THE council has announced it is going to continue to limit the number of Hackney carriage taxi plates it issues in Crawley to meet passenger demand.
The decision was taken by the members of Crawley Borough Council's licensing committee at a meeting last Wednesday.
This followed the results of a survey, undertaken by the council, into whether there is unmet demand for taxi journeys.
The survey investigated the number of passengers, the number of Hackney carriage vehicles and waiting times at five taxi ranks – those in The Boulevard, Haslett Avenue West, High Street, at Crawley station and Three Bridges station.
This was carried out over a four-day period in February.
The survey identified that while there is some evidence of unmet demand, it is not at a significant level.
This was supported by the low number of occasions where passengers have been seen queuing.
Councillor Michael Jones, the new chair of the licensing committee, said: "The council first decided to restrict the number of Hackney carriage licences it issues in 2011.
"The committee agreed to retain this policy following the unmet demand survey, which has shown that the number of licences currently issued (123) is at the right level. Hackney carriage drivers were consulted as part of this process and support the decision to retain the limit on licences."
The taxi drivers feel that if too many more were issued it would limit their ability to get enough fares to survive.
The survey was first carried out in 2011 and has to be repeated every three years.
