Taxi Driver Online

Poulton taxi driver shortage as drinkers forced to wait for cabs home

A shortage of hackney cabs serving the taxi ranks during busy late hours in Poulton during the weekends has been flagged up in a report.

That was one one of the findings in the Tri-annual Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey, commissioned by Wyre Borough Council. Poulton has a booming night time economy, with a string of pubs, bars and restaurants and late night venues, attracting many visitors from across the Fylde coast who need taxis to get home later on.

But there have been reports of some unruly behaviour when people wait at the ranks for cabs, partly due to an apparent shortage of vehicles at those peak times on Fridays and particularly Saturdays. Poulton’s main rank is on Ball Street and there were no issues with getting taxis there at other times.

Wyre commissioned this latest survey to determine if there was an unmet demand for hackney-style taxies (those which can be flagged down or work on ranks) and whether this would require an increase of the cab license plates issued by the council.

This has been limited to 160 since 1974. However, the report said the issue in Poulton is not down to a shortfall in licences but because some drivers prefer to avoid working ‘awkward, late hours’ when things can get rowdy.

The report by LVSA (Licensed Vehicle Surveys and Assessment) found that increasing the number of licensed plates would not solve that particular issue and it was resolved by the council to keep the existing limits in place until the next review.

Looking at taxi use in Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton and Garstang, the survey found that customers were still happy to wait at taxi ranks across Wyre. However, it said: “There is, a clear issue that the demand at Poulton particularly is suffering from a reduced level of drivers willing to service those hours – this has got worse since COVID and the last survey. This issue does need to be addressed to ensure the continued safe growth of the night life of Poulton.”

Methods to encourage more drivers to work these hours was seen as a better solution than issuing more licenses. Some drivers were asking for more assistance from marshals at busy and rowdy times.

A separate survey also identified a reduced level of wheelchair accessible hackney carriage vehicles in Wyre, with this also seen at ranks, finding that action was needed across the industry to address this issue, including a ‘change in attitude and operation’.

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IDFIMH

Poulton is a medium sized town it's a railway junction and my sister and her husband used to live there so i know it a little.

It does have a nightlife and quite a few people live there because of easy commute to Blackpool, Manchester, Preston etc so there is a reasonable market for hackney cabs.

You could describe it as the Fylde equivalent of Lewes (but without the fireworks and with a much bigger football club)

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

As one of the first lines in the article says, people travel from all over the Fylde, especially Blackpool, Cleveleys, Thornton, Fleetwood and the smaller areas the other side of the River Wyre.

So many of the hackneys in the early hours are on long runs returning people home or to continue the night at the later opening places in Blackpool. Not sure how many PH cars Poulton Cabs have. Its not uncommon to see Blackpool PH from Premier, CCabs, Blacktax picking up as the customer knows it will be quicker to order a PH from Blackpool than wait at the taxi rank or Poulton Cabs office.