By Kate Heaney
THE number of taxis in Donegal declined between 2019 and last year however, there has been a fractional increase in taxi numbers in the county since the start of the year.
The figures were revealed following a parliamentary question tabled by Independent TD Carol Nolan.
Her assertion is that the dramatic drop in available taxis in many counties raises concerns for the country’s vital hospitality industry and everyday passengers, particularly as tourist numbers are expected to surge in the coming months.
The answer revealed that both urban and rural areas in the border region have been heavily impacted by taxi shortages in recent years, with licences dropping by almost 19 per cent in the same period, which has led to criticism of current Small Public Service Vehicles (SPSV) policy by various interests, particularly in hospitality and tourism.
In Donegal in 2019 there were 564 licensed taxis. That number dropped to 470 in 2022 and down to 461 last year.
This showed a decrease of 18.2 per cent. However, at the end of March this year, that number for the county had risen to 477 according to the National Transport Authority (NTA).
Speaking to the Donegal News this week Letterkenny Cabs owner Shaun Gallagher outlined a number of different issues facing taxi companies at present.
“I know at night and particularly at weekends getting a taxi can be problematic and people going out always want to know how they are going to get home,” he said.
“That has changed behaviour in recent times with less people looking for taxis at two or three in the morning and more heading home now, around midnight, after a night out.
“The high demand comes at the one time.
“The reality is we need more taxis at night than we do during the day. If we could get a different licensing system which covered say Thursday to Sunday we might get more drivers.
“Any shortage of taxis during the day is caused by traffic problems and it takes twice as long to do a run in the morning or evenings. Adding more taxis at that time will not solve that problem.
“We might have six or seven licensed drivers trying to do six nights a week. If we could add two or three drivers that would make a difference.
We need an extra 20 per cent of night drivers willing to do nights. I don’t be out at night,” Shaun said.
There are two separate driver PSV licenses one the Industry Knowledge Test, the other The Area Knowledge Test, information readily available on today’s smart phones which are not allowed for the test.
“I know one person who failed the test six times yet he wants to be a taxi driver as well as his week-time job.
“The test is €80 and the license is €250. Also I know there are people with a PSV license who are not working in the industry.”
Another issue is that all taxis must be wheelchair accessible and less than six years old. It is estimated that new taxi will cost €59,000.
Letterkenny Cabs has a customer app for booking which works in the same way as the Uber app.
Shaun explained that in the past year they had 16,766 bookings requested on the app but were only able to fulfil 11,601 meaning they had to turn away 31 per cent of potential business.
The Taxis for Ireland Coalition is calling for the removal of the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) requirement for newly registered SPSVs and a re-assessment of the SPSV Driver Entry Test’s geography-based knowledge requirements.
“The removal of the WAV requirement but the continuation of the WAV grant would mean a larger pool of taxis to choose from, meaning that people that do not need a WAV will not be booking one unnecessarily.
“These measures would alleviate the current burdens facing prospective new drivers and would increase overall supply into the market,” a spokesperson for the coalition stated.
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