LETTERKENNY’S taxi drivers say they are doing all they can to protect themselves and the public from contracting the coronavirus.
The taxi industry has been decimated as a result of tough restrictions on the movement of people. In Letterkenny firms have reported a 75 per-cent plunge in custom since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. Calls from people travelling to work, school runs and shoppers needing transport have all dried up.
Such has been the downturn that a third of local cabbies have stopped work altogether. Some are continuing to ferry those who absolutely need to get around but in many cases the service is being provided from behind a screen or a mask.
Prior to the lockdown Letterkenny Cabs had 33 drivers on the road. That number has dropped to ten as agents opt to stay home rather than risk contracting the virus which has claimed over 400 lives in Ireland.
Shaun Gallagher of Letterkenny Cabs said that taxi drivers realise they have a responsibility to protect those who get into their cars. But he admitted that operating in such an enclosed environment does create challenges.
“Some passengers choose to sit in the back and you’ll get others who like to sit in the front. Some of the drivers have screens installed and some are wearing masks but we are cleaning our cars and wiping down surfaces every couple of customers.
“About 80 per-cent of the journeys you make are with one person and the average you have them in your car for is six minutes. Of the last 30 journeys I have made, 80 per-cent of them were with one person. But when you get three people in the car, you do feel uneasy, there’s not doubt about it. For example I had three people from one house in my car there one day going to a local supermarket. And you have to ask, was there a real need for it,” said Mr Gallagher.
A significant percentage of the calls still being made to taxi firms are from hospital employees and those working in nursing homes. And there is an onus on cab drivers to protect those essential workers, Shaun Gallagher said.
“I got a call to a house party last Sunday and I didn’t go. The reason being that the next call could have been from someone going to a nursing home. I could have went but you might have ended up with three or people in your car and who minutes earlier had been in contact with seven or eight other individuals. It was a decision I made personally because we have a responsibility to the people getting into our cars.”
In light of recent developments, Letterkenny Cabs has closed its dispatch office at Academy Court. And the industry is under no illusions about how long it could take to return to some form of normality.
“We have a system which will be in place for a long time. For example the main office won’t be open for a long time,” Mr Gallagher said.
“We have changed the dispatch system and cut out some costs so at least we have a chance of keeping going. We will get through this, we got through the last recession which was worse. But the worry is what comes after all this, how much money will there be out there, what will people’s habits be? What comes after this, that is the next question.”
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