Taxi numbers to be reviewed

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33541, 23 May 1974, Page 1

Taxi numbers to be reviewed

The adequacy of the number of taxis plying Christchurch streets will come under official scrutiny at a taxi-licence review in Christchurch on June 4.

The Transport Licensing Authority for the Christchurch district (Mr J. M. Dwyer) will hear reports and submissions on whether the city should have more than the present 283 taxi licences.

Such reviews must be held in the main centres at least every three years. The last Christchurch review was last year, but no new licences were then granted. No new licences have been issued since 1970, when 20 were approved. Since then, the population of the area has risen by about 15,000; and later drinking hours, more evening entertainment and dining out, and an increased emphasis on not drinking and driving have encouraged the use of taxis. In recent times, existing taxi licences have been changing hands at up to $6OOO. MINISTRY REPORT

The Ministry of Transport has been asked by the Authority to present a report on the Christchurch taxi situation at next month’s hearing: this is normal procedure. Submissions will be made by the Canterbury branch of the Taxi Proprietors’ Federation. Members of the public are also entitled .to make submissions. Those wishing to do so usually approach the Ministry of Transport, but it is rarely that anyone does so.

Complaints of long waits for taxis are not rare, and the reaction of taxi proprietors to the suggestion that there are not enough taxis is usually that the service cannot be expected to cope with

peak demands, and that extra licences would jeopardise the livelihoods of the existing licence-holders.

Counter arguments can be expected to centre on the delays which customers face, and that the so-called peaks appear to have become extended to the point where they include many hours of

the day not usually recognised as peak traffic periods.

If past reviews are any guide, evidence will probably be given on the number of complaints of poor service received by the Ministry of Transport, the length of queues at taxi stands, and the length of time those seeking taxis now have to wait.

The hearing will probably be over in a day, although it could extend into a second. The Transport Licensing Authority’s decisions are usually reserved, but can be given at the hearing.