TAXI SERVICE

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23940, 6 May 1943, Page 6

TAXI SERVICE

LICENSING AUTHORITY CONSIDERATION CONFLICTING EVIDENCE Conflicting evidence on the question of whether there are enough taxis in Christchurch came before the Metropolitan Licensing Authority yesterday in the form of reports from city traffic inspectors who had observed the hiring of taxis at the railway station on different days. The committee’s opinion was that on the whole the number of taxis fell below requirements, at least on busy days. "Some of the delays are irksome,” commented the chairman (Mr E. H. Andrews).

It was suggested that the difficulty might be overcome by removing the distinction between public taxis, which are let on hire from public places, and private hire taxis, which are hired by appointment only. A decision was deterred pending a report on the use of private hire taxis. The reports of four inspectors varied from one that the service was adequate on the three days when the inspector visited the station (although on one occasion it was 25 minutes before all passengers had been picked up) to another that the service on one day was quite inadequate, passengers on the steamer-express train having to wait a long time for cars. A third inspector found the number sufficient on the four days he visited the station. The opinion of a fourth was that there were ample taxis at ordinary times, but not enough for holiday periods. When the suggestion of Mr G. L. Laurenson, Commissioner of Transport, that the distinction between public and private taxi-cabs should be removed came before the authority, the chief city traffic inspector (Mr J. Bruorton) reported that private hire taxis catered for uneconomical running because they could not “pick up” work at the conclusion of a hiring. They could do nothing to minimise any shortage at the railway station unless they had an appointment made in adyance. The chairman said the private hire cabs served a very useful purpose, because it was possible to get them in cases of urgency, such as illness. He thought that possibly the solution would be to give private hire taxis the right for "back-loading.”