Luton Borough Council

Independent Hackney

Carriage Research

– Draft Final Report

April 2013

i

ii Contents

Executive summary ...... vii 1. Introduction ...... 1 2. Background to taxi licensing in Luton ...... 5 3. Results from rank surveys ...... 13 4. Public Consultation results ...... 37 5. Stakeholder Consultation ...... 47 6. Licensed Vehicle Trade Consultation ...... 55 7. Responses to DfT Best Practice Guidance 2010 ...... 59 8. The Equality Act 2010 ...... 63 9. Summary and conclusions ...... 65 10. Recommendations ...... 73

CTS Traffic & Transportation Ltd. Unit 14 Aqueduct Mill, Aqueduct Street, Preston, PR1 7JN Tel: (01772) 251 400 Fax: (01772) 252 900 E-mail: [email protected] Web-site: www.ctstraffic.co.uk iii

iv Data Quality Assurance:

Report by: Ian Millership Date: 07/06/13

Checked by: Joe Maclaren Date: 12/06/13

v

vi Executive summary CTS Traffic & Transportation were appointed by Luton Council to undertake a hackney carriage survey during 2013. The study included: - Public and stakeholder consultation between January and April 2013 - Rank surveys in March 2013 - Trade consultation in February 2013

At present, no person can obtain a hackney carriage vehicle license to operate in the Luton area. The limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers is currently 167 and has been at this level since it was decided to undertake this survey (late 2012). This fleet is supplemented by 822 private hire vehicles, meaning 17% of the licensed vehicle fleet in the area are hackney carriage. Current provision compared to population is 4.8 licensed vehicles per thousand of population, with the hackney carriage ratio at 0.8, a moderate level, but twice that of the other local restricted authority, Bedford.

The hackney carriage fleet is currently fully wheel chair accessible and has been thus for some long while, as a mandatory order was instigated many years ago. At the present time, the style of wheel chair vehicle allowed is relatively wide.

Luton has a large number of active ranks. There are three all day / night ranks and five night only ranks provided by the Council. Additionally there is one private central (night) rank, two private railway station ranks and a pick-up area at the Airport currently operated by the hackney carriage fleet.

Discussion with members of the public identified 68% had used a licensed vehicle in Luton in the last three months. Some 4.8 licensed vehicle trips were made per month by those we talked to across the area, although for hackney carriages this value falls to two trips per week per person. Over the area, 41% of people obtained their licensed vehicle by phone and 33% use ranks. 3% obtained hackney carriages by hailing in the central area sample.

Everyone is aware of hackney carriages operating in the area, although over the whole sample 29% could not remember the last time they used one. For the central area sample, good knowledge of ranks was found, with few suggestions for new ranks (Chapel Street and Midland Road obtained the highest responses, but none weres significant). People generally had no issues with the hackney carriage service, the main issue and way in which use might increase related to price. A small number said they would use hackney carriages more were the vehicles better and ranks better located.

Few people had, or were aware of people with disabilities, and those needing an adapted licensed vehicle mainly need wheel chair accessible vehicles, suggesting the current policy of all hackney carriages being wheel chair accessible remains correct. However, it must be recorded that just two people were seen using ranks in a wheel chair during our survey.

Our stakeholder consultation found one supermarket saying customers used a nearby rank, whilst others obtained service from private hire companies. Hotels tended to have contracts with the hackney carriage radio circuits. The hospital was served by private hire. Other stakeholders had contracts with the hackney carriage radio circuits and tended to be very pleased with the service received. The police felt there was still an issue with private hire vehicles taking unbooked fares, although the marshals reduced the issues arising and in general the town centre was rapidly cleared of people in the early hours.

Both airport and two rail stations felt they obtained a good service through their contracts with the hackney carriage trade.

Disability representatives had few concerns and felt they obtained a good service, albeit in one case from a specific driver who focussed on this market.

vii Education and social service contracts tended to be lost on price to other neighbouring authorities where operating costs were lower.

The trade consultation saw a good level of response for such studies (90 questionnaires returned). Hackney carriage consultees told us: those responding showed a long average time in the industry – 14 years those responding worked a 6-day, 45 hour week few shared their vehicle with others to cover the remaining hours available there was a strong feeling that 76% would leave the trade if the limit was removed 5% would increase their hours to try to maintain their living

Key conclusions are: - no evidence of any significant unmet demand - technical option – retain managed growth (switched off) but encourage development of trade - take forward new rank at Midland Road - discuss indicators to allow new plates when required by return to positive managed growth when needed - consider more specifically the needs private hire meet

viii 1. Introduction Luton Council is responsible for the licensing of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles operating within the Luton council area. The licensing authority has a limit on the number of hackney carriage vehicle licences since before 1994. Regular reviews of policy have occurred with previous surveys undertaken in 2008, 2006 and 2000. A managed growth of 20 plates per year began around 2005, reduced to two per year with the growth rate set to zero once the decision was made to undertake this up to date survey.

Study timetable Luton appointed CTS Traffic and Transportation on 19th December 2012 to undertake this “independent hackney carriage research” in line with our quotation dated November 2012.

The review was carried out between 7th January and 30th April 2013, with survey work undertaken in March 2013. A licensed vehicle driver consultation was held using a letter and questionnaire in March 2013, with other stakeholder consultation between January and April. A draft final report was submitted and this was reviewed on 5 June 2013 to identify any factual or missing issues. The Final Report will be presented to the Administration and Regulation Committee on 25 June 2013.

National background and definitions At the present time, hackney carriage and private hire licensing is carried out under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (as amended by various further legislation including the Transport Act 1985, especially Section 16) in regard to hackney carriages and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 with reference to private hire vehicles. A number of modifications have been made within more recent legislation and through case law.

The issue of limits on hackney carriage vehicle licences (and other potentially restrictive practices) were considered by the Office of Fair Trading (OfT) (and latterly the House of Commons Select Committee on Transport). The Department for Transport most recently published Best Practise Guidance in April 2010 to cover a number of more recent issues and take on board both the recommendations of the OfT and House of Commons Select Committee (HoC SC). More recently a further HoC SC has led to the Law Commission (LC) taking on a wide ranging review of vehicle licensing law to be completed over the next few years. The consultation document from the LC was released in mid-May 2012 and their consultation closed in September 2012. First output from their review is expected towards the end of 2013, although an interim statement was published in April 2013 suggesting the power to retain limits on vehicle numbers could be retained.

1 At the present time, each licensing authority in England supervises the operation of two different kinds of licensed vehicle. However, firstly, all vehicles able to carry nine or more passengers are dealt with under public service vehicle licensing and licensing authorities only have jurisdiction over those carrying eight or less passengers. These vehicles are further subdivided into: - Hackney carriage vehicles (sometimes referred to as ‘taxis’ in legislation), which alone are able to wait at ranks and pick up people in the street (ply for hire). To operate such a vehicle also requires a driver to be licensed to drive within the area the vehicle is licensed to operate - Private hire vehicles, which can only be booked through an operating centre and who are not otherwise insured for their passengers (often also known as ‘taxis’ by the public). To operate such a vehicle requires a vehicle and driver licence, and there must also be an affiliation to an operator. Such vehicles can only transport passengers who have made bookings via this operator.

Further, hackney carriage vehicle fleets in some locations are all required to be wheel chair accessible, according to various criteria of different levels of stricture. Other authorities require new plates to be wheel chair accessible whilst there are still mixed fleets where the choice of a wheel chair accessible vehicle is purely market based. Bedford has had a policy of all vehicles being wheel chair accessible for some while.

For the sake of clarity, this report will refer to ‘licensed vehicles’ when meaning hackney carriage and private hire collectively, and to the specific type when referencing either specific type of vehicle. The term ‘taxi’ will be avoided as far as possible, although it has to be used in its colloquial form when dealing with the public, few of whom are aware of the detailed differences.

Review aims and objectives Luton is seeking a review of their current policy towards hackney carriage quantity control in line with current Department for Transport (DfT) Best Practice guidance as published in April 2010. Further background information about previous policy is contained in Chapter 2 to set the context of the current situation.

The “Best Practice Guidance” paragraph 47 states: “Most licensing authorities do not impose quantity restrictions the Department regards that as best practice. Where restrictions are imposed, the Department would urge that the matter should be regularly reconsidered….” Recent information suggests that some 75% of licensing authorities in England and Wales either have never limited numbers, or have removed their limit since the OfT published its results. Around 90 authorities currently retain a limit – although a small number have over recent years returned the limit on vehicle licences (notably including Sheffield and Birmingham, but also including Slough, Derbyshire Dales, Wirral, Watford and Chesterfield).

