Glasgow taxi review reveals HUGE 29 percent drop in taxi drivers since 2018

A Glasgow taxi industry review reveals a mammoth 29% drop in the number of licensed taxi drivers since 2018.

Glasgow City Council (GCC) released findings of the report which analyses whether there is any unmet taxi and private hire car (PHC) demand in the city.

In the report it shows the number of licensed taxi drivers in Glasgow standing at 2,482 in 2018. As of 11 January 2023 that figure has dropped to just 1,756 hackney carriage drivers.

The number of taxi vehicles licensed in Glasgow has remained at the same level for over a decade, but the alarming drop in drivers has prompted a recommendation to ‘encourage more drivers into the trade to reduce the levels of significant unmet demand’.

In the study’s summary it says: “It is considered that there is a significant unmet demand for taxis in the GCC licensing area, but there is evidence that this is a result of a lack of taxi drivers as opposed to a lack of taxis.

“The number of licensed taxis is largely consistent with when the cap was last reviewed in 2018 and when there was no significant unmet demand, but the number of licensed drivers has reduced by approximately 29%, which is expected to have contributed to a reduction in the number of taxis in service at any given time.”

The report goes on to conclude: “It is therefore considered that there is no strong evidence for the removal or amendment of the existing upper cap, however it is recommended that the previous lower limit of 1,278 is removed in light of the reduction in driver numbers and to ensure that vehicle numbers are managed at current and historical levels.

“Emphasis should however be put on encouraging more drivers into the trade to reduce the levels of significant unmet demand, and driver numbers should be subject to continuous monitoring.”