"UP AGAINST IT"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 39, 16 February 1943, Page 4

"UP AGAINST IT"

AUCKLAND TAXI-MEN

MORE PETROL REQUIRED

"From observations I have made in Auckland I would say that the taxi-drivers are up against it," said Mr. V. M. Mitchell, chairman of the Wellington Taxi Control Committee, who is on a visit to Auckland. "What is urgently needed to cope with the position, both here and in Wellington, is more gas," he said. "The other big centres are not affected to nearly the same extent because there are net the same number of visiting servicemen to be catered for," added Mr. Mitchell. "As far as taxi-cabs are concerned, the supply falls far short of the demand. If there are only sufficient taxi-cabs licensed in Auckland and Wellington to meet the ordinary demands of the civilian population, how is it possible also to carry scores of servicemen. Mr. Mitchell said that as long as the population was increasing—even if the influx of visitors were only temporary —it was necessary to have a greater number of taxi-cabs. The only solution of the problem that was causing such concern both m Auckland and Wellington was either to increase the number of taxi-cabs or to allocate a greater amount of petrol to those now operating. Taking into account the rubber situation he was of opinion that the position would be met by allocating more petrol to operators so that all taxicabs would be able to operate daily for the whole month, instead oi owners having to "lay up" their cabs the moment they had used their petrol ration. Referring to Wellington, Mr. Mitchell said that the U.S. marines had co-operated wholeheartedly with the taxi control committee in placing sly grog shops out of bounds. A difficult situation had thus been cleared up. The genuine taxi-driver would not lend ■ himself to that class of traffic. Taxi Control Committee Before the setting up of the taxi control committee last August there had been numerous complaints concerning the services, Mr. Mitchell said. Now these were not nearly so numerous and a great deal more essential work was being done than formerly, .when something in the nature of "Rafferty rules" was the order. Wellington had only 184 licensed taxicabs, bui* when Lower Hutt, Petone, Upper Hutt and Trentham licenses were included the total was 210 cabs. A postal ballot of the operators had been taken on the question of whether the cabs should operate under one telephone system, but the majority of the men voted against the proposal. Three companies operated in Wellington and there was an inter-com-munication telephone system that worked well. In the suburbs the taxi ranks were used by the three companies, the first man on the. stand getting the first fare no matter what company the cab belonged to. The control committee had fixed a 20mile limit for taxis when it first came into office, but from yesterday this had been reduced to 10 miles. This meant that the cabs could transport a great many more passengers for the same amount of petrol.