Usually when I get in a taxi, I ask the driver clever questions off the top of my head, like “busy tonight?” or “when does your shift finish?” But lately I’ve been asking the drivers something a little bit different. I want to know what the future of their industry is. I want to know if we can fix the problem with taxis.
There’s a good chance you’ll have encountered the problem yourself, if you live in Glasgow . According to the records, there are 4,677 taxis in the city, which is 500 down on 2019. It means the chances of getting a cab when you need one are lower than they were and there are some who say it’s starting to change our behaviour.
It’s called Taxi Anxiety: that nagging feeling that you won’t be able to get home. You think: why go into town when it’s so hard to get out of it again? I have plenty of experiences like this; I’m sure you do too. For 15 years or so, my friend Michael and I have regularly met at Bar Gandolfi for a beer or two or three, and for the first 10 years or so, we would step outside at closing time and straight into a cab.
More recently however, there’s usually no cab in sight so I’ve taken to walking home instead, which is about 30 minutes and a considerable downer on my blood-alcohol levels. It’s also left me, I must admit, with a slight case of Taxi Anxiety and a reluctance to go out unless I know for sure what the plans are for getting home. You may be thinking at this point that the answer is Uber, but Uber come.