2 Report structure This Report provides the following further chapters:

Chapter 2 – current background to taxi licensing statistics and policy Chapter 3 – results from the rank surveys Chapter 4 – results from the surveys undertaken with the public Chapter 5 – up to date stakeholder consultation Chapter 6 – results from consultation with the taxi licensing trade Chapter 7 – consideration of the responses to BPG paragraph 47 and Annex A questions Chapter 8 – a review of options relating to the Equality Act Chapter 9 – summary and conclusions of this review Chapter 10 – recommendations for policy arising from this review.

3

2. Background to taxi licensing in Luton The Luton Council area Luton is one of three unitary authorities in the former Bedfordshire county area. 2013 population estimates using the initial results of the 2011 census, factored up by previous expectation of growth between 2011 and 2013 from the 2008-based estimates, suggest Luton has 207,000 resident population. Central Bedfordshire is larger with 259,000 persons whilst Bedford has 160,000.

Luton Council covers the Luton urban area plus a significant rural area around including Leagrave and Luton Airport.

Background policy Luton is a unitary authority whose overarching transport policy is set by council staff in other parts of the authority. The highway function is fully within the local authority such that rank provision is within the highway section of Luton Council, although transport policy also has its own section of the Council.

The main background to transport policy within the Luton area relates to the implementation of the third Local Transport Plan (which runs from 2011 to 2026) (LTP3). LTP3 is being implemented with the first implementation plan running from 2011 to 2015, reviewed annually and reported each March. LTP3 covers Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis. Research into the transport background found 26% had no car access across the LTP3 area, with some pockets of the area having higher levels of lack of access to a car. However, despite much short distance walking to work, generally the area sees low levels of use of walking, cycling and public transport in general.

Satisfaction surveys were undertaken in June and July 2010, plus a survey via the Citizens Panel undertaken in September 2010. None gave any responses regarding hackney carriage or private hire services.

LTP3 is being developed within the context of a Local Development Framework which is being drawn up in conjunction with Central Bedfordshire. This area is seen as an engine of growth, with new development focussed on the area north of Luton Town Centre towards Central Bedfordshire.

The Airport expects to see growth of passengers to 18million (m) by 2021 and 20m by 2026, though recent history saw a drop from 10m in 2008 to just under 9m in 2010. 15m are expected at 2015. The airport has a 40% public transport target, although it is not clear how the hackney carriage and private hire provision fits within these numbers.

Luton is a key partner in the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). This coves a wide area as far as Northampton, Milton Keynes, Cherwell and Dacorum.

5 The overall LTP3 aim is “to make Luton a safer and healthier place in which to live, work, learn and have fun” and seeks transport to support this. However, mention of hackney carriage and private hire services in this document is minimal. One reference, not explained, is to encourage and promote discounted taxi fares in travel plans (p65). A further reference (p46) seeks to investigate the use of ‘taxis’ in improving access for vulnerable people and to areas of poor access. However, concessionary fares available since April 2006 to those with disabilities and all over 60 tend to increase bus usage over and against hackney carriage and private hire usage.

A further key element within LTP3 is the Luton Town Centre Transport Scheme. This improves pedestrian and cycle access to the town centre and provides and extended town centre bypass, principally using a new link to the east of the railway line, underneath the station car park introduced in 2010. A result of this scheme will be to close Midland Road to through traffic, which will impact on access to the night club rank in that road in due course (although the future of this club is currently in the balance in any event). However, there is also significant development planned for the High Town Village Action area which seeks to place a hackney carriage rank which would serve that area and provide a further rank for those leaving Luton station and heading towards Midland Road.

LTP3 also mentions the extension of trains on the Bedford – Luton – London – south line to 12 cars during 2012 with further service enhancement arriving in due course with the completion of the full Thameslink scheme.

There is also reference to planned development at Napier Park / Stirling Place (east of Luton Airport Parkway station), High Town East village, the Station quarter, and north east of Houghton Regis, although most are residential in nature, and related often to bus and rail access improvements.

In summary LTP3 encourages developing use of hackney carriage and private hire services, but only in a marginal manner, and in one case without putting great detail on the idea specified (discounted fares for travel plans). This is typical of most LTP3 documents.

Policy of restricting hackney carriage vehicle licences Luton Council has a power to restrict the number of hackney carriage vehicle licences it grants when it is satisfied there is no unmet demand for the services of hackney carriages which is deemed to be significant. This power has been in this format since the introduction of the 1985 Transport Act, Section 16 (before which the power to limit was unfettered).

6 Luton held a fixed limit on hackney carriage plate numbers from before 1994 until 2004. There were 81 plates on issue up until 2004 (from at least 1994). At this point a decision was taken to add some 20 plates per year in a managed growth format, similar to that undertaken in Manchester. A first set of plates took the total to 101, after which three further sets of 20 plates were put in place then this was reduced to 2 plates per year, with three sets of two plates issued. When the decision was made to hold an up to date demand survey, further plate issue was put on hold.

Luton has long held a ‘mandatory’ policy meaning all vehicles must be wheel chair accessible (WAV) style, and the fleet has long been 100% WAV. This has the effect of restraining the number of plates people feel able to add to the fleet by holding a high standard (and therefore cost) of entry to the hackney carriage trade.

Previous surveys A survey was undertaken and published in December 2008. It followed the same format as the 2006 survey and rank data was compared between the two surveys (see rank chapter). Survey data was collected between May and September.

Hackney carriage drivers in 2008 spoke of concerns about the high level of private hire vehicles serving the areas near to ranks, long waits for fares and shortage of space at the ranks. Some passenger queues were observed, but these were mainly around 14:00 on Fridays (possibly related to religious activity by drivers at this time reducing the available fleet).

The busiest ranks were Park Street and Luton Airport. In general, full days of observation were undertaken on Fridays and Saturdays at each rank. A major concern was the apparent level of picking up of passengers by private hire vehicles almost as if they were rank-based. After midnight it was considered the bulk of taxi service appeared to be provided by private hire vehicles.

Despite this, passenger satisfaction with the overall ‘taxi’ service was high, and people felt ranks were well located. However, there was a slight suggestion that more people were waiting 3-5 minutes in 2008 compared to 2006.

The survey concluded that, though there was no significant unmet demand for hackney carriages, 15-20 plates should be released for up to three years. This was eventually reduced to six plates over three years.

Results from the rank surveys are compared to the 2013 survey in Chapter 4 below.

7 Background statistics Information was provided to demonstrate the current make-up of the licensed vehicle fleet in the Luton Council area, including current vehicle trends. The table below shows the historic level of vehicle numbers in this area.

Hackney Private Total Driver numbers Comment carriage hire licensed vehicles vehicles vehicle fleet hcd phd Dual DfT data has no information re start of limit 1994 81 Unknown n/k 250 1997 81 500 581 300 1200 0 1999 81 778 859 358 1400 0 28 ops 2001 81 760 841 320 1500 0 26 ops 2004 81 760 841 320 1500 0 26 ops 2005 101 760 861 320 1500 0 26 ops 2007 141 1040 1181 250 2900 150 28 ops 2009 161 937 1098 187 1069 129 33 ops 2010 163 1105 1268 2011 167 1020 1187 210 1800 350 28 ops 2012 167 1110 1277 2013 167 822 989 267 1116 171 37 ops Note: DfT statistics suggested used from 1994 to 2007/9 and 2011. Statistics change from end of year to end of March first in 2004 statistics National Private Hire Association survey for 2010/2012 Council statistics for 2013 Mandatory order intro 1993 according to DfT 2001 survey NB 2004/5 surveys may be repeat of 2001 information Ops = number of licensed private hire operators

The Council acknowledges that numbers of private hire vehicles and drivers may not have been accurate prior to 2013, although there has been a real drop in private hire vehicle numbers in this last year as at least one large company has ceased trading and not all its owned vehicle were taken up by other owners.

The data shows the growth by 20 plates per year followed by growth of 2 plates per year until growth was ended awaiting the result of this survey. However, hackney carriage plates have more or less doubled between 2005 and now.

In the same time frame, private hire vehicles continued to grow, seeing about a 45% growth during the time of hackney carriage number increases. Over the period from 1997 to date, hackney carriages have gone up by 106% and private hire by 70%, although much of the private hire growth occurred in the earlier years (although exact numbers are not available). More recently, private hire numbers have fallen (although numbers were artificially inflated due to some double counting in previous years, which has been eradicated in 2013 numbers following a cleansing of the database).

8 During the same period, driver numbers have remained similar on the hackney carriage side, although there was some reduction with the introduction of dual driver badges.

Private hire drivers are currently very similar to the number in 1997, although some dual drivers now exist, who can drive either vehicle. It is understood that there are at least two large fleets of vehicles owned by persons who do not drive (and some who do not hold operators licences), their principal business being hiring the vehicles to drivers, who then also have to find an operator to work for.

Operator numbers have remained generally similar over the period shown, with some occasional periods with a few more operators. This level of private hire operators is moderate, although there are many authorities with many more operators than Luton has. One company recently ceased trading, but in general at the present time the number of operators is actually higher than at any other time.

