Taxi firm director says Aberdeen has ‘no unmet demand’

A prominent figure in the Aberdeen taxi trade has insisted there is “no unmet demand” for cabs in the city.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, Chris Douglas – who is the director of Aberdeen Taxis – said a recent survey suggested only 12% of people waited more than seven minutes for a taxi at peak times.

He said that if there was more on offer to attract people to the area then demand might rise but at present there were enough cabs available.

However, Adrian Watson from Aberdeen Inspired – which tries to encourage investment in the city centre – said the number of taxis was a “real issue”.

He said he had concerns about the number of vehicles available for the public to use.

“There’s a safety element to this and reputational one for the city,” he added.

Aberdeen City Council said its licensing committee agreed with Mr Douglas’ view that there was currently no evidence of significant unmet demand for the services of taxis.

It concluded that there was therefore no need to increase the limit on the number of licences.

It added that there was also no evidence of any overprovision of private hire cars in Aberdeen and therefore no need to introduce a cap on licences.

Last year, private hire firm Uber was granted a licence by the council to operate in the city.

There were also concerns voiced shortly after the Covid pandemic about a shortage of taxi drivers.