Record numbers of taxis and minicabs have taken to the roads as the demand for apps such as Uber continues to soar.
Official figures suggest that England now has one private hire vehicle for every 222 people after a big increase in the number of licences awarded in the past two years.
Statistics from the Department for Transport (DfT) show that 242,200 vehicles were licensed in March this year, more than 9 per cent up on the same point in 2013 and a rise of almost a third in the past decade. Almost 300,000 people now hold licences for taxis or private hire.
More than two thirds of licences are taken up by private hire vehicles, as opposed to the black cabs that can be hailed in the street.
The trend has been fuelled by rising demand for taxi-hire apps such as Uber, which was launched in London in 2012 and has now been extended to seven other cities including Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
Advertisement
In London alone, the number of private hire vehicles, which includes Uber services, has increased by 26 per cent in the past two years compared with a rise of 1.5 per cent for black cabs. The capital has one private hire vehicle for every 100 people, compared with 222 nationally.
This is despite the fact that the number of individual operators is down by almost 5 per cent in London, suggesting that major app-centred companies including Uber, Hailo, Kabbee, Addison Lee and Lyft are monopolising services.
Experts said large numbers of people — particularly those in their teens and 20s — were now relying on taxis and car-sharing services rather than buying their own car. Separate figures have shown that only 31 per cent of people in their late teens now hold a driving licence compared with almost half in the early 1990s.
Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said increased taxi use may also be caused by a decline in bus services.
“What we’re seeing here is a mixture of the Uber effect in our cities, a decline in car ownership and the substitution of taxis for buses in some places,” he said. “Bus cuts are having a big impact, particularly in more rural areas.”
Advertisement
According to the DfT, of all the vehicles licensed in March, 69 per cent were private hire cars. It also emerged that 297,600 individual drivers hold private hire licences, a rise of 4.3 per cent in the past two years.
In all over the period, the number of private hire vehicles has increased by 11.8 per cent across England to 166,100. Taxi numbers are up by 4.2 per cent to 76,100.
Jobs in demand
Shop assistants 1,092,000
Care workers 784,000
Administrative workers 633,000
Cleaners 621,000
Secondary teachers 458,000
Catering assistants 454,000
Sales and business managers 446,000
Payroll and wages clerks 436,000
Factory workers 428,000
Primary teachers 416,000
Taxi and minicab drivers 297,600