At a meeting of the Panel on Tuesday, 28 February, Members agreed to consult on recommendations from a Stirling Taxi Unmet Demand Survey, conducted in November 2022.
The Council appointed the Licensed Vehicles Survey and Assessment (LVSA) to undertake the survey on its behalf. It looked at a range of issues including waiting times, use of ranks, fleet mix and the number of taxis on the road.
Recommendations
The LVSA concluded there is a significant unmet demand for taxis in Stirling city centre and reported back to the Council with a series of recommendations. These include:
- Retaining a cap on licences and increasing the level of the cap by six
- Implementing a new taxi rank, with Dumbarton Road near Port Street the recommended option
- A requirement that additional licences are only granted to wheelchair accessible vehicles
- A fare review be undertaken to reflect increased costs and to consider an additional fares tariff for groups of five or more passengers
- Removal of the current taxi zone restrictions
At present, there are 70 taxi licences which may ply for hire or stand at ranks anywhere within the Stirling Council area. In addition, there are a further 12 rural plates, which may only ply for hire outside Stirling City.
The views of Police Scotland and licence holders will now be sought on the proposals. Council Officers will report back to the Panel on the consultation’s findings with recommendations on implementing the findings of the report.
A recording of the meeting can be viewed here: https://stirling.public-i.tv/core/portal/home
The agenda papers for the meeting can be viewed here: Stirling Council - Agendas Index