TAXI DRIVERS intend to disrupt Dublin traffic for up to six hours today in pursuit of their demand that no further licences should be issued. This action – the seventh in as many weeks – represents a direct threat to the authority of Government and harks back to the bad old days of inadequate services and dissatisfied customers. Taxi drivers may deserve sympathy because of their falling incomes and longer working hours. But they risk alienating the wider public.
Market liberalisation, nine years ago, was a positive move. At that time, taxi-licence ownership guaranteed a comfortable income. And because numbers were controlled by legislation, they were traded as valuable commodities. The result was a dreadful service, high costs and unhappy consumers. Following a change in policy, limited compensation was paid to established licence holders to reimburse them for their financial loss.
A recent review of the business, conducted on behalf of the Taxi Regulator, Kathleen Doyle, confirmed that incomes have fallen and that full-time drivers were working longer hours. But it did not accept the industry was in a state of collapse and suggested that incomes may have been deliberately understated. As might be expected, protesting drivers have been infuriated by the findings.
There is no denying the pressures that exist within the industry. Competition between full and part-time drivers and new entrants is intense, particularly at weekends. Some people have left the business.The number of new entrants is in sharp decline. But the public is generally satisfied that the €1.5 billion industry is providing a good quality service and value for money.
Taxis are used primarily for social or recreational purposes. Nearly three-quarters of all business is conducted on Friday and Saturday nights. That pattern may change as measures are taken by Government to minimise inner-city traffic congestion during the working week. Already, commuters are being encouraged to leave their cars at home. And the example of London, where charges are imposed on private motorists who drive into the centre, may be adopted here. Limiting access in that way would increase the amount of work available and favour full-time drivers.
Taxi numbers have doubled since the industry was liberalised nine years ago. Since then, the Taxi Regulator has controlled fares and enhanced standards. These are positive developments. There can be no return to a system of protectionism.