Comparative information The Table below compares recent licensed vehicle numbers for other former Bedfordshire authorities plus St Albans, Watford and North Hertfordshire, using the latest National Private Hire 2012 survey vehicle data and 2013 population estimates using a mix of the new 2011 census data and growth predicted from 2008 information to obtain a 2013 value. The table is listed with the lowest provision of hackney carriages (hcv) per thousand of population at the top of the table.

Popn No of HCV No of PHV Total Total 2013, HCV per PHV per veh veh per Area 000 1000 1000 1000 (% popn (% popn popn WAV) WAV) Bedford R 160 70 (59) 0.4 524 3.3 594 3.7 Luton R 207 167 (100) 0.8 822 4.0 989 4.8 Central Bedfordshire 259 227 (89) 0.9 227 0.9 454 1.8 North 129 199 (9) 1.5 63 0.5 262 2.0 Hertfordshire St Albans 143 250 (46) 1.7 146 1.0 396 2.8 Watford R 92 304 (25) 3.3 116 1.3 420 4.6 Average 203 1.5 364 2.0 3.5 Note: Population values are 2013 estimates from 2011 census initial results modified by growth between 2011 and 2013 using 2008 based projections, in thousands Hackney carriage vehicle (HCV) and private hire vehicle (PHV) numbers are from NPHA 2012 survey. WAV = wheelchair accessible vehicle, R= regulated (according to our latest information), Watford having re-regulated in 2012.

9 In 2013, Luton, Bedford and Watford restrict the number of hackney carriage vehicles. Watford –re-restricted in 2012 after around six years of delimitation. Only Luton has a fully wheel chair accessible fleet amongst the compared authorities.

In terms of private hire vehicles and overall licensed vehicle fleet, Luton has the best provision within the areas considered. Hackney carriages are 17% of the licensed vehicle fleet, with 0.8 vehicles for every thousand resident population. This is the second lowest provision amongst the authorities compared. In overall numbers, Luton has the second lowest actual number of hackney carriages.

Vehicle Accessibility At present all Luton hackney carriage vehicles must be wheel chair accessible, although a wide range of styles of vehicle are accepted under this criteria. There is therefore no issue if Section 161 of the Equality Act 2010 is implemented and Luton retained a limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers. This is considered further in Chapter 8 for completeness.

Driver ratios At the present time, there are 267 hackney carriage drivers for 167 vehicles, plus 171 dual drivers. This driver ratio of between 1.6 and 2.6 suggests there could be double shifting of the hackney carriage fleet. However, hackney carriage trade representatives said there was little double shifting at present and said the main reason for this was the increased insurance costs for vehicles with more than one driver at the current time, as well as reduced levels of work.

The private hire ratio lies between 1.4 and 1.6 (1,116 to 1,287 drivers for the 822 vehicles), which does seem relatively high as private hire vehicles do not tend to be double shifted, although the ratio is lower than for the hackney carriages.

Fares Using Private Hire and Taxi Monthly (March 2013) Luton Council fares (currently £5-70 for a 2 mile tariff 1 fare) rank 134th equal of the 362 fares authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. Thirteen other authorities share this fare level, including Eastbourne, Hastings, Manchester and Plymouth.

The lowest fare in the authorities compared is £5-50 (Central Bedfordshire), whilst the highest is £7-30 for the Luton Airport tariff. The average fare within the compared authorities is £6-18. Luton is therefore 8% below the average, or put another way 4% higher than the lowest, and 25% lower than the highest (which happens to be the airport tariff).

10 In terms of national fares, the highest fare at March 2013 was £8 and the lowest £2-80 for the 2 mile tariff 1. The national average fare is £5-51, just above the current Luton fare, whilst the average ‘South’ regional fare is £6-01, 9% more.

Luton main area fares are therefore fairly average compared to other authorities, although more akin to national averages than those for the ‘South’.

11 12 3. Results from rank surveys The Table below shows the result of our review of the ranks available in Luton. This is based on information provided by the Council for our proposal and by site / internet searches following the start of this study. Four ranks are on private land of which three require supplementary permits, although the trade representatives confirmed that the permit for the two railway stations covers both locations. The airport supplementary license is limited to the first 101 plates in the fleet, using a number plate recognition system which is a security feature of all airport vehicle access. We were advised that strictly the airport pick-up area is a privately accessed area and not a formal hackney carriage rank in any sense.

Rank / Spaces Comments operating hours (approx) 24-hour ranks Park Street 2 + 2 space head of rank with longer length of approx. 15 feeder Wellington Street 5 Rank in lay-by at end of street nearest to George Street Manchester Street 2 + 5 All-day rank in Manchester Street / New Bedford supplemented by bus layby that provides Road additional night capacity. Location being revised in near future. Alma Street 2 Occasional feeder to Manchester Street Night ranks Upper George 2 + 2 + 6 Three sections of rank, all operating 2100- Street 0600 only. Only larger section on right hand side of road tends to be used, though lower sections often abused by private hire vehicles, though less so with current parking enforcement Park Street West 2 2100 to 0600 only outside Casino Midland Road 2+3 Two sections of rank, actually 24-hour but only used to serve a night club Cheapside 3 2300 to 0400 only, serving one night club Chapel Street n/a 2100 to 0600 only, lost to road layout changes Gordon Street n/a Rank in section of road currently closed at night for safety reasons Informal rank locations – NONE Out of town locations – NO COUNCIL PROVIDED FACILITIES Private rank locations Luton Airport 50 Formally NOT a rank but an area where hackney carriages currently wait Luton Station 5 Recently re-built location under First Capital Connect rail operation and requiring permit (shared with Luton Airport Parkway site). 13 Luton Airport 6 + 9 Under First Capital Connect rail operation, Parkway Station joint permit with Luton Galaxy Centre 5 Separate section of car park, rarely used Planned new rank locations (not in place at time of survey) Midland Road New rank on eastern side of station near to car park

Surveys were proposed during the tender stage of the project (as informed by the previous survey and our pre-tender internet and on-ground surveys), and were modified at the inception meeting and initial trade meeting to take account of current expectation of times of use of ranks and informal rank locations. We were also advised of the revision to the Manchester Street / New Bedford Road ranks. These were unlikely to be in place before the rank surveys would be undertaken, nor would they affect the results of the survey even if in place. The planned further rank at Midland Road was not expected to be in place, and was not when the surveys were undertaken.

In terms of comparison to the situation in the 2008 survey, the situation around George Street / Upper George Street / Gordon Street is now totally different. Wellington Street is now regularly used all day and night, whereas the original daytime rank in George Street was removed. The three Upper George Street night only ranks were not amended. Gordon Street, a key night time rank, is now not accessible during its operating hours on Friday and Saturday nights, and the Manchester Street all day rank has become an important location for daytime operation as well as night time. Furthermore, in this particular area, waiting by private hire vehicles (particularly in the daytime) has been reduced by a strong enforcement policy on general parking in this area, enforced by cctv and active penalties. However, during our visits to the area, some out of town private hire vehicles (and hackney carriages working on private hire) were observed in Alma Street.

The rank at Luton station has been totally revised, moving from the front of the station to a loop provided for general set-down as well as hackney carriage operation, with less capacity and with vehicles further away from the current station entrance (but located where the new station exit will eventually be).

Further information about current ranks was provided in our discussions with the trade representatives, and is considered below, as relevant.

The Table below shows the actual hours observed, using video methods with the recordings observed by trained staff, and analysed to provide details of the usage and waiting times for both passengers and vehicles. Passenger waiting time was kept to that which was true unmet demand, ie when passengers were waiting but no hackney carriage vehicle was there.

14 Total Location Day / date (all 2013) Time observed hours observed 24 hour ranks Friday 1st March 07:00 to 05:00 22 Park Street Saturday 2nd March 05:00 to 05:00 24 Friday 1st March 08:00 to 04:00 20 Wellington Street Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to 04:00 22 Manchester Friday 1st March 07:00 to 04:00 21 Street/ New Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to 04:00 21 Bedford Road Night Ranks Upper George 7 Friday 1st March 22:00 to 05:00 Street Park Street West 8 Saturday 2nd March 20:00 to 04:00 (Casino) Cheapside Saturday 2nd March 22:00 to 04:00 6 Private Ranks Friday 1st March 05:00 to 02:00 21 Luton Airport Saturday 2nd March 04:00 to 02:00 22 Friday 1st March 07:00 to 05:00 22 Luton Station Saturday 2nd March 05:00 to 05:00 24 Luton Airport Friday 1st March 06:00 to 02:00 20 Parkway Station Saturday 2nd March 06:00 to 00:00 18 Galaxy Centre Friday 1st March 20:00 to 06:00 10 TOTAL HOURS 288

Full details of the observed volumes of passenger and vehicle traffic are included in Appendix 1. The survey comprised some 288 hours of observation. In addition, plate numbers were recorded when the cameras were put in place, when they were checked and when the cameras were removed. Further, on one sample day, plates were recorded at typical locations to identify the level of fleet activity. At all locations the true arrival times for all vehicles were observable from the siting of the cameras.

