with the application pack and a few drivers may help with the cost of getting a badge,” he said.
Other recommendations have also been draw up to resolve the issue including the continued use of taxi marshals to ensure order at ranks and enforcement action to tackle so-called ‘Facebook taxis’ where people offer lifts for cash on social media.
The council meeting was told the taxi trade and council will work together and situation will be monitored. It will be reviewed again in 12 months’ time.
