Late-night taxi shortage as cabbies stay at home

While there are enough cabs during the day, too few taxi drivers are willing to work at night, particularly on Saturdays.

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry report, based on interviews with 200 cab drivers and 129 London company directors, says the supply of cabs is "inversely proportional" to when Londoners need them. This means that latenight revellers are increasingly forced to rely on minicab operators.

It says that between 5pm and 7pm black cab availability is "poor", while fewer than one fifth of London taxi drivers now work later than 9pm once a week. Only six per cent work past midnight.

The report concludes that the reluctance of taxi drivers to work when late-night social activity is at its peak is now a major barrier to developing London's growing late-night economy. It blames the problem on the fact that many drivers are getting older and too few young people are joining the fleet.

"Our research reveals a worrying trend towards older drivers working fewer hours, particularly during the evenings and reaching a peak at the capital's busiest time, Saturday night," the Chamber warns. Some 98 per cent of London taxi drivers are now aged over 30 - with the oldest driver on the books aged 92.

It adds that new recruits are being deterred by the "bureaucratic" and overdemanding nature of the legendary "Knowledge" exam, with up to 80 per cent of candidates dropping out.

The time needed to complete the test has soared from 11 months in 1970 to an average of 40 months now, making it increasingly difficult for candidates to juggle existing jobs with training.

The Chamber says the 2012 Olympics and major projects such as the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow make it crucial that aspects of the taxi trade are overhauled. Its recommendations for change include:

More "fast-tracking" of trainee cab drivers, as well as roadshows and " financial incentives" to attract applicants.

The Public Carriage Office, which runs the industry, should hand over Knowledge testing to an independent examination provider and produce a detailed annual audit on the trade.

Incentives to encourage drivers to share taxis, making it less likely cabs would be parked up at night.

More marshalled taxi ranks in central London at weekends.

Bob Oddy, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said he believed the report had been driven by Chamber members who had a "vested business interest" in benefiting from expanding the licensed taxi trade.

He said 2,500 new drivers had qualified in the past year, taking the number of black cab drivers in London to 25,000.

Mr Oddy pointed out that 96 per cent of survey respondents had said they were satisfied with the availability of cabs during the working day.

"The number of cabs working at night has considerably increased in recent years; there are currently 9,000 applicants on the Knowledge of London course," he said.