Observations had been planned at the Midland Road pair of ranks near to the Charlie Brown’s club. However, checks with the club identified that it would not be active during the weekend of the surveys, and the Cheapside location was substituted for these observations.

The Table below summarises the overall operational statistics for each location during each period of observation. A detailed description of the observations follows below the table.

15

vals per per vals

Rank Period (2013)

hour

carriage

leaving empty leaving

passengers (sec) passengers

No. of wheel chair chair wheel of No.

passengers observed passengers

Average wait time for time wait Average

% of hackney carriages %hackney of

Passengers per hackney hackney per Passengers

Average passenger arrivals arrivals passenger Average

per hour that rank active is that hour per Average vehicle arri vehicle Average Friday 1st March 07:00 to 39 1.4 5 29 1 7 Saturday 05:00 Park Street Saturday 2nd March 05:00 to 34 1.7 1 23 0 11 Sunday 05:00 Friday 1st March 08:00 to 9 1.6 4 13 0 53 Wellington Saturday 04:00 Street Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to 11 1.8 12 12 0 51 04:00 Friday 1st March 07:00 to Manchester 16 1.6 4 12 0 17 Saturday 04:00 Street / New Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to Bedford Road 17 2.1 0.0 9 0 10 Sunday 04:00 Upper George Friday 1st March 22:00 to 8 1.8 13 11 0 57 Street Saturday 05:00 Park Street Saturday 2nd March 20:00 to 24 2.3 0 15 0 33 West (Casino) Sunday 04:00 Saturday 2nd March 22:00 to Cheapside 2 2 26 4 0 68 Sunday 04:00 Friday 1st March 05:00 to 02:00 23 1.7 0 16 0 16 Luton Airport Saturday 2nd March 04:00 to 15 1.9 0 10 0 19 02:00 Friday 1st March 07:00 to 13 1.3 6 11 0 13 Luton Railway Saturday 05:00 Station Saturday 2nd March 05:00 to 16 1.8 0 10 0 14 Sunday 05:00 Friday 1st March 06:00 to 16 1.4 3 15 0 22 Luton Airport Saturday 02:00 Parkway Saturday 2nd March 06:00 to 10 1.6 0 8 1 24 00:00 Friday 1st March 20:00 to Galaxy Centre 17 1.7 0 17 0 49 Saturday 06:00

16 The table above demonstrates that Luton has a high level of provision of active ranks. There are three all-day/night ranks provided by the Council, plus five night only ranks, most of which see some low volume usage. These Council-provided ranks are supplemented by one private central rank, two Railway Station (private) ranks and the Airport contracted waiting area- all of which provided between 10 and 23 passengers per hour on average during the hours they operate.

Vehicle occupancy across the survey ranged from 1.3 to 2.3 passengers per vehicle, with the highest occupancy seen in departures from the Park Street West Casino night only rank.

The table also shows that most ranks saw some passengers waiting for hackney carriages at some point during our observations, although the private ranks (apart from Luton Airport Parkway on the Friday), did not see any passengers waiting for vehicles. Of 4,936 passengers observed, just 2% had any wait at all for a vehicle to arrive (and an average wait per person of 2 minutes 17 seconds). When averaged over all passengers, the average wait per passenger for Luton is just 3 seconds.

During the survey period, two persons were observed using wheel chairs arriving at a rank, one at Park Street, and the other at the private rank at Luton Airport Parkway station.

Most ranks saw low volumes of vehicles departing without fares (ranges between 10% and 24%), although three locations had higher values – notably two night only ranks (Cheapside and Upper George Street), but most interestingly Wellington Street saw every other vehicle leave empty in effect.

Further details of specific rank operation are discussed below, with detailed tables of hourly usage recorded in Appendix 1.

Park Street Rank Park Street rank remains the busiest rank amongst all Luton ranks (council and private). This rank was the busiest in both 2006 and 2008 and in 2013 saw on average 34-39 passengers per hour. The next busiest ranks see 23/24 passengers per hour on average, whilst most tend to see 10-17 passengers per hour.

This rank has a two space head located very close to the main shopping area, fed by a large extent of additional space the other side of the roundabout (and sometimes supplemented by vehicles waiting on the opposite side of the road).

The rank was observed on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd March 2013, from 07:00 on the Friday through to 05:00 on the Sunday morning.

17 Friday operation During the Friday, the rank saw around 39 passengers per hour with occupancy of loaded taxis being 1.4 persons. Just 7% of vehicles arriving at this location left without passengers. 24 passengers had to wait for hackney carriages to arrive at the rank, all around lunchtime – with the longest wait for a vehicle to arrive being 7 minutes. However, when averaged over all passengers and the whole day, the average wait was a negligible 5 seconds. This small gap in demand may relate to a high proportion of drivers taking breaks at this time for personal reasons.

A total of 774 passengers were served at this location. The seven hours from 12:00 through to 18:00 saw over 66 passengers in each hour – with the busiest hour (15:00 to 16:00) seeing 83 passengers. The lowest number of passengers observed was 2 between 07:00 and 08:00. No passengers used this location after 03:00.

During the day vehicles that waited for fares had average waits varying between 8 minutes and 21 minutes – the longest a vehicle waited was 35 minutes for a passenger. After 19:00, vehicle maximum waits and average waits for fares increased, with average waits towards half an hour.

One passenger was observed using the rank in a wheel chair, at 15:50. They had no issue obtaining a vehicle to take them with the fully wheel chair accessible fleet.

Saturday operation The Saturday saw a lower average of 34 passengers per hour. Each taxi on average took 1.7 passengers (much higher than Friday). A higher proportion, some 11% of vehicles left the location without a passenger. On average 23 vehicles per hour served this location – less than on Friday.

Three people were observed to arrive when no vehicles were available, and had to wait four minutes for a hackney carriage to arrive, between 02:00 and 03:00 in the early hours of Sunday. However, when averaged over other passengers in the hour, the average wait was just 25 seconds, when averaged over the whole day this reduced to just one second.

A total of 786 passengers used this rank in the 24 hours observed (compared to 774 on the Friday for effectively the same hours). Saturday saw six hours with over 60 passengers, with the busiest hour again being 15:00 to 16:00 (93 passengers). Compared to the Friday, there were higher flows from 23:00 to 03:00(29 or more per hour), and the rank was used for an extra hour until becoming quiet after 03:00

18 Vehicle waits for passengers tended to be higher on the Saturday (14 to 29 minutes during the main day period). Longer waits for fares by vehicles occurred in the evening (22 to 45 minutes between 18:00 and 23:00), but were just 4 to 16 minutes after 23:00 when demand increased.

Summary In summary, the service provided at the Park Street rank is good.

Wellington Street rank This rank is at the opposite end of the main town centre axis, and near the Town Hall. However, it is located on the left hand side of the road, facing down-hill and slightly obscured from the view of pedestrians leaving the main shopping centre (who might see hackney carriage at the slightly more distant Manchester Street rank from that view). The rank operates all days and hours and is well marked.

The rank is now the principal provision on this route through the town centre – the former George Street all day spaces having been removed with the pedestrianisation of this section of route. Hence, from the previous survey when this rank was just a feeder, this rank now sees much more use. The three sections of Upper George Street night ranks remain.

The rank was observed between 08:00 and 04:00 the next day on Friday 1st March 2013 and from 07:00 to 04:00 the next day on Saturday 2nd March 2013.

Friday operation During the Friday there was an average of nine passengers per hour using this rank. There were around 1.6 passengers on average per vehicle. Just over half of all vehicles left empty. No wheel chair passengers were observed on this day.

There were two hours when passengers arrived and no vehicle was available, 13:00 (5 passengers, maximum wait 2 minutes), and midnight (2 passengers, maximum wait 3 minutes). When averaged over the whole day and all passengers, the average wait was just 4 seconds.

During the hours of observation, 188 passengers used the rank in total. The rank saw its main use from 13:00 to 18:00 (10 to 19 passengers in each hour), with very few passengers after 20:00, although the rank was still used until 04:00 albeit only by a handful of passengers.

19 Longest vehicle waits for passengers varied from 11 minutes to 70 minutes. Average waits for those vehicles staying to collect a fare ranged from 8 minutes to 48 minutes, although with significantly lower demand late at night it appears most vehicles either responded to bookings or were taken as they passed through by those on their way to other ranks.

Saturday operation Average passenger numbers increased to 11 per hour on the Saturday, with vehicle provision at almost the same level. Occupancy increased to 1.8 passengers per vehicle. Some 14 passengers had to wait for a vehicle to arrive, in the 17:00, 22:00, midnight and 03:00 hours, although the longest wait was just four minutes. When averaged over all passengers and time periods, the average passenger wait was 12 seconds. Again, over half the vehicles pausing at the rank left without any passengers.

