Taxi drivers block streets in protest at minicab threat to their livelihood

Hundreds of black cabs caused grid-lock in Central London yesterday as they protested against what they see as the encroachment of minicabs.

The taxi drivers, who are also worried about a 30 per cent drop in customers because of the recession, blockaded Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Downing Street and the Strand to show their anger at a new scheme that promotes their minicab rivals.

Traffic came to a virtual standstill for more than an hour, with police forced to direct motorists away from the area. Grant Davis, chairman of the London Cab Drivers’ Club, said that a council-backed scheme allowing minicab drivers to run a rank in Leicester Square was taking work away from black cabs.

The taxi drivers are seeking a moratorium on new licences for the first time in the 350-year history of black cabs because of the lack of passenger demand. They say that they have had to work twice as many hours to earn their usual wages. Queues of cabs are stretching for a quarter of a mile in Central London and drivers say that they regularly have to wait more than an hour for a fare.

Steve McNamara, a spokesman for the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), said that with more than 24,000 licences issued for black cabs London’s needs were already met.

During good times, he said, drivers achieved an estimated ten million fares a month. Because of the recession, that figure had dropped by more than 30 per cent since early last year. He said that drivers were already increasing their shifts to twelve and sixteen hours, seven days a week.

“At the moment it’s a nightmare and there are empty cabs everywhere,” he said. “This has been the worst Christmas for the cab trade in living memory. January started abysmally and the last week or so has been even worse. Now we are desperate.”

At Paddington railway station, cabs were double-ranked for more than 100 metres before a single queue snaked down Harrow Road, almost reaching the Underground station at Edgware Road – a distance of more than a quarter of a mile. Even longer queues have been forming at King’s Cross and Waterloo.

There are no controls or limitations on black cab licences – provided by the Public Carriage Office (PCO) – as long as drivers are of sound mind and have passed the Knowledge. This test requires a detailed knowledge of London streets and places of interest and takes up to four years of study.

Black cabs are expensive to run, with the LDTA estimating that it costs more than £10,000 a year to keep a vehicle on the road. That includes the cost of diesel, insurance and maintenance. However, during buoyant economic periods, drivers can make large profits, with unlimited overtime.

A Transport for London spokesman said that the PCO had no plans to reduce fares to attract more passengers.

The LTDA will seek a meeting with Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, in the coming weeks to lobby for licence changes. Mr McNamara said: “People are working much longer hours to sustain themselves. Their weekly expenses, such as fuel and maintenance, used to take them two or three days to earn but it’s now taking four or five.

“It’s crazy to recruit more people when there are empty cabs everywhere. We are the only business in times of a recession that is actively seeking to recruit new people.”

A spokesman for Mr Johnson pointed out that a new law would take more than two years to implement. “There’s also the problem that people spend such a large amount of time working for their qualifications that we would be open to all sorts of challenges if we stopped them getting their licences.”

The meter’s running . . .

— Black cab meters compute fares from time of day, distance and journey duration

— There are three tariffs. Tariff 1 runs from 6am to 8pm on weekdays, when journeys cost £4.40-£8 a mile, depending on traffic. Four miles will cost £11-£18. Tariff 2 runs from 8pm to 10pm on weekdays, and 6am to 10pm at weekends, with prices towards the higher end of Tariff 1. Tariff 3, more expensive as distance increases, runs from 10pm to 6am. Four miles will cost up to £21

— There is a minimum fare of £2.20 at all times, a telephone booking charge of up to £2 and surcharge of 10-15 per cent on credit cards

— Drivers can levy a soiling charge of up to £40 if the vehicle requires cleaning after a journey

— A trip from Heathrow to Central London costs £40-£70