Taxi drivers are struggling as lockdown 3 turns Leeds into a 'ghost town'https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds ... 3-19732367Some drivers are considering leaving the trade and looking for new jobsTaxi drivers in Leeds say they are struggling with the city transformed into ghost town and people staying at home in lockdown 3.
When the government announced the first lockdown in March, the majority of people including drivers thought life would be back to normal soon - but 10 months later that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The government has told people to work from home and only head out to work “if you cannot reasonably work from home”.
I headed out to Leeds city centre to speak to taxi drivers and see how they have been affected by the pandemic in the past few months.
Image: Leeds Live/Mellissa DzinziUber driver Zia Rehman was parked on the side of Globe Road. He revealed he hadn’t had a customer for over two hours and was patiently waiting for a job to come through.
“It’s very quiet, near enough dead,” he said, and revealed he was considering looking for a new job after months of struggling.
“There’s no nightlife, all the night drivers are on day shifts and there are no students, offices are still closed and I think there are still some offices that will never go back because it’s cheaper to keep employees at home. It’s just a struggle now. In this day and age, it's harder to get another job, I’ve been doing this for 15/16 years but I’m thinking of quitting.
“The only thing that's helped is the government grant for the self-employed. It's the only way we’ve survived, some of us [taxi drivers] have left as well.
He continued: “I thought we’d be out of it by April but the way the government is dealing with it, I don’t think so.
“Some people still think it's a joke.”
Zia is also one of the drivers who raised concerns about taxi drivers not being a priority to get a vaccine despite working closely with people who may or may not have the virus.
He was not optimistic that things would improve this year and a second Uber driver agreed that the industry had been hard hit by the pandemic.
The driver, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “It’s really hard, just hard really but it's hard for everyone. It’s just that time really.
“I’ve not received any help because I’ve only been self-employed for a year. I’m not entitled to the government grant. You need to be self-employed for two or three years before you qualify. It’s hard, my wife is supporting me really, she works as a care worker in the NHS.
He added: “Look at the businesses, the small businesses that spent years and years then all of a sudden they’ve gone bankrupt, it’s affected everyone in different ways, I just hope everyone can pull through it.
“I just hope the worst is behind us and we can look to the future.”
His optmism wasn't shared by many other drives, who said they had little or no hope of life returning to normal soon.
Walking on through the city centre, the road outside the railway station was lined with parked taxis. On a normal day, the street would be packed with people heading to offices, with others running trains and struggling with suitcases as black cabs parked by the side to pick up customers.
Image: Leeds Live/Mellissa DzinziBut this is far from reality. Mohammed Khan told me he had waited hours for custom and made very little in fares.
He said: “I’ve been at home the last couple of months, there’s no work but you get bored at home as well because there’s nothing to do. You can’t go anywhere or visit relatives or loved ones so I thought let's try to come to work. You have to wait for three or four hours for a job.
“Yesterday (Thursday), I picked up my first customer around 10.15am.
“There’s no one around, there's no one coming into town. There are no shops open, town is like a ghost town.
“This year is going to be the same as last year at the moment, its lockdown until February 15 then the review then it’s probably going to be extended until March then Easter. I think this year is going to be the same as last year.
“You get money from the government, but what they give you is not enough. You got bills to pay, mortgages, kids and family, you also got wear and tear on the car, insurance, tax you have to pay.
“You get between £1,500 to £2,000 - it's nothing.
“The job is not worth coming in the morning now but it gets boring at home. You can talk to some drivers, it helps to get some normality.”
Image: Leeds Live/Mellissa DzinziMohammed said drivers keep themselves occupied in their cars while waiting for customers. They are able to pop into the local cafes for food and hot drinks and the train station if they need to use the toilet.
When I approached Mohammed, he was playing on his games on his phone with his engine off as they waited to move forward.
A fourth driver, was watching movies on his phone while waiting for customers, agreed that government grants were not enough.
The black cab driver who wanted to remain anonymous said: “They [the government] are not taking us seriously. We’re working on the frontline as well, we have to take everyone and we don’t know if they have the virus or not, we will take them. We put our lives at risk.
“The government doesn’t have respect for taxi drivers. They look at us like we’re not intelligent and we have no skills.
“It's a disgrace how the government has handled the pandemic.”
He revealed he had been working since 4am that morning but picked up his first customer at 7.30am. He had only made £3 from the trip.
One day he managed to make £25 but £20 went towards diesel for the car meaning he only took home £5.
“I’ve got family to look after and bills to pay," he said. "I’m struggling. I’ve got to borrow more money from the bank.
“The government failed us and the country. All you can do is speak, that's all you can do because you’re not in a position of power but if you talk they don’t listen. If you strike, it will affect people, we don’t want to strike, we want to work and look after the people so they can get where they need to be like hospital appointments, people who work in the NHS.
“Hopefully, it will change but it's my personal feeling the people in charge are incompetent, they don’t know if after the vaccine things can get back to normal but I hope in the summertime [it can get back to some normal] because of the heat.
“I think he needs to step down [Boris Johnson].”
During our interview he took a phone call from a friend - a driver for another local taxi firm.
The friend spoke of his own struggles and added: “The government should just find a way out of this lockdown so people get back to normal.
“For someone like myself, I don’t get government grants, this is my livelihood.
“There’s going to be more losses of jobs and this will lead to violence, robberies from people trying to make ends meet.”
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