Taxi protest may bring city centre to standstill

Galway City could be brought to a standstill by disgruntled taxi drivers who have seen the minimum fare they charge reduced.
The industry in Galway believe that incomes will be decimated by between 10% and 15% with the fare reduction, which it is good news, however, for customers who will experience cheaper fares on some of the shorter journeys around the city.
However, Galway taxi drivers do not share this view as they feel that their incomes are going to be further eroded. They are considering bringing the city to a standstill in protest to the changes.
At the moment customers are being charged a €4.10 minimum charge when they get into a taxi. This is now being reduced to €3.60.
The regulations have been changed so that taxi drivers can actually charge more for longer journeys with the clock ticking on a more regular basis than currently exists.
But according to Gerry Corbett of Taxi Drivers Galway, these new regulations will benefit the industry in the likes of Dublin and Cork where the journeys are much longer than in Galway City.
“Here in Galway the majority of taxi fares are quite short by comparison to Dublin and that is where we are going to be hit,” he said.
Mr Corbett added that, for example, a taxi fare from Eyre Square to the UHG currently costs €5 but this will now be reduced to €4.60 as part of the new rules that kick in from April.
He said that the situation in Dublin was completely different to Galway where, on a Saturday night in particular, most of the journeys were around a couple of miles and sometimes three or four miles.
“We feel that it is another unmitigated disaster for Galway taxi drivers. This is on top of increased and many illegal taxi drivers on the city’s ranks.
“The taxi industry in Galway rely to a large degree on the shorter fares but the reduction in the initial fixed charge looks like costing every driver up to 15% of their incomes. “This can only benefit drivers who operate in areas where distance runs are the norm which is mainly Dublin and Cork,” he said.
Mr Corbett said that the Galway drivers are now considering a day’s protest which they say would bring the city to an absolute standstill.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.