Total passenger numbers in the hours observed were 200, again an increase from Friday. Demand was 11 passengers or more in all hours apart from 11:00 until 18:00. The rank saw higher use in the evening and early hours, and use until the 03:00 hour, although no hour saw more than 7 passengers. The highest demand over the day was 37 passengers in the 13:00 hour.

During the busier period, vehicles tended to wait for a fare on average between 3 and 23 minutes, but quieter periods again had very low wait times for fares again suggesting some response to calls to the radio networks, or hailing of passing vehicles albeit at the rank.

Summary Overall, demand at the Wellington Street rank is relatively modest, but the service provided to passengers is good.

Manchester Street / New Bedford Road ranks The rank in Manchester Street / New Bedford Road is now a 24-hour location with a night feeder. Actual provision in this location is being revised but the net effect will be the same as observed, with the header rank on the left hand side of the road heading away from the town centre, and the feeder taking over bus stops on the right hand side. In previous surveys, night demand at this location was serviced by the Gordon Street rank, which is now not accessible on Friday and Saturday nights due to police concerns over safety caused by vehicles driving past large crowds coming out of clubs. The location has also become used 24 hours per day.

This rank was observed on Friday 1st March 2013 from 07:00 through to 04:00 the next morning, and then from 07:00 on Saturday 2nd March 2013 through to 04:00 the next morning.

20 Friday operation During the hours the rank was used, it saw on average 16 passengers per hour, with occupancy of 1.6 passengers per vehicle. Fourteen passengers had to wait for hackney carriages to arrive, with waits experienced in seven different hours (12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 16:00, 22:00, 01:00 and 03:00). However, most waits were no more than a minute, and the longest passenger wait (at 01:00) was 4 minutes. When averaged over all passengers, the average passenger wait was 4 seconds. On the contrary, some 17% of vehicles left the rank without collecting passengers.

Overall demand at this location, in the hours observed, was 50% higher than at Wellington Street at 308 passengers. The rank was used by at least four passengers in every hour, although did not start to be used till after 09:00. The busiest period at the rank was from 01:00 to 03:00, when every hour saw between 27 and 41 passengers.

Saturday operation During the hours the rank was used, it saw on average 17 passengers per hour, with occupancy of 2.1 – relatively high. During the period of observation just one person arrived when there was no hackney carriage there, but they only had to wait a minute. When averaged over all passengers, the average passenger wait was just one hundredth of a second. 10% of vehicles left the rank without collecting passengers, a lower number than the Friday.

Overall demand at this location, in the hours observed, was twice the level at Wellington Street at 390 passengers, and nearly a third higher than the Friday. The rank was used by at least four passengers in every hour, although did not start to be used till after 10:00. The busiest period at the rank was from 02:00 to 04:00 (again later than on Friday), when there were 80 and 72 passengers respectively. The rank became quiet after 04:00 though some activity remained. Interestingly, the higher passenger flows, together with higher occupancy, were serviced by less vehicles and produced effectively a higher level of service than the Friday.

Summary Demand here is moderate, with a good service being provided to customers using this location. The Saturday service provided is particularly notable.

21 Night ranks There are some specific night-only ranks provided near to clubs in Luton, although the Manchester Street rank also has a night extension to increase capacity. Since the previous survey, the closure of Gordon Street on Friday and Saturday nights has modified where night demand can be met. As in most locations at the present time, club life is reduced and the specific clubs available are more volatile than previously. For example, we planned to survey a pair of ranks provided outside one night club but were told by the owner they were not opening during the period of our survey and that the future of the club was under review.

There are four principal night ranks, of which we covered the three that we believed would be active during our survey period. All three daytime ranks were also observed at night since we understood at least one would be well-used by club customers. Further discussion of our specific night rank observations are given below.

Upper George Street rank This rank is located beyond the Council offices, just round the corner from the two main night clubs. However, this rank has limited access with the closure of Gordon Street on Friday and Saturday nights, and most vehicles also pass by Wellington Street rank on their way to this location. It was observed on the evening of Friday 1st March 2013 between 22:00 and 05:00.

During our observations the rank saw an average of 8 passengers per hour, with a moderate occupancy of 1.8 persons per vehicle. In the last two hours, between 03:00 and 05:00, 7 passengers had to wait for a hackney carriage to arrive, although the maximum wait was just two minutes, and the average wait over all passengers was just 13 seconds. On the contrary, 57% of vehicles at this location left without collecting any passengers.

Some 58 passengers left the area in 76 vehicles. The rank was not used much before 01:00, with a peak flow of 21 passengers in the 03:00 hour. The rank was used through to the end of observations, although overall demand levels were quite low.

It appears that, with the Wellington Road rank, this location is mostly served by vehicles passing through who occasionally wait, and do serve a modest number of passengers wishing to obtain a hackney carriage. Overall, service to this rank is good.

22 Park Street West (Casino) rank This rank is located directly outside the exit from the Casino, and very near to one of the main access routes through Luton. It is also on one of the routes through to the main Park Street rank, so a large number of hackney carriages do pass by this location. The rank was surveyed on Saturday 2nd March 2013 from 20:00 to 04:00. This rank was not included in the previous survey but it is not clear if it was in place in 2008.

This rank was the busiest night only rank in our survey period. Over its hours of operation, it saw an average of 24 passengers per hour – which defines it as the third busiest rank in average passenger per hour terms across the Borough. Occupancy of vehicles was the highest in Luton, at 2.3 passengers per vehicle. It was also the only Luton council rank not to see any passengers arriving when there were no hackney carriages available.

The rank was used by passengers from 21:00 onwards, but increased in passenger numbers from 23:00 although its main period of usage was between 01:00 and 02:00 when it saw 54 passengers leave. During our observations a total of 169 passengers used this location, with the rank busy until the end of our observations at 04:00. A third of vehicles left empty.

Average vehicle waits for passengers were 11 to 16 minutes in the busy periods, but longer earlier in the evening. The longest wait recorded was some 76 minutes by a vehicle arriving around 21:00.

In the stakeholder consultations it was identified that this rank, though council provided, saw one hackney carriage company provide service through an agreement with the club operators.

Given the relatively high volume of passengers for a night only rank in Luton this rank provided very good service to customers (possibly related to the agreement with the club operator).

Midland Road (Charlie Brown’s) ranks There is one rank (in two parts) located near to the Charlie Brown night club. Whilst we planned to survey this location, when we checked with the owner we were advised there were no events planned during our survey period and therefore there was no value in observing this location. Observations were switched to the only other active night rank available, Cheapside.

23 Cheapside rank This is understood to be one of the least used night only ranks in Luton. It serves the nearby club although there is very little else nearby. The rank was observed on Saturday 2nd March 2013 from 22:00 to 04:00. As expected, the level of passenger usage was the lowest across our survey, with an average of just two passengers per hour. However, the rank was actually used from midnight through to 04:00, in which time some 14 passengers were observed.

Average occupancy of vehicles taking passengers away was fairly high at 2 persons per vehicle. However, one passenger did have to wait six minutes for a vehicle to arrive in the midnight hour. With the low patronage, this one wait gave an average wait over all passengers of 26 seconds, the highest in the survey. However, this is matched with the fact of low demand and as a result some 68% of all vehicles arriving left empty – the highest in the survey. Overall, service to this location is fair.

Synthesis of night demand and supply Comparing the three night ranks covered on both Friday and Saturday evenings, the Saturday is around 60% busier than the Friday (421 passengers compared to 263 on the Friday between 22:00 and 05:00). In both cases the busiest hour is 02:00, although on the Saturday passenger flows at 02:00 are much higher at 113 than on the Friday (52) and Saturday flows are much peakier than Friday, which tends to have demand in most hours between 42 and 52 passengers.

On the Saturday about a third of demand came from the two directly night club related ranks, mainly from the Casino. On both days the main location for demand is Manchester Street, followed by Park Street although on the Friday Park Street was quiet after 03:00.

Overall, the night life of the area appears to be well-served by the hackney carriage fleet and spread of ranks across the area, including specific ranks related to particular clubs.

Private Ranks Luton has amongst the highest level of private ranks across any authority. Unlike many authorities who only have one private rank provider (usually the train operating company), Luton has “ranks” provided by the Airport, the train operating company (two locations) and a shopping / leisure centre. However, in the two non-rail locations, the site is subject to a private agreement and in effect the marked areas are not counted as ranks but more as ‘pick up’ areas as they are under the jurisdiction of their operator and both could, on contract renewal, find the service provided by private hire rather than hackney carriage, although to meet current legislation operation would have to be modified in that case.

24 From a significant unmet demand perspective it should also be noted that any unmet demand identified on private land cannot be counted as significant unmet demand requiring further plates since there can be other stipulations made by the operators over which the Council has no control, and which could be the reason for significant unmet demand there were it observed (eg a limited number of permits being granted, less than the council limit).

