Taxi's take a knock as petrol prices rocket

LOVE them or hate them, most residents in town can't live without them. Taxi's are here to stay and are the transport system for the majority of people commuting to work, driving children to school, and taking people from one side of town to the other.

Like urban 'cowboys', taxis are everywhere all the time, serving the people's transport needs, whilst meeting needs of their own - making a living. But like every aspect of the transport sector they are affected by the rise in petrol costs, and every litre that costs more at the filling pump, is less money in their pockets.

Complaining bitterly about the petrol increase, the consensus is that it is hard to meet their personal budgets when their income is being swallowed up by petrol. And that the economic pinch has affected their customers, who have less than the standard N$9 taxi fare, which many taxi drivers accept just to get the business.

Woema spent a morning in the hustle and bustle of the Maerua taxi rank, where taxi drivers openly discussed what it is like to spend the day behind the wheel. Originally built to be a 'drop and go' facility, the Maerua taxi rank is a hive of activity bursting at the seams with taxis, where between the two peak hour business times, drivers wait patiently in queues for people to fill up their cars. Some take time to clean their vehicles, catch up on general banter with their peers, or just bide their time in the driver's seat.

Waiting in a queue there is a 'gentleman's' agreement amongst them, as to who needs to move along when, and what looks like chaos to the outsider is actually a system that works like clockwork amongst these guys.

They claimed that the constant stress of congested city traffic, coupled with the race to make their daily income targets often turns into a mad scramble on the roads. "It's dog eat dog," they say.

Making no excuses for what they are, taxi drivers are a breed apart. They take the good and the bad of the business, which exposes them to all weather conditions, all types of customers, all hours of the day and night, plus all the pressure of abiding to traffic law enforcement rules and keeping their vehicles roadworthy.

Their variety of cars at the rank that day with a strong Toyota Corolla's presence, looked well kept complete with standard bold taxi numbers painted on the side doors, and the new illuminated taxi lights which many had already fitted.

But there is a nervous tension amongst them that is fuelled by the need to do business as the competitive taxi population spills out into the streets of the capital prowling for customers. They admit that some taxi drivers are wreckless which has given the industry a bad stigma, but there are those that are simply law abiding family men just going about their daily routine of making a living.

Whilst some taxi drivers own their own cars and "take what they make", many are driving for fleet owners, and earn a percentage of the takings, which is shrinking because of rising fuel prices. Many of them have opted for sticking to town business, because less fuel is needed but others are still doing the longer runs, dropping people off in further destinations hoping to make that extra buck.

"We have a lot of pressure on us, and competition to reach our fare targets is getting tough because of the growing taxi population," they said. "We also have a lot of expenses which spreads us thin, so apart from petrol, we have repairs, fines, general running costs, and lately the new lights which we had to fit costing us just under N$500 to fit.

One of the bigger gripes were the crippling traffic fines, which they feel should be lessened since their line of business is the transportation of people, and that they are often put into situations where have to break the rules.

"The taxi industry is in a catch "22 situation", and have to survive the rules of the road in order to survive," they said. "But whichever way you want to look at it, us guys are at the mercy of the fluctuating petrol prices, and the 61c per litre petrol increase, this is heft price we have to carry - whether we like it or not."