Caroline Ansell about taxi use in the town has discovered nearly half of people are waiting more than an hour to catch a ride.
Caroline commissioned the online survey to gauge residents’ experiences of taxi use following concerns from drivers that regulation and the attitude of the borough council is making drivers leave the trade.
The MP is hoping to bring the council’s licensing department and taxi drivers together to try and ensure more taxis are on the roads.
Without more taxis, Caroline fears tourism will be hit, hospital appointments missed and women late at night will be vulnerable.
So far 139 people have responded to the survey. Of these 61 (44%) said they had waited more than one hour.
Around 20% said a taxi was their primary form of transport and 53% said they get a taxi at least once a week.
Some of those who responded to the survey said: “Only one company was willing to do school pickups but then were frequently up to an hour late.”
“I have not had any problems when taxis are booked in advance but the problem comes when you attempt to get a taxi when you are out and about in the town centre and want to go home. Waiting times of over an hour are the norm.”
“We have had to wait from midnight to past 1 o'clock in the morning for a taxi to Princes Rd. Luckily the town centre bar accommodated us otherwise we would have been two women pensioners waiting on the street.”
“My partner and I tried to order a taxi home to Old Town, Eastbourne, from the Eight Bells in Jevington at around 10.30pm on a Friday night. After many calls to different local firms with no luck. My 79-year-old father ended up having to drive out to pick us up, as we had no other way to get home.”
Another said: “Being a young disabled woman and stuck waiting alone in the dark for possibly up to an hour is very stressful and means I can’t go anywhere. It’d be nice for more reliable taxi services so I can get some independence.”
Caroline said: “The survey is giving me a clear picture that there are simply not enough taxis in our town even for residents, let alone for visitors.
“This backs up what the taxi lead Jeff Defalco has told me about the shortage and how drivers are leaving the trade because of the hike in costs and requirements. One example is CCTV at a cost of £500 which has been made mandatory. Drivers are asking for an impact assessment, genuine consultation and evidence based decision-making. The council’s insistence that new entrants spend six months learning routes when sat nav is available is another area of contention. One that could be readily settled.
“As I have said before, we need to ensure we retain current drivers and recruit new drivers as an important part of public transport provision and support our visitor economy.
“I hope the council will sit down with taxi drivers and myself and work out a plan to address their very reasonable proposals and look to bring in more drivers or get those who have left to return.”
