Our shoddy taxi industry is getting a little tiresome

PUSHING on for two decades since the taxi industry was deregulated, things are still far from perfect.

It goes without saying that there are far more cabs on the streets – though not necessarily at the times that people want them – and the service has greatly improved since the dark days of the Eighties, Nineties and earlier. But the standards in Dublin still fall way

short of what residents in any typical city should be able to expect. Anyone hoping to get a taxi on a night when Manchester United are on the box should probably think about putting in an early request to St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers. Vast numbers of drivers just take the night off to watch the game instead.

That’s their prerogative, of course, but the bigger issue is one of governance. It is quite remarkable how easy it is for the most unsuitable individuals to end up sitting behind the wheel of a cab.

I’d make a better taxi man than some of these spoofers and I can’t even drive.

While it doesn’t happen too often, I had the taxi driver from hell one afternoon last week. He was dishonest (the fare meter had clearly been running for quite some time before I got into his car); illinformed (he didn’t have a notion where he was going); and, even worse than all that, was extremely aggressive. I insisted on him resetting the meter and eventually got to my destination, but only after considerable aggro. Suffice to say that it was a deeply unpleasant experience.

But previous experience of my own, as well as others I’ve spoken to, suggests that lodging a complaint with the socalled regulator is a pointless exercise. And that is the most unacceptable thing of all.