A transport regulator that adds to commuter misery

WHEN taxi drivers in their droves tell you they don’t want the fare increase that was forced on them by the Taxi Regulator on Thursday, you know there is something seriously wrong. There are 22,000 licensed taxis in Ireland. They must pay the National Transport Authority €150 every year – a nice income of over €3m. Taxi drivers argue that they get very little for the money they have to pay to the Government regulatory body.

The 3% fare increase that came into force on February 1 was not sought by drivers but forced on them by the NTA. Drivers argue that to recalibrate and check their meters costs around €250 anyway, as well as lost time, so the increase is hardly worth it. They object to the regulatory pricing.

What does the NTA spend this money on? Drivers argue that they have no services at busy taxi ranks and have to dart into pubs or hotels to use the bathroom, or, as we heard on Liveline this week, use a bottle in the boot when caught short.

The NTA tells us it has 22 staff checking taxis, but the biggest public complaint we hear – overcharging – resulted in just a single prosecution by the authority in 2015.

In a week when Leo Varadkar revealed that his relatively short daily commute from the other side of the Phoenix Park to Government Buildings takes his Garda driver 75 minutes through the gridlocked city, we know we have hit crisis point.

The response of the NTA – which is in charge of Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and the Luas as well as taxis – was to ban 17 bus routes from College Green to facilitate the Luas. Dublin Bus, with over 150 routes, carries 140 million passengers a year – the Luas, with two lines, carries fewer than 40 million. But Dublin Bus is kicked around to already-gridlocked Tara Street and Burgh Quay to facilitate the sleek, sexy Luas. Be in no doubt: taxis are next for the chop from College Green by the NTA.

In a week when Eir pulled out of the tendering process for the national broadband strategy, partly due to regulatory issues, and power supplier Viridian presented us with the apocalyptic prospect of shutting two generating stations in north Dublin for the same reason, it is time for the Government to ask: has regulation gone overboard?

The last big contract awarded by the NTA was for public transport services in one of our biggest cities, Waterford. But the minutes for the board meeting that made this decision last November are interesting to say the least.

Firstly, only one board member who was not an employee of the NTA was actually in attendance. Seven other board members, including the acting chairperson, were present via a phone link and four other NTA staff were in the room. All above board, of course, and the decision was made to award the contract to Bus Éireann.

As the country is coming to a standstill, we as taxpayers give over €1.5bn in transport subsidies.

Yet transport and traffic is in crisis. Everyone should be putting their shoulder to the wheel so business, commuters and trade can get moving again.