Luton Airport Provision for hackney carriage and private hire car services at Luton Airport is controlled by the Airport owners. Provision of the ‘on demand’ service is subject to a contract which at the present time lies with the hackney carriage association. As part of the contract, a pick- up area is provided for the permitted vehicles and is not counted by the airport authority as a ‘rank’. Access to the area is only allowed to authorised vehicles who have to register their vehicle registration with the authority to be allowed access. However, the access barrier is not specific to hackney carriages and also allows other service vehicles access to the more secure areas of the Airport (but not airside).

At the present time we understand there are 101 hackney carriage vehicles allowed to use this pick up area. We also understand that many of these are the independent hackney carriage owner/drivers who are not part of the hackney carriage radio circuits in Luton. Many tend to serve this location exclusively.

This location was observed on Friday 1st March 2013 from 04:00 until 02:00 the next morning, and then from 05:00 on Saturday 2nd March until 02:00 on the Sunday morning. Permission for the surveys was obtained from the Airport authority.

Friday operation On the Friday, there were 23 passengers per hour using this location. This is the fourth highest level of passenger usage per hour in Luton. Occupancy of vehicles was moderate at 1.7 passengers per vehicle. No passengers ever arrived when a hackney carriage was not present at the rank. Despite the entry restriction, 16% of hackney carriages left without picking up passengers, although most of these were early in the morning and at the end of the rank being used.

During the Friday a total of 435 persons used this location. There were no passengers observed after midnight. Main use of the rank occurred between 08:00 and 23:00, with peak departures being 57 persons at 22:00 and 41 at 08:00.

25 The waits of vehicles for passengers are incredibly high – with average waits by vehicles to take fares usually over 75 minutes and often more. Maximum waits of nearly three hours were recorded. This suggests there is a very high demand from drivers to serve this location, but they are paying a high price in wait times to service this location. There is clearly a lot of spare capacity to serve more passengers here.

Saturday operation The Saturday saw around a third less passengers both in average and overall terms. Average passenger numbers per hour were 15, whilst the total number of people using this location was 322. Average occupancy increased slightly to 1.9 passengers, although empty departures also rose slightly to 19% (again mainly in the early hours and at the end of operation).

On the Saturday, the location had several hours with passenger numbers less than 10. The two busiest hours saw 37 (23:00) and 36 (14:00) passengers, again about a third less than the Friday. In consequence of the lower flows, total vehicles serving the rank reduced to 209, but even with this, vehicle waits for passengers increase further, with average waits in many hours of up to four hours for a passenger. Several vehicles appeared to wait over four hours to gain a fare.

Summary Overall, service to passengers at this location is excellent although those providing the service seem to be willing to pay a very high price in waiting time to provide this level of service.

Luton Station rank First Capital Connect operate Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and Leagrave stations. Hackney carriage ranks are provided at both Luton and Luton Airport Parkway, for which a joint permit is required at additional cost.

At the present time, the rank at Luton station is subject to redevelopment. In 2008, the rank was located directly outside the main exit from the station, although the bulk of passengers tended to leave the station directly over the footbridge to the town centre and hence tended to miss the rank altogether. However, since 2008 the station has also gained a new car park, accessed by a revised bridge towards Midland Road, at which point there is a private hire office within the facilities provided as part of the car park.

26 The hackney carriage rank is now a loop just north of the main access, and although all passengers heading to the town centre now have to see the rank as they leave the station, the actual rank head is some distance from the main exit, and away from the natural walking route. The area is also shared by private hire vehicles setting down as well as general car set downs. The station building is proposed for redevelopment, which will then return the rank closer to the passenger flows, although the timetable for this is unclear at present.

The rank was observed on Friday 1st March 2013 from 07:00 through to 05:00 on Sunday 3rd March 2013. Discussion of the observations has been split to cover Friday 07:00 to Saturday 05:00 and the full 24 hours from Saturday 05:00 to Sunday 05:00.

Friday operations On the Friday, an average of 13 passengers per hour was observed using this rank. Average occupancy was 1.3 passengers per vehicle, the lowest level in the survey area. Nine passengers had to wait for a hackney carriage, split between 08:00, 13:00 and 15:00, and some 13% left empty. When averaged over all passengers, the average wait was just 6 seconds, although one person did wait 7 minutes (in the 08:00 hour).

During the period observed, 283 persons used this rank. There was a morning peak in flows of 23 persons in the 09:00 hour, after which demand dropped to single figures apart from 16 people at 13:00. The main usage of the rank occurred from 18:00 to midnight when 20 or more passengers used the rank in each and every hour. There was another peak flow of 19 in the 01:00 hour.

Average vehicle waits for passengers were up to an hour, although in the morning some vehicles waited just under two hours maximum.

Saturday operations In similar fashion to other central area demand, Saturday passenger flows increased, at this rank by 25%. In operational hours, the average passenger levels rose to 16 per hour, with occupancy rising to 1.8 passengers per vehicle. However, empty departures were similar at 14%. Despite the increased demand, no passengers ever arrived when there were no hackney carriages available.

Total Saturday passengers were 353, but served by less vehicles (228 compared to 245). In consequence, average waits of vehicles for fares were lower (maximum remained similar). Daytime flows were generally low, but demand rose at 18:00 and again from 22:00 to 02:00, with the highest passenger flow of 42 at 22:00.

Summary Overall service at Luton Station private rank is very good.

27 Luton Airport Parkway station rank This rank is also subject to the same First Capital Connect permit. There are six spaces within the car park, and further spaces within the distant part of the car park and along the access road. A bus service is provided linking the station with the Airport on a 10 minute frequency, reducing the potential demand for a rank.

This private rank was observed on Friday 1st March 2013 from 06:00 until 02:00 on the Saturday, and then from 06:00 on Saturday 2nd March 2013 until midnight that day.

Friday operations On the Friday, the rank saw an average of 16 passengers per hour, with a moderate occupancy of 1.4 passengers per vehicle. Ten passengers arrived when there was no hackney carriage available (in the hours 12:00, 21:00, 22:00 and 01:00). When averaged over the full day and all passengers, these waits were just 3 seconds. No passenger had to wait over two minutes at any time. Some 22% of vehicles left without obtaining a passenger – mostly early in the morning and at 17:00.

On the Friday, the Airport Parkway station rank saw more passengers than the Luton station rank (321 compared to 283). The highest flow was at 08:00 with some 42 passengers. The rank was used at all hours, but saw highest flows from 18:00 until 01:00, with the highest hourly flow (apart from 08:00) being at 21:00 with 30 persons leaving. Interestingly, 11 vehicles left empty just before this increase in patronage, suggesting a change-over of daytime to night-time vehicles at this point.

Average wait times of vehicles for fares at this location were lower than other places – with average waits between 3 minutes and an hour, and the maximum wait of 90 minutes early in the day.

Saturday operation Saturday average passenger levels were much reduced, just 10 passengers per hour. Occupancy did slightly increase however, to 1.6 passengers per vehicle. No passengers ever arrived when no hackney carriages were available. A slightly increased level of vehicles left the rank empty (24%). This rank also saw the only other wheel chair accessible passenger, at 20:27.

In contrast to the Friday, Saturday Parkway station flows were in total half that on the same day at Luton central station (178 compared to 353). Demand was also reduced compared to the Friday total (231). The rank was active throughout the survey period. However, most passenger flows were 8 or below per hour until 20:00 apart from peaks of 16 at 13:00 and 21 at 17:00. Flows were higher from 20:00 through to the end of the survey at midnight, with a peak of 24 passengers at 20:00.

28 Vehicle waits for passengers were higher, with the maximum being an hour and three quarters, whilst averages were between 20 and 95 minutes for a fare.

Summary Service to passengers at the Luton Airport Parkway station is good.

Galaxy Centre The Galaxy Centre has a contract for providing licensed vehicle services to its private highway access. This is currently held by the hackney carriage trade and considered to provide good value for money and for their customers. There is a formal rank on the far side of the car park, but this is rarely used by hackney carriages and tends to be more a parking area for staff. Hackney carriages pick up from the front, nearer to the access from the centre.

The location was surveyed on Friday 1st March 2013 from 20:00 through to 06:00 on the Saturday morning. During this period, an average of 17 passengers per hour made use of this location. Average occupancy was 1.7, and no passengers ever arrived when no vehicle was available. Just under half of all hackney carriages left without a passenger.

During the survey, the location was used every hour from 20:00 through to 04:00. Peak passenger departures were at 23:00 (47), although flows were generally 12 or more in all but two hours. Over the whole survey, 157 passengers used this location.

Average and maximum vehicle waits for passengers were very low – the most any vehicle ever waited for a passenger was 37 minutes. It is possible that this level of waiting relates to service of this location by a radio circuit with some demand response being in place.

Service at this location is very good.

Comparison of overall supply and demand The Table below provides a slightly different summary of supply and demand, comparing average vehicle arrivals per hour with average loaded departures per hour, ie seeing how supply and demand match on average.

