Taxi cap is a bad deal for us all

Council-owned Lothian Buses' expansion of its night bus service will be welcomed, particularly by those who experience difficulty hailing a taxi during peak periods. However, why does this taxi shortage exist?

In my 13 years driving taxis, fleet numbers have risen from 1030 to 1260 (static for four years) - private hire from around 100 to nearly 900.

While private hire soared by over 800 per cent, taxis increased only 20 per cent because of the council's policy to deliberately restrict them.

The council has refused numerous licence applications, spending tens of thousands of pounds of our money in legal fees defending its policy. With inexhaustible public funds it knows the prohibitive legal cost deters opposition.

Although claiming no significant unmet demand for taxis, the council is spending 582 million on trams to meet passenger demand and spent over 300,000 launching a taxi-bus service to the airport. These compete directly with taxis.

They are set against the backdrop of an expanding local economy, increased traffic through rail stations and the airport (recently opened to taxis), more hotel beds with higher occupancy rates from expanding tourism, and the introduction of marshals at taxi ranks to manage queues at peak periods because of an excess demand the council tells us doesn't exist.

The council's unreasonable restriction policy has driven licence plate "values" to over 50,000. Although legislation does not permit licences to be transferred, this is circumvented through the council's own policy of "incorporation".

Rentals for drivers who can't afford to "buy in" to secure their employment have risen to around 350 per week, their employment status no more secure than casual labour. With three drivers for every owner, the real prospect of unemployment discourages drivers from speaking out through fear of being ostracised.

However, granted their own licence, drivers could operate a brand new, fully funded, single-shifted taxi for as little as 190 per week - a huge saving, less hours at the wheel, more hours worked during peak periods and improved service for the public.

Isn't it time for change, for modernisation in line with the London model - no quantity restriction of taxis but with quality controls like "the knowledge"?

How is it acceptable, in a free market economy, for the council to compete against the taxi trade it also regulates and restricts? Doesn't this conflict of interest work against the interests of both taxi drivers and fare-paying passengers, who simply want access to taxis when they need them?

Isn't the council's policy to restrict taxi numbers and stifle competition unreasonable, unjustifiable, unsustainable and morally bankrupt?

• Jim Taylor is an Edinburgh taxi driver