STATION TAXI STAND

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 283, 13 November 1936, Page 4

STATION TAXI STAND

Railways Charge Fee of £1 a Year SHOULD BE ABOLISHED The adoption of a minimum fare of 1/6 for conveying people away from the railway station, to allow taxi drivers to make a profit in face of the license fee of £1 a year for the privilege of occupying a stand outside the station, was urged by Mr. g. Cross, taxi manager, of Napier, when giving evidence this morning to the committee of inquiry into the taxi and carrier business. The chairman, Mr. P. M. Butler, made a recommendation that the annual fee be dropped, and the Railways Department in Napier is to go into the matter. “A taxj might not get a passenger at the railway station twice a week, unless he goes to the station half-an-hour to get a good position on the stand,” said Mr. Cross. “Despite this, he has to pay the railway Department £1 a year to use the stand at the railway station. There are only two trains a day which the taxis should meet.” Mr. P. C. Fitzgerald (representing the Railways Department): Actually there are four passenger trains arriving at Napier every day. Mr. Butler; If you have any. jurisdiction in this matter, Mr. Fitzgerald, I wish you’d take it up with a view to cancelling that £1 fee. Mr. Fitzgerald: Yes, I will. Mr. Cross added that frequently there was hardly any profit jn driving a fare to the train in the mornings. Often the driver would have to wait about four minutes while the traveller got his or her hat and coat on. Mr. Butler; But don’t you charge a waiting fee? Mr. Cross: Yes, six-pence for five minutes, but frequently the fares keep us waiting just a minute of two under that time.