Council and democracy > Council news >
Council - news and information releases
More taxis needed for Durham
Monday 7th July 2008
A report to the City’s Cabinet this week (Wednesday 9 July) is recommending councillors to agree to introduce five more hackney licences immediately to alleviate significant unmet demand in Durham.
The survey of taxi use was commissioned last February (2007) and Transportation Planning International (TPI) spent over 12 months gathering their findings. They have conducted street surveys, rank observations and so on, and also taken account of seasonal variations associated with the student population in Durham and visitors to the City.Deputy Leader, Cllr Carol Woods said today,"We have been expecting guidance from the Department for Transport for some time now and we really can't afford to wait any longer to facilitate a better taxi service for the public. "The important thing for us at the moment is to sort out the unmet demand and make sure we secure the best possible service for the public by adopting the same extra conditions on the new licences as we did when we issued additional licences last year to provide accessible vehicles.""Local Government Reorganisation will involve the new Unitary Council adopting its own policy for taxi licensing, especially if it wants to try and standardise arrangements across the county, but I expect that there will be consultation with the trade and the public on this in due course, and perhaps more surveys in the near future too.