App key to turn taxis around
THE development of a taxi app for mobile phones was seen as one of the most credible solutions to the many problems identified with the Guernsey taxi industry, when a report into the sector was published by Environment & Infrastructure last year.
It should make it easier for anyone not a regular taxi customer to get a lift.
The committee has certainly not been dragging its heels over seeking to address the issues raised in the consultants’ report – and indeed, already identified by some in the industry themselves.
The app has been developed between the States and the Guernsey Taxi Drivers Association, and is seen as the route to resolving the problem where too many taxi drivers were focused on servicing their regular client base, or the rank, to the point where the occasional passenger was very unlikely to be able to call a cab on demand – a particular hazard for visitors.
So the app is up, ready, and believed to be working well already.
E&I is to make it a licence condition for drivers to sign up – but the key to its long-term success, and potentially the revitalisation of the taxi industry, which was described as having ‘very low current credibility’ in last year’s independent report, will be uptake, which means reliability for the passenger, and respect from the driver.
The credibility of the new association – with its fore-runner much criticised – will be tested for that to happen.