Number of taxis may be capped

[TradCat]

The Fix Is In

The Joint Committee on Transport has agreed to review taxi licensing regulations.

During its review, the Committee said it will examine the possibility of changing the legislation to give the Taxi Regulator the discretion to put a cap on the number of taxi licences being issued where there is already a substantial numbers of taxis operating.

Representatives from taxi associations in Dublin, Galway and Waterford will address the committee on problems they have in relation to the number of taxis operating, traffic congestion, and the lack of parking spaces at taxi ranks.

[patslatt]

The Fix Is In

The Joint Committee on Transport has agreed to review taxi licensing regulations.

During its review, the Committee said it will examine the possibility of changing the legislation to give the Taxi Regulator the discretion to put a cap on the number of taxi licences being issued where there is already a substantial numbers of taxis operating.

Representatives from taxi associations in Dublin, Galway and Waterford will address the committee on problems they have in relation to the number of taxis operating, traffic congestion, and the lack of parking spaces at taxi ranks.

The taxi drivers argue that New York has fewer taxis than Dublin and so the numbers of licences should be limited as in New York. The New York limits which have been in place for generations may have been introduced as a revenue raising measure and in order to prevent too many taxis becoming an environmental nuisance on Manhattan Island's relatively small space of 23 square miles,within which most of New York City's taxi revenues are generated.

If the latter reason applied, it is not relevant to Dublin. Manhattan's massive population density in a compact space,with a nightime population of about 1.6 millions, means that taxi journeys are short compared to Dublin's,requiring far fewer taxis per 1,000 population.

[YesSireeeBob]

A lot of cabs in NY are owned by companies so the car might be on the road more that one shift.

It's a bit late now putting limits on the number of cabs.
I'd say a natural limit will be reached without any intervention, as drivers realize they can't make a living.
Even Roy from http://irishtaxi.org/ is thinking of packing it in.

Cab drivers will be one of the first groups to be hit in the downturn.
Less people taking them in general, company cutbacks, fewer people going out mid-week and of course less tips.