Shortage of taxi drivers in Scarborough
It's hoped former taxi drivers will come back to the profession
A Scarborough taxi driver says there is a shortage in the town.
Chris Brooks has been in the profession for nearly 20 years and he is the Chairman of Station Taxis.
He said: "Before the pandemic there were 300,000 taxi drivers in the UK and now there's 160,000, which is a huge, huge difference. It's because anybody who didn't have money invested in the business had to find another job in the pandemic because there was zero work, and they haven't really come back yet but I'm sure they will.
"Licensing need to be strict with handing out licenses. They do need to do all the checks that are required. Some of the vehicle specifications could be lowered I suppose that would entice people in because there wouldn't be the initial investment.
"Currently when I change my car, I have to spend probably about £30,000 to £35,000 on my next vehicle because it needs to have wheelchair access, even though the Government guidelines say 'you need a mixed fleet', TransPennine Express requires us to have wheelchair access on their station, so we have no choice in that.
"It's difficult to entice younger people in. I think our youngest driver is about 42 years-old. Young people can't afford to get into it and it's a job that old men do part time for a bit of pocket money and things like that, but to do a hackney carriage you have to give it full time investment really.
Chris explains why he enjoys being a taxi driver: "It's freedom. It's not having a boss and not having a schedule. You're on the front of the rank and you don't know if you're going to get £4 to go to Sainsbury's or £400 to go to Glasgow. I mean it's not great because you can't budget 'this is how much I'm going to earn this week' you just don't know but it's the freedom, it's the different people you meet every day and working in Scarborough, it's just a beautiful place to live so I think we're lucky."