29

Rank Period

hour

Overall Overall

operated

judgment of of judgment

departures per per departures

Average loaded loaded Average

Average vehicle vehicle Average

service provided service

arrivals per hour per arrivals No of hours rank Nohours of Friday 1st March 07:00 to 20 29 27 Saturday 05:00 Park Street Good Saturday 2nd March 05:00 to 23 23 21 Sunday 05:00 Friday 1st March 08:00 to 20 13 6 Wellington Saturday 04:00 Good Street Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to 19 12 6 04:00 Friday 1st March 07:00 to Manchester 19 12 10 Saturday 04:00 Street / New Good Saturday 2nd March 07:00 to Bedford Road 23 9 8 Sunday 04:00 Upper Friday 1st March 22:00 to 7 11 5 Good George St Saturday 05:00 Park St West Saturday 2nd March 20:00 to Very 7 16 11 (Casino) Sunday 04:00 Good Saturday 2nd March 22:00 to Cheapside 6 4 1 Fair Sunday 04:00 Friday 1st March 05:00 to 02:00 19 16 14 Excell Luton Airport Saturday 2nd March 04:00 to 22 10 8 ent 02:00 Friday 1st March 07:00 to 22 11 10 Saturday 05:00 Very Luton Station Saturday 2nd March 04:00 to good 22 10 9 Sunday 04:00 Friday 1st March 06:00 to 20 15 12 Luton Airport Saturday 02:00 Good Parkway Saturday 2nd March 06:00 to 18 8 6 00:00 Galaxy Friday 1st March 20:00 to Very 9 17 10 Centre Saturday 06:00 good

All ranks observed in 2008 were also observed in 2013, although there was some modification arising from changes in the road network and consequent rank provision. Pedestrianisation since 2008 has meant the main rank in Wellington Street is now the full-time provision in this location, with the former George Street head having been removed. Further, in 2008 the main night rank was in Gordon Street, fed by Manchester Street, which is now not accessible at key club closing times (for safety reasons)(Friday and Saturday nights); Manchester Street also now operates all day as well as serving the main club markets.

30 The 2013 survey also included the night only ranks at Park Street West (Casino) and in Cheapside (although the Midland Road rank was not observed since the club was not operating on the planned survey dates).

This table confirms that, in terms of vehicle arrivals, Friday tends to see most vehicles on an average hour basis. Only Park Street has more than 20 vehicles per hour on average on both Friday and Saturday, with Friday seeing most vehicles by some way (average of 29 per hour). The Galaxy and Casino ranks produce the next highest hourly vehicle provision, together with Friday at the Airport. Cheapside sees the least vehicles provided on an average basis, with an average of just four vehicles (matching the lower demand). Most of the full- time ranks in the area are used for the hours they are available, although Wellington Street tends to see less passenger use at night. The night only ranks are also used during their operating hours, and none of the ranks observed were redundant at all.

All locations see more vehicles on average than loaded departures, a sign of good provision of vehicles to meet demand. Most supply and demand is well-matched, although Wellington Street, Upper George Street, Cheapside and the Galaxy Centre see much less demand than vehicles suggesting these are places vehicles tend to pass through ‘on spec’, which is good for passengers but perhaps frustrating for drivers finding less demand than they perhaps expect.

Overall, passengers using ranks in use received fair to excellent service from the vehicles serving them. The Airport rank received the best service for customers, whilst Cheapside was the only rank getting just a ‘fair’ service. Luton station, Galaxy Centre and the Casino received very good service whilst all other ranks enjoyed a good service to passengers. This is an encouraging situation, although there is clearly opportunity for some improvement potentially through attention to detail in how some ranks operate. In particular, the excellent service provided to customers at Luton Airport appears to be to the detriment of both those providing this service (in terms of very long waits for custom) and to passengers at some other ranks where the vehicles cannot be if they are waiting at the airport. This is discussed further later.

Further discussion of the pattern of licenced vehicle service to customers in Luton occurs below, including more detailed comparison to previous surveys.

Comparison to previous surveys Previous surveys have been undertaken and reported in 2006 and 2008 (and discussed earlier in this report). A copy of the 2008 survey was reviewed in detail. References to 2006 below are from the 2008 survey, with no copy of 2006 being obtained or used. The table below compares, as far as possible, previous rank results to the current survey. 31

Rank Day / hours

Date

Loaded Loaded

vehicles Passengers Friday 0700-0400 2008 572 448 Park Street Friday 0700-0500 2013 774 535 and feeder Saturday 0700-0400 2008 517 408 Saturday 0500-0500 2013 786 472 Friday (factored to 0700-0300) 2006 ? 137 Friday 0700-0300 (0400) 2008 184 130 Wellington Friday 0800-0400 2013 246 154 Street and Saturday (factored 0700-0400) 2006 ? 172 George St Saturday 0700-0400 2008 202 121 Saturday 0700-0400 2013 200 114 (excl Upper George Street) Friday 2200-0400 2006 ? ? Gordon Street Friday 2200-0400 2008 63 43 / Manchester Friday 2200-0400 2013 149 83 Street Saturday 2200-0400 2008 141 81 Saturday 2200-0400 2013 240 109 Friday 0700-0200 2008 856 394 Luton Airport Friday 0500-0200 2013 435 258 (private pick Saturday 0700-0400 2008 688 386 up area) Saturday 0400-0200 2013 322 169 Friday 0700-0100 2006 ? 231 Friday 0700-0100 2008 236 211 Luton Station Friday 0700-0100 2013 263 202 (private rank) Saturday 0700-0400 2008 ? 173 Saturday 0700-0400 2013 352 194 Luton Airport Friday 0700-0300 2008 241 208 Parkway Friday 0600-0200 2013 321 231 Station Saturday 0700-0100 2008 156 112 (private rank) Saturday 0600-0000 2013 178 110 Friday 2000-0400 2006 ? 36 Galaxy Private Friday 2000-0400 2008 ? 36 rank Friday 2000-0600 2013 157 94 The 2013 surveys generally covered the same hours for those covered in 2008, and in many cases comparably to 2006. This provides an essential way in which demand can be compared to evaluate how the need for vehicles has progressed, particularly with the introduction of additional plates in this period.

Limited information was available from the 2006 survey, but where this exists it suggested general decline in active vehicle numbers to 2008, although this was not significant.

32 The general trend from 2008 to 2013 is an increase in passenger demand and vehicle service to ranks, with a few notable exceptions. It appears that airport demand has reduced in this period. Airport statistics suggest a reduction from 10 million in 2008 to 9 million in 2010. Our observed reduction might also be related to the time of year of surveys (ours were early March whilst the 2008 airport surveys were noted as being mid-June, which could be expected to be busier.) It is interesting that the number of plates contracted to service the airport has increased in this period.

Passenger and vehicle flows at Luton station are very similar comparing 2008 and 2013, apart from slight growth on the Saturday. This is compared to passenger growth at the station in the next section.

Wellington Street (Saturday) has very similar passenger and vehicle flows comparing 2008 and 2013, taking into account the change with the pedestrianisation and including the George Street data with that for Wellington Street.

The Galaxy (private night) rank has seen a significant increase in the number of vehicles serving, which may be related to the winning of the contract to service this location by hackney carriages, although service is to the area just outside the exit rather than to the private segregated marked rank area.

At all other locations, both passenger and vehicle numbers have increased mostly by around a third for passengers and around 20% for vehicle provision. Manchester Street, with the change to all-day operation, has seen higher levels of increase and appears to be developing into an important rank in Luton. This may continue further with the planned improvements to provision of rank space at this site.

In 2008, there was a lot of apparent private hire service to areas near to the ranks. Whilst some private hire vehicles were observed near to ranks in 2013, and it was also clear that many hackney carriages were collecting passengers in response to bookings (particularly at quieter times), in general the rank-based market appears to be more dominant in 2013 than in 2008. We understand the pedestrianisation and associated enforcement of waiting in the Wellington Street area may well have been a significant help in this regard. This is a significant improvement and may partly account for the higher level of hackney carriage patronage. This may also account for the lesser growth in vehicle numbers compared to loaded passenger departures with the possibility that hackney carriages waiting times for fares may well have reduced as private hire were less able to gain access to the rank areas.

33 Summary of overall demand through a typical week The overall demand for hackney carriages in a typical week in 2013 is estimated at 16,500 passengers, carried in some 10,600 hired vehicles from the ranks, including a 3% level of hailing as identified in the public attitude questionnaires.

Nearly one third of all hiring and passengers were obtained from the Park Street rank. The airport provided the second most, around a sixth of hiring (and slightly higher proportion of passengers). The two private station ranks both had 13% of hiring, with Manchester Street taking 12% and Wellington Street 7%. The private Galaxy night rank took 3% whilst the remaining 3% was shared between Upper George Street, Park Street West Casino and the Cheapside rank (with the least usage).

