Terrified young women are walking home at night as new figures show there are almost 500 fewer taxis in Tayside and Fife than before lockdown.
Driver numbers have plummeted during the pandemic, leading to fears for safety as people struggle to find a cab home.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information show there are 473 fewer licensed taxi drivers in Tayside and Fife than in 2019.
Many drivers left the industry to make a living when the night-time economy shut down during lockdown.
Now pubs and clubs are open but drivers have not returned to the streets, leaving stranded revellers forced to walk home in the early hours.
This situation comes amid national calls to keep women safe, following reports of attacks and spikings.
Jimmy Marr, who runs a fleet of taxis in Dundee, said the lack of cars at night is a serious concern.
“Very few taxi drivers are now wanting or prepared to work on Friday and Saturday nights,” he said.
“I’ve listened to several young women saying they have stood outside city clubs for an hour trying to get a taxi.
“Many are deciding to just start to walk home. In the current climate, with recent high profile attacks on young woman out alone at night.”
Women have reported walking home after waiting for taxis which never appeared.
One said: “It’s getting really difficult to get a taxi after you have been out at night.
“It has actually made me think twice about going out.
“One night recently I had to wait ages for a taxi outside a city club and decided to walk home.
“Twice on my way, before I could finally hail a taxi, I was approached by groups of lads.
“I don’t honestly think anything bad was going to happen but it made me really scared.
“It also made me fearful about being left stranded in the future.”
Where are the taxis?
Many taxi drivers turned to delivery work or other industries when coronavirus devastated the trade and did not return.
Those who are left are taking advantage of the reduced supply and choosing to work during the day and weekdays, leaving a shortage at night.
The three local authorities in Tayside – Dundee, Angus, and Perth and Kinross – all reported a drop in licenced taxi drivers, alongside Fife.
In September 2019 there were 3,749 licensed taxi drivers in Tayside and Fife.
By September this year, it had dropped to 3,276.
The biggest loss was in Fife, which is down 196 drivers.
In Dundee, 118 taxis have given up licences, closely followed by 114 in Perth and Kinross.
There are 45 fewer drivers in Angus.
More problems to come
Mr Marr, who owns a fleet of 60 taxis in Dundee, said he was concerned about the future of the trade.
Mr Marr said: “I warned in the summertime things were looking bad and the situation keeps getting worse and worse.
“Many drivers are now working Monday to Friday only, not doing weekends or late-night work because the drop in taxi drivers means there is more demand during the week so they are earning enough and don’t need to work the unsocial hours.”
He added: “I have 60 cars but have only been able to recruit around 30 drivers.
“Drivers have handed their licenses in because they can’t afford to be in the business.
“This is leading to a complete drought of taxis available in Dundee.
‘Plenty cars but no drivers’
Unite union taxi driver representative Chris Elder said it was “impossible” for drivers to make money during lockdown.
“There is little doubt this is an ongoing problem,” he said.
“There are far fewer taxis around than there were pre-Covid.
“The lack of people going about meant there were barely any fares for taxi drivers so it just wasn’t worth their while to keep going.
“As a result many handed in their licences and turned to other work like driving delivery vans.”
He added: “There are plenty plates and plenty cars around but no drivers.
“When you consider a taxi driver has to pay out £100 a week for their radio, as well as pay all their car costs ,they have to be making a decent amount of money before they start to make a profit and that just wasn’t possible.”
“They realised they could make money doing other things without the problems associated with driving taxis.
“When they (drivers) were picking people up from outside pubs and clubs when they finally got back many were refusing to wear a mask in the taxi.
“Taxi drivers weren’t prepared to accept this and open themselves up to the risk of contracting the virus.
“We can only hope that things will start to improve slowly but there’s no guarantee and it’s going to take time.”
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