Granting of further taxi licences in Helsinki halted

print this

In spite of the well-known fact that a chronic shortage of taxis exists in the Helsinki area, it is likely that no new taxi licences will be granted in the capital until the end of the current year.
     
Based on the new Taxi Act, which entered into force on August 1st 2007, the City of Helsinki was granted a quota of 105 new taxi licences.
      However, some representatives of Helsinki’s taxi drivers as well as Helsingin Taksi-Data, a corporation of Helsinki taxi owners, appealed against the decision to the Supreme Administrative Court. No new licences will be granted until the appeals have been handled.
     
The dispute relates to whether or not there is a shortage of taxi drivers in Helsinki.
      The drivers say that there is no shortage, while the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland fundamentally disagrees.
      A total of 34 cabbies have quit driving a taxi since April of last year. The new quota was supposed to be a response to the messages received from the Greater Helsinki area.
      ”The reason for the situation is a lively demand”, argues Pekka Rintamäki from the State Provincial Office.
     
However, it seems to be difficult to determine the concept ”a lively demand”.
      In the State Provincial Office the term means the situation which occurs every morning, when people leave hotels and port terminals and getting a taxi is very difficult.
      Instead, the State Provincial Office is not trying to measure the number of licences against nightly taxi queues.
      ”With such a high number of restaurants in the region, no matter how many taxis there are, we could never be able to ensure sufficient taxi transport services”, says Rintamäki.
     
In relation to its size and population, Helsinki’s quota is smaller than that in other parts of the country on average.
      The taxi drivers regard the quota of 105 new licences as too high. According to Lassi Vuori, the executive director of the Helsinki Taxi Drivers’ Association, a downturn trend can already be seen in the demand for taxis.
      Vuori suspects that the State Provincial Office is just trying to remove the problems caused by traffic congestion by increasing the number of taxis.
      ”Once a day, between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., there is a time when no cars can move because of a traffic jam. The number of orders is the same over the entire day, but without traffic congestion we are able to manage all orders perfectly well, ” Vuori reports.
     
During traffic gridlock periods, taxis can handle an average of 1.5 rides an hour, while outside of rush hours, the number is three to four rides per hour.
      ”The situation will not improve by increasing the number of cars for hire”, Vuori concludes.
      Some hotels have already reacted to the taxi congestion in the mornings. For example Sokos Hotel Helsinki has placed a sign on the reception desk, advising clients to order a taxi in advance.
      ”Nevertheless, two customers had to wait for a taxi for half an hour this morning, even though they had made an advance booking”, says Service Manager Malin Lindfors from Sokos Hotel.
      Currently, Pekka Rintamäki is preparing next year’s quota for Helsinki, taking into account a slight decline in rides in 2008.
     
The total number of orders for taxis relayed in Helsinki last year was nearly five million. Another five million taxi rides were taken by flagging down a cab on the street.
      When considering a taxi licence quota, among the facts to be taken into account are for example the average income of the population in the area, the number of alcohol licences, the number of relayed rides, as well as individual taxi drivers’ earnings and the number of kilometres driven.
     
In 2007 the capital was granted another 44 new licences.
      The current number of taxis in Helsinki is 1,398.
      At present, the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland has 250 taxi licence applications for Helsinki under consideration.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Chronic shortage of taxi drivers prevailing in Helsinki area (28.11.2006)

Links:
  Ministry of Transport and Communications
  Finnish Taxi Owners Federation

Helsingin Sanomat