More taxis set to come to Luton over next three years

Independent transport consultants were commissioned by the local licensing service to assess whether significant unmet demand for Hackney Carriage vehicles exists in Luton borough.

A survey was organised by LVSA (a joint trading name of CTS traffic and transportation and Vector Transport Consultancy) between February and July of last year, according to a report to the council’s administration and regulation committee.

LBC maintains a limit on the number of Hackney Carriage vehicle licences that are issued, with this policy currently restricting the number to 170, said the report.

“Under the Transport Act 1985, local authorities are only able to limit the number of Hackney Carriage licences issued, if there’s no significant unmet demand.

“Any decision to limit the number of licences may be open to detailed scrutiny by the courts, if the committee’s decision is challenged.

“Such surveys are normally conducted every three years. Significant unmet demand has two components:

• patent demand, which is directly observable from watching queues and waiting time at the ranks;
• and latent demand, which is calculated using data from the rank observations and public attitude information gleaned from the study.

“This survey identified no unmet demand in Luton, although a late 2024 snapshot view of Hackney Carriage demand in Luton presented a mixed picture.

“The return of the London Luton Airport demand has been critical in keeping overall passenger demand much higher than otherwise. But this has resulted in negative impacts on service to the main public ranks in the town, seeing levels of unmet demand rise.

“Other issues, such as continued focus on better work-life balance, private car incursion at ranks and a tendency not to work weekends, have contributed to that,” added the report.

“Overall demand for Hackney Carriages remains low, evidenced by some drivers still not returning to work. Most of these appear to be those not having their own vehicles.”

LBC’s service manager for public protection Tony Ireland explained: “The committee’s asked to consider whether there’s unmet demand on the balance of probability.

“It can then decide whether further licences should be released and how that could be managed, as well as if we’re to recover the fees for this survey.”

Labour Saints councillor Ghulam Abbas wondered if new (licence) plates could be limited to the town centre to avoid them all being based at the airport.

“I don’t want to stifle competition and people’s livelihood,” he warned. “Is there a way for the first two or three years for those licences to say they have to operate in the town centre?”

Mr Ireland replied: “We could condition any extra licences to serve the public ranks.”

Councillor Abbas, who chaired the meeting, said: “We’ve plenty of development in the town with The Stage, Luton Town Football Club moving into the centre, the airport passenger numbers picking up and we’re reviving the night-time economy.”

Councillors backed five revoked licences being issued, with a further five a year for three years, taking the total from 165 to 185 vehicles.