Dublin City Council will vote tonight on recommendations to issue 200 new taxi licences in the city and to increase fares. The proposals by a joint taxi and hackney council committee are based on an interim consultants' report on the Dublin market. The findings were based on surveys taken before Christmas.
The report, which recommended 200 new licences for taxis with wheelchair access, also found that "some taxi drivers and cosies (those who hire taxis from licence owners) have to work excessive hours to make a living".
Any move to increase the number of taxis will be opposed by the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation and National Taxi Drivers' Union. They have argued that no additional licences are needed. Some taxi licence owners have paid up to £80,000 for their plate and the new licences will sell at £15,000.
The final report, which may consider a complete deregulation of the taxi and hackney market, will be submitted in March.
The joint committee of the Dublin local authorities is recommending the following fares increases:
12.5 per cent in the charge per mile.
50 per cent in the time charge to 10p per 40 seconds when speed drops below 7.5 m.p.h. This is to encourage drivers to work at peak times when traffic is congested and encourage customers to travel at off-peak times.
a new minimum charge of £1.90.
a doubling of the after-midnight charge from 40p to 80p.
50 per cent increase in the waiting charge to £9 per hour.
and a "soiling charge" of £20 for people who soil taxis "due to travel sickness or alcohol abuse".
Taxi drivers have also protested at the increase in the licence renewal fee from £100 every two years to £450 this year. The report wants the fee reduced to the original level, while the committee is recommending to the 52 councillors that it remain at £450.
The movement of taxis and passengers on ranks was surveyed for 246 hours, both day and night. For 12 hours passengers had to wait an average of more than 30 minutes for a taxi. For four hours the wait was more than 50 minutes. Taxis spent under 20 hours, or 8 per cent of the time, waiting over 15 minutes for a fare.
In a survey of 418 people in October, more than 50 per cent had used a taxi or hackney in the last six months. Twenty-two per cent said they would accept higher fares if it meant a reduction in waiting times. And almost a third of telephone calls to taxi and hackney firms resulted in a wait of more than 30 minutes.
Forty-three per cent of households said they used the service at least once a week. Almost three quarters of the trips were social or recreational, with 36 per cent made in the evening and 44 per cent after midnight.
The report found 1,974 taxis were licensed for operation in the Dublin taxi area, with 60 formal taxi ranks. There are more than 3,100 hackneys. A hundred new licences were issued in 1991 and 50 wheelchair-accessible licences were issued in 1992. A further 200 wheelchair-accessible licences, at a cost of £15,000 each, are being issued.
