LIMIT ON NUMBER OF TAXIS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21907, 7 October 1936, Page 10

LIMIT ON NUMBER OF TAXIS

Suggestions for Better Conditions

EVIDENCE TO COMMITTEE AT DUNEDIN

(PRESS TELEGRAM.) DUNEDIN, October 6. An indication that a great volume of evidence is likely to be presented was given when the Committee of Enquiry set up bv the Government to enquire into the conduct of the taxi and town carrying services began its Duneditt sittings to*day. The first witness was H. J- Hasue, manager of Gold Band Tmu®, denied the published report that n taxi company had ever closed doors in Dunedin because of financial difficulties. He gave the names of three companies Upon Absorbed gone bankrupt, fi nd had been so by his company. In reply tc. thegw man, Mr Hastie said that hj 8 arivei* were employed on commission under a purely oral ailment. servicea {£ fei ThK “i-STS" there were 120 taxis in Dunedin. In 1926 there were only three r l° m paying MM .STS* mil 70 hours* work in alternate weete. Fares then were 33 1-3 per cent, higher th the taxi business in Dunedin, At stage four drivers began to operate on fares that were reduced up to 40 per cent., and for the first. . «,«g nnvinff Of drivers on commission was Produced The effect was that all other drivers had tofollow suit. For a considerable period this tne average wages of his company s ers wfre £4 g 6s lOd a week, and except at Christmas and Easter the hour were not excessive. If specified wag.-3 and limited hours were introhuced jt would be necessary to employ twice the present number of drivers and companies could not exist unde existing charges.

Fixation of Fares The present position, Mr added, was that there were 14 companies in Dunedin, and his which was a pioneer, was sdifled in all directions. He found that counry trips were being quoted at 4d a mile or less. An endeavour was-made td induce the City Council to .fix fares, but operators were told that tney must reach a unanimous decision. Mr Hastie said that the present position was that the City Council was a competitor with the taxis, and was running buses from dances and to various points in the city late on Saturday night. The council was a competitor apd yet it was the body which made the rules of the game. He estimated that there would be 140 taxi-drivers in Dunedin and the earnings of his company's employees were 25 per cent, of their total takings. If the present drivers in Dunedin were each to be necessary for the people of the city to spend £145.600 a year on taxis. Mr Hastie expressed himself as being strongly in favour of the limitation Of the number of taxis on a population His company favoured the regulation of drivers’ hours of work (including owner-drivers), a compulsory standard of wagps, the regulation or standardisation of fares and standard requirements as to the fitness of drivers and vehicles. He considered that in Dunedin 70 taxis could cope with all the work. Twelve cars could carry 400 passengers froin the suburbs to the railway station in an hour. Hours and Wages John Weitzel. a Blue Star driver, who formerly drove for the Gold Band Company, said he had worked on occasions right through a week-end with time off only for meals. His average weekly hours with the Gold Band Company would be about 100. The highest wage he had ever made in one week was £l3. The witness was unable to say how many hours a driver could work before the point of fatigue was reached. Mr Hastie: Was it our policy to compel you to work long hours? Mr Weitzel: We were not compelled, but we were expected to. In reply to a further question, he recalled an occasion when Mr Hastie refused hire because the witness was “dead beat.” He was in a worse physical condition than before he started driving. His wages would very rarely be less than £3. Evidence for White Star Taxis, Gold Star Taxis, Ltd., and. City Taxis, Ltd., was given by J. Moffltt, who said that the three companies were more or less under the one control. It was recognised, he said, that the present methods of operating taxis were responsible for shocking working conditions in many quarters, and the companies which he represented were anxious to help to have the conditions improved. This could only be brought about by regulation and control ny a public authority.

Needs far Stabilisation

Mr Moffltt quoted figures on which he estimated operating costs at 7jd a mile, and went bn to express the opinion that the following factors were essential for the stabilisation of the business:, The compulsory and universal use of taxi meters, the standardisation and fixation of fares, with an increase on the existing rates, the limitation of cabs within the city to one for each 1000 of the population, the regulation of working hours to 5S a week, the fixation of wages at £4 5s a week, and provision for proper and adequate inspection of operators as regards adhering to regulations. A. G. Hunt, a partner in Roslyn Taxis, said his company worked on a wage basis. He submitted a copy of a letter which he had sent to the Minister for Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) alleging that drivers were working more than 100 hours a weak, and that they were lucky if they earned £5 a week. He suggested the use of meters to avoid the cutting of fares, proposing that the Government might assist companies in meeting the cost.' He submitted proposals about wages and conditions, and went on to say that his company worked out all costs at 7id a mile and earnings at SJd. He suggested that there should be some form of national control over taxi services, either Governmental or by a board. The hearing was adjourned.