TAXI SERVICE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 264, 6 October 1936, Page 10

TAXI SERVICE

OPERATIONS IN DUNEDIN. GENERAL SATISFACTION. Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, Oct. 0. There is great interest among taxiowners and drivers in the sittings of the committee of inquiry appointed by the Government to investigate the conduct of the taxi find carrying businesses in the Dominion. The committee, which consists of Messrs P. M. Butler (Wellington), James Walker (Masterton) and H. B. Smith (Transport Department, Wellington), will commence its Dunedin sittings to-mor-row.

While there will be no lack of witnesses who will be prepared to place before the committee their views on the existing forms of transport, inquiries which were made by a reporter this afternoon indicate that most of the taxi firms and employees are satisfied with the conditions as they exist in Dunedin. It is apparently considered that the industry has no outstanding problems which require investigation, and it was openly stated that the taxi companies have reaped highly satisfactory profits, while the earnings of the drivers, particularly among the single men, have in most cases been high. If any proposal is made to the committee that taxi fares should be raised in Dunedin, it will he strongly opposed by a number of companies, tho proprietors of which consider that the great extension of their business, that has occurred in recent years is attributable solely to the reduced fares now ruling. The manager of one firm even went so far as to say that if fares were altered in any- way there should be a further reduction. Most taxi-drivers in Dunedin at present are paid on a commission basis, receiving from the majority of firms one-third of their takings. This arrangement allows the drivers to make wages ranging from £2OO to £3OO a year. Several companies have declared their willingness to pay the 1931 award wages of £4 12s 6d a week, hut a condition of this offer is that it holds good only if fares are not raised, the contention of those who have made it being that the result of the increased fares would he a reduction of the amount of business offering. One point on which taxi-owners as a whole appear to be agreed is that there should ho a limitation of the number of taxis allowed to operate iu the city. They contend that the financial soundness of tho Dunedin companies would be endangered by any substantial increase in the number of operators. No taxi company in .Dunedin has yet closed its doors owing to financial difficulty, and naturally those firms which declare their satisfaction with their present earnings , are anxious to retain their positions. One taxi to every 1000 inhabitants is considered to be a reasonable proportion.