Drivers were complaining that they are not allowed to access bus gates, and they do not get the professional recognition they think they deserve.
Although the drivers we met can pick up passengers at the airport using an app, it is Capital Cars who have the overall contract to run taxis from Edinburgh Airport, something we put to one of the drivers who were protesting outside the City Chambers.
They had chosen to make a bit of noise on the High Street just as the Sub-Licensing committee was meeting. Their chants of “Hear our voice, hear it now!”, and “Let us through bus gates” was one part of their message to councillors. They also demanded that roads are fixed with the chant: “Enough is enough! Fix our roads!”
Their placards said “Respect the Trade” and “Fair Access Now”.
Private hire driver, Rolf White, said: “At the moment, being a private hire driver, it’s really difficult.
“There’s a lot of private hire vehicles. I think the market’s quite saturated. Now, 3000 private hire vehicles in Edinburgh. Now, there’s only 1000 taxis, and with the battle with the council, you know, it just makes life a lot harder. I’ve been a private hire driver. We’re not allowed access to through the bus gates, and we’re forever having to drive further around Edinburgh to get round the places we need to get to. So it is making it very difficult. Professional recognition. The council, they just treat us like a side hustle.”
A spokesperson for the drivers said they just want to have a voice in decisions affecting them. “Many feel these issues have been ongoing for some time without proper resolution, and there is growing concern across the trade about where things are heading. These concerns are now beginning to impact drivers’ livelihoods.”
In a deputation in August 2024, Eddie Grice of the Edinburgh Branch of the Scottish Private Hire Association called on councillors to allow them to take part in the proposed 7-7-7 bus lane trials. He said that The Scottish Government had at that time recognised the “important role that private hire and taxi drivers play within our local communities” and that the services provided are a “vital part of the transport system”. Drivers also claimed that both private hire drivers and black cab drivers are providing a broadly similar service, and that to treat them differently was “inequitable”.
Private hire drivers have been allowed into bus lanes in Glasgow for the past two decades.
But councillors decided they will look again at allowing private hire cars to use bus gates.
