REVELLERS face long waits for taxis at weekends because some drivers don’t want to work unsociable hours, a council review of Hackney cabs has revealed.
A survey of town centre taxi ranks has been carried out by Barnsley Council with observations and counts on the main ranks, including at busy night time and early morning periods.
It found that for Hackney cabs - which are those that can ply for hire rather than being pre-booked - there is significant unmet demand, meaning people are turning up to a rank and aren’t able to get a taxi straight away.
The survey said the two busiest ranks are Midland Street and Eldon Street and the most concentrated period for people having to wait was from 11pm on a Saturday night.
The longest wait recorded was 34 minutes after 2am on a Sunday, with the average wait being about 13 minutes.
A report given to councillors at the general licensing regulatory board meeting last week said the problem isn’t down to a lack of vehicles on the road but because not enough taxis are working at ‘peak unsociable hours’.
They were told the problem is particularly acute in the early hours of the morning at weekends, from Friday night into Saturday morning and Saturday night into Sunday morning.
It is an issue recognised by the taxi trade, however the meeting was told many drivers do not want to work these hours and the main reasons given is driver safety and family commitments.
The council has kept a cap on the number of Hackney cabs since the authority was formed. There are currently 67 in the borough.
Council officer Caroline Petty said in order to justify keeping the cap on numbers, it has to carry out demand surveys.
She said the usual response to unmet demand would be to increase the numbers of vehicles but told councillors that, while there are times when demand is high in Barnsley, there are enough vehicles.
“The problem appears not to be the lack of vehicles but the lack of vehicles working at peak unsociable hours,” the meeting was told.
“Even if we were to increase the number of vehicles, there would be no guarantee of any extra vehicles working at peak times.
“There is no legal way of ensuring that vehicles work at the times of highest demand.
“The solution to the issue of unmet demand lies with the drivers.
“There is an accepted need that more drivers must be encouraged either to work longer hours, or to exchange less busy hours for the peak times when their services are needed.”
The survey found that just 58 per cent of Hackney cabs were on the road at any one time and there is a serious issue in getting drivers to work at peak times.
Councillors were told drivers avoided times where there might be drunken, violent or abusive customers.
Cabbie Rob Taylor, who was at the licensing meeting, agreed with the report. He told the Chronicle an ageing driver population is also a big issue.
Mr Taylor, 54, said: “Drivers do not want to work because of the fear of violence and threats. There is verbal abuse on a constant basis. Would you want to work in that environment?
“The majority of the fare paying passengers are spot on. It’s a very small minority.”
The meeting was told overall customer satisfaction is very high despite wait times at busy periods.
A fall in driver numbers was highlighted and it was acknowledged there is also an issue with a shortage of private hire vehicles at peak times which is increasing the pressure on Hackney vehicles.
Coun Steve Green said work needed to be done to recruit fresh blood to the trade.
He said: “Some of these drivers are in their 50s and 60s and when you get to that time of life don’t want to be out at 4am and putting up with issues they have to put up with.
“We need to recruit more young drivers who are prepared to turn out at that time.”
