Taxi Driver Online

They're back


‘We invited Uber to fix Aberdeen taxi crisis — now we need to change the rules to do it’

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... sultation/

Aberdeen Inspired's Adrian Watson looks at how other Scottish cities govern cab drivers and thinks: "Why must we be different?"

If the dearth of taxis at key times in Aberdeen city centre isn’t top of the list, it’s definitely always in the top three,” Adrian Watson tells me.

The chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired is running through the problems most often listed by his city centre levy payers.

While business rates, VAT and tax might sometimes take top spot, Mr Watson says customer confidence in getting home safely at the end of the night is never far behind.

Aberdeen Inspired was key in bringing Uber here, inviting the Silicon Valley ride-hailing app to look at the city “partly out of frustration”.

But, Mr Watson admits, the San Franciscans’ arrival has not done enough to solve the night-time confidence problem.

He’s also very keen to stress that Uber “is but one organisation”, hinting at openness to support other ride-hailing services to enter the Aberdeen market if that would address the issues.

What can Aberdeen do to boost numbers?

Aberdeen City Council is currently polling the public on proposed changes to the rules around taxiing, including the possibility of scrapping the controversial street knowledge test for private hire drivers.

Citing modern technology and ample access to satellite navigation, Uber has been lobbying for those pre-booked drivers, who know the start and end point of their fares, to be freed from the burden of passing the challenging exam.

Business chiefs point to Edinburgh and Glasgow, where there is no street knowledge test and ride-hailing services are better established, as proof that the assessment is no longer needed.

Mr Watson told The Press and Journal it’s important everyone shares their view on “such an issue of interest and importance” for Aberdeen’s city centre.

You can have your say on the council website here.

Calls for Aberdeen to follow example set by Edinburgh and Glasgow

Almost enviously of Scotland’s two largest cities, Mr Watson asks: “What makes Aberdeen the exception to rule? What makes us any different?

“Aberdeen Inspired and our board’s overriding view is that the knowledge test is not necessarily required for private hire.

“That is looking at the evidence from most other cities and large towns up and down the country, across the world, and in just about all other Scottish council areas.”

He adds: “Our businesses are telling us that customer behaviour is changing, as a result of the shortage.

“There are a lot of taxi drivers doing a fine job.

“But at times in Aberdeen there is a dearth of taxis and we find that other local authority areas have no need for a street knowledge test.”

Call for Aberdeen taxi rule change: ‘People need confidence in getting home’

It’s now been 10 years since Mr Watson served as Aberdeen’s most senior police officer.

But night-time safety is still high on his agenda for the city centre.

The city’s local taxi firms have warned that private hire drivers, like those working with Uber, cannot pick up from taxi ranks, which are the source of much of the late-night queue concern.

They claim passengers having to stray away from ranks to dimly lit side streets could bring its own safety concerns.

In response, Mr Watson argues the app-based services offer reassurance through driver details and tracking.

“We advocated for taxi marshals at ranks, and they and the local Hackney trade do an exceptional job when they are there to pick up in the late hours,” he adds.

“But the problem is still there and people need to have confidence they can get home safely.

“I have no doubt that Aberdeen City Council would govern ride-hailing in-keeping with Glasgow, Edinburgh, and nearly every other major city in the country and beyond.

“Talking with business groups in those cities, the only thing that sparks interest is that we have this situation with the private hire needing to pass the street knowledge test.

“We really appreciate the council giving people in Aberdeen and the wider north-east the opportunity to have their say, whatever they decide.”

The P&J will bring you the views of two local taxi firms tomorrow…

Maybe Bolt could somehow magically conjure up a whole new cohort of drivers in a way that Uber couldn't manage

Which, like the 'ride-hailing' BS, maybe again demonstrates that they don't understand the market.

In fact they do understand it, because obviously they know that dumping the knowledge would make a difference.

So, like Uber originally, maybe they think that more 'ride-hailing' firms with lawyers and lobbying clout would move the dial on it all.

I'd guess the writing's on the wall in that regard anyway. And the other piece about the fake driver rapist couldn't have come at a better time for those who want to dump the knowledge

Is the Aberdeen knowledge that difficult?

But even if it were the rewards, as we keep being told, they should ensure folks flood into the trade.

_________________
IDFIMH

This seems to be the legacy trade's side of the story.

Another pile of photos and links, but can't be bothered including them all...


‘Give us more time’: Taxi bosses say Aberdeen crisis already being fixed as DOZENS wait months to sit knowledge test

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... addressed/

Aberdeen City Council is facing calls to double up available test slots to get more drivers on the streets, faster — as an alternative to industry-wide change.

Dozens of would-be Aberdeen cabbies are claimed to be waiting in the wings to boost the city’s fleet – while a council logjam is preventing them getting on the road.

Aberdeen Taxis director Chris Douglas and Rainbow City Taxis managing director Russell McLeod tell The Press and Journal the city is already bouncing back from the dark days of 2023 when numbers hit rock bottom.

That winter, they say, was the “low point” as they struggled to restore levels after drivers left the trade during the Covid pandemic.

But a revised street knowledge test, designed with input from the trade chiefs and Our Union Street co-founder Bob Keiller, was introduced early last year in a bid to increase the pass rate.

“That was a sustainable approach agreed by all stakeholders,” Mr Douglas says.

Now, he warns, drivers are “fighting for their livelihoods” as Aberdeen City Council considers rewriting the rulebook under pressure from traders and Uber.

The ride-hailing giant has also offered us its view ahead of a month of campaigning and lobbying for change in the Granite City…

‘We’ve addressed it’: Taxi chiefs argue driver numbers problems are improving

More than 100 drivers have passed since the first new-style tests were sat in January 2025.

And Mr McLeod’s street knowledge test training school has had 40 new applicants since mid-January.

He reckons another 100 drivers will have passed the revamped test by the end of the year — if Aberdeen City Council can keep up with the exams.

He tells The P&J: “There’s a 10-week wait to sit a test. Only six people can sit it every week, with resits done separately.

“There has been a backlog of 60 since January.

“The council could do tests twice a week for a month and cut the waiting list. These people have done the learning and then they stop… and have to wait 10 weeks.”

They say even when drivers pass, they are having to wait months longer to have their vehicles licensed.

But the duo claim a lack of staff at Aberdeen City Council, made worse by recent cuts to the working week, mean there’s little hope of extra tests actually happening.

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... qy2cj7.jpg

According to Mr McLeod, who asked the council’s civic compliance team on Wednesday, the first test available for booking would be on June 2, 11 weeks away.

That would suggest the waiting list sits at 60 – or that some street knowledge tests have fewer than the council’s maximum six candidates at a time potential drivers are keenly waiting for an exam slot.

A council spokeswoman told us there were 45 people waiting, as well as “a number” looking for resits of a part of the exam they had failed.

“While we are continually looking for means to reduce waiting times, that is dependent on workload and staff availability,” she added.

Aberdeen City Council considers scrapping street knowledge test for some drivers

“In 2023, we had a problem, there’s no point denying that,” Mr McLeod adds.

“But the reality now is we’ve addressed it, we’re dealing with it, and as far as I’m concerned, the solution is not deregulation.”

Their fears — namely getting rid of the street knowledge test for drivers taking pre-booked, private hire fares — have become a real possibility.

Aberdeen City Council this month launched a public consultation on sweeping change in the taxi trade, at the insistence of city business leaders.

San Franciscan tech firm Uber launched in Aberdeen in October 2024 — but has made limited impact on late-night taxi rank queues troubling commerce chiefs.

And with satellite navigation in nearly everyone’s pocket, the Silicon Valley outfit argues private hire drivers — who know their start and end point prior to pick-up — should be freed of the need to pass the burdensome street knowledge test.

Our Union Street’s Mr Keiller told us in December that he only “reluctantly” accepted the revised street knowledge test as his calls for complete removal were rejected by the trade.

“And there is no call for deregulation from anyone – only sensible and appropriate regulation,” he said.

“Retaining the street knowledge test for private hire drivers is economic self-harm.”

It is one idea being put to the public in the council’s consultation, which you can read more about here.

What are realistic expectations for waits at Aberdeen taxi ranks?

Uber’s private hire drivers are unable to pick up within 50 metres of a taxi rank, meaning the ride-hailing fleet cannot directly impact the headline-grabbing waits in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings in the city centre.

And the negative press around peak time queues at Aberdeen taxi ranks clearly irks the local drivers.

Mr McLeod tells me: “What is the reality of the public’s expectation to get a taxi at 3am?

“Because I can go into the barber at 12 noon at lunchtime and have to sit and wait 20 minutes because I’ve come at the wrong time.”

His colleague Mr Douglas adds: “It’s mad. I struggle with it myself because there are — what? — 168 hours in a week.

“It’s frustrating for me because for all of those other 164 hours of the week, whether it’s doctors appointments, hospital appointments, flights pick-ups or drop-offs, 24/7 we do all that stuff all of the time.

“This whole ‘them vs us’ thing is not even true… Uber is a taxi company. They have to have licensed vehicles and drivers.

“They just want deregulation to have it all their own way.”

Mr McLeod comes back in: “It has taken 43 years for Rainbow to get where it is. And they want to do it in 43 weeks.”

What does Uber have to say?

Uber’s head of cities, Matthew Freckelton, told us: “The consultation is a welcome and vital step towards addressing Aberdeen’s private hire car shortage.

“It’s clear that removing the knowledge test will provide more reliable transport for people in the city and will create new earning opportunities for local drivers.”

‘Are these new drivers going to be vampires and only come out at night?!’

Meanwhile, the Rainbow and Aberdeen Taxi bosses don’t believe changes being suggested in the council’s consultation will make a difference to the reported troubles at ranks.

“Because my prediction would be that every single one of the new private hire drivers, who got through without a test, would want to work through the day… just the same as almost every single one is doing right now.

“We’re not going to get vampires to drive taxis, only wanting to come out at night.

“That’s just not going to happen. The city council has a duty of care to existing taxi drivers. There was an issue and the trade is dealing with it at speed.

“And 100 new drivers a year is mad when it was 30 before.”

Mr Douglas added: “Drivers are fighting for their livelihoods.

“Issues have been addressed in a sustainable fashion, it’s the drivers who are already in this industry who need protection and assurance that they have a future.

“The street knowledge test seemed like it was designed to fail before but now it is designed to support people through, which is why the pass rate has gone up from around 8% to around 70%.”

I don't think that's Uber's main problem in Aberdeen.

And even assuming Uber cars could pick up a pre-booked run close to a rank, or even on the rank, would that make any real difference? No


Will create new earning opportunities for NEW drivers, I think he means. Can only REDUCE 'earning opportunities' for existing drivers





Unless you have to wait months for a test and to plate a car because of council backlogs

Reading all that above, you'd now be forgiven for thinking that the council is basically handing Uber and the business elites the ammunition to dump the knowledge test