This confirms that, though Park Street remains the dominant rank, other ranks still have important parts to play in provision for passengers in Luton.

Application of the ISUD index The industry standard index of significant unmet demand (ISUD) has been used and developed since the initial Government guidance that limits could only apply if there was no significant unmet demand for the service of hackney carriage vehicles.

The current index has two elements which can negate the need for use of the index by setting the value to zero. The first test relates to if there are any daytime hours (Monday to Friday 1000 to 1800) where people are observed to queue for hackney carriages. There are 15% of all relevant hours with queues (or 17% taking only the council ranks) giving a value of 15 to 17.

The other index that could be zero – proportion of passengers in which queues were over 1 minute – was 12% for the whole survey (16% for the survey including only council ranks), giving a value of 12 to 16.

The seasonality index is 1.0 since the surveys were undertaken in March.

The area does not exhibit peaked demand, so this factor is 1.0.

Average passenger delay in minutes across the whole survey is 0.05, and very similar for the survey excluding the private ranks.

From the public attitude work, the latent demand factor is 1.02, assuming all who did not give an answer had not ever given up waiting.

34 The ISUD index for the full survey is 9. When the private ranks are excluded, the index increases to 14. Both values are less than the value of 80 which is agreed signifies the significance of unmet demand using this index. There is therefore, from the index measure, no significant unmet demand in Luton at this time. Other factors need to be balanced with this measure to confirm this decision (see later evidence and chapters).

There is another conclusion from this calculation – that service to the private ranks tends to draw vehicles from service to the purely council ranks, providing a marginally worse service than if only the council ranks existed. This is not surprising, since many of the private ranks have specific performance targets set of those serving them, as well as the vehicles using them having to pay for the privilege (and possibly providing longer journeys than the council ranks).

Level of hackney carriage vehicle activity On one of the survey days, registration plates of vehicles at or near four key ranks were recorded for a total sample of 11 hours through the day and night. During this recording period, some 207 vehicles were recorded. Of this total, 79 different hackney carriages were observed (47% of the fleet). This suggests the fleet was moderately active during the survey, but not to an extent that more vehicles were serving during the survey period to attempt to flood the demand side.

This value should be increased since the period when plates were recorded at the airport was a quieter time at that location, and it is likely that many more vehicles were operating there during the survey period than were recorded by this part of the survey.

36 different Luton registered private hire vehicles were recorded together with 21 registration plates which were either mis-recorded or were not Luton registered licensed vehicles. This suggests that up to 10% of vehicles servicing demand could be out of town, although as the observations were not at ranks some of this could be legitimate set downs or pre-booked collections of passengers. The observation of some out of town vehicles was also noted during one of our site visits (when the vehicles parked in Alma Street, some of which were out of town hackney carriage vehicles).

35

36

4. Public Consultation results A seventeen question survey was undertaken with 421 persons in the Luton Council area. Surveys were undertaken within the main central area (321), together with smaller samples at Leagrave (50 interviews), and outside the key night clubs of the area (50 interviews). The central and Leagrave interviews were undertaken on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th March 2013 whilst the night club interviews occurred on Friday 15th March 2013.

Interviews were principally undertaken during the main shopping day. The Table below summarises the overall responses broken down by area, and also providing the average of all results.

(NB – C = Central area, Lea = Leagrave, NC = night clubs, Av = average of all three. Question Response Av C Lea NC Have you used a taxi in the last three months in the Luton Yes, % 68 66 78 72 area? Almost daily 27 30 18 19 Once a week 24 21 35 25 A few times a month 29 30 21 33 How often do you use a taxi Once a month 11 9 18 17 within this area? (% of those Less than once a 9 10 8 6 who responded) month No response (assume 32 34 22 28 never as % of all) At a taxi rank 33 36 23 23 Hail in the street 3 3 0 2 Telephone a 36 41 10 23 How do you normally book a company taxi within this area? Use a Free phone 11 7 3 44 (percentage as a total of those Use my mobile or 15 10 64 8 who responded) smart phone Other 2 3 0 0 % of total who 94 96 78 16 responded

If you book a taxi by phone,

please tell us the three See discussion below companies you phone most

37

Av C Lea NC Almost daily 9 11 0 13 Once a week 14 17 3 12 A few times a month 16 19 0 25 Once a month 11 14 0 0 How often do you use a Less than once a hackney carriage within the 21 26 3 0 month Luton area? (% of those responding) I can’t remember when I last used a 29 14 94 50 hackney carriage I can’t remember seeing a hackney 0 0 0 0 carriage in Luton Please tell me the ranks you are aware of in Luton, and for each if you use them? Is there any location in Luton Please see analysis below you would like to see a rank and if it was there and vehicles were available, would you use them? Design of vehicle 6 6 0 0 Driver issues 11 11 0 0 Have you had any problem Position of ranks 16 17 0 0 with the local hackney Delay in getting a 8 9 0 0 carriage service? (indicate as taxi many as apply) Cleanliness 3 3 0 0 % of total of answers given Price 57 54 100 100 Other problems 0 0 0 0 (please state) % having a problem 9 11 2 2 Better vehicles 26 26 0 0 More hackney carriages I could 1 1 25 0 phone for What would encourage you to Better drivers 22 22 25 33 use taxis or use them more More hackney often (indicate top two carriages I could hail 1 1 0 0 reasons)(% of those giving or get at a rank replies) Cheaper fares 32 31 50 67 Better located ranks 19 19 0 0 Other (see 0 0 0 0 description below)

38 No reply 35 16 92 94

Av C Lea NC No 91 89 100 100 Yes - I need a wheelchair accessible 5 6 0 0 vehicle Yes – someone I know needs a 3 3 0 0 wheelchair accessible vehicle Do you consider you, or Yes – I need an anyone you know, to have a adapted vehicle but 0 0 0 0 disability that means you need not a wheel chair an adapted vehicle? accessible Yes – someone I knows needs an adapted vehicle but 1 1 0 0 not wheel chair accessible Other 0 0 0 0 % giving response 53 56 78 4 Have you ever given up Yes 4 3 5 0 waiting for a hackney carriage in Luton, if so, where? % giving answer 52 56 78 4 Do you have regular access to Yes 33 34 28 75 a car? Luton 61 68 26 60

Leagrave 27 19 74 0 Do you live in the Luton Another part 2 2 0 0 Borough Council area? No 10 11 0 40

No response 36 30 22 90 Full time employed 53 53 28 76 Part time employed 15 16 15 12 Self employed 11 14 0 0 Current employment status? Unemployed 6 3 21 7 Full time student 4 5 0 5 Part time student 4 4 3 0

39 Looking after home / 2 1 15 0 family Long term sick / 1 1 3 0 disabled Retired 4 3 15 0 Other 0 0 0 0 No response given 30 33 22 18 Gender (value in bracket from Male (51) 57 57 54 56 census, 2008 est of 2013) Under 18 (15-19)(8) 1 1 0 4 18-24(20-24)(11) 26 24 15 53 25-34 (23) 37 39 23 33 Age (value in brackets from 35-44 (16) 16 17 10 8 census, 2008 est of 2013) 45-54 (15) 12 12 26 2 55-64 (11) 4 3 13 0 Over 65 (16) 4 4 13 0 White – British 65 63 70 72 Mixed – white and 4 5 3 4 black African Asian / Asian-British 4 4 0 6 – Kashmiri Black / Black British 3 1 13 4 Caribbean East European 6 7 0 8 White – Irish 2 2 0 0 Mixed – white and 5 6 3 0 Asian Asian / Asian-British 2 2 0 0 – Bangladeshi Which of the following groups Black / Black British best describes you? 3 1 8 6 – African Other Asian 1 1 0 0 Other white 1 2 0 0 Black other 1 1 0 0 Mixed – white and 0 0 0 0 black Caribbean Asian / Asian British 0 0 3 0 – Indian Chinese 1 2 0 0 Asian / Asian British 0 0 0 0 – Pakistani Other 2 3 0 0 % not responding 28 33 22 4

Some 68% of those interviewed had used a licensed vehicle in the Council area in the last three months, a fairly high level of recent usage. Usage by those interviewed in Leagrave was highest, followed by the night club interviewees, with the central area having lowest usage, although the variation was not great (78 to 66%)

40

Licensed vehicle usage (both hackney carriage and private hire) saw most people say they used at ‘taxi’ a few times a month, although those in the central area shared this response with almost daily, suggesting potential high use overall. The high ‘use in last three months’ in Leagrave is confirmed by 35% of those interviewed there saying they used a taxi once a week. Non-response varied from 22 to 34%, fairly low. Estimates of usage were produced in the tables below.

Average Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 27 20 540 Once a week 24 4 96 A few times a month 29 2 58 Once a month 11 1 11 Less than once a month 9 0.5 4.5 100 709.5 Trips per person per month 7.1 Factored for 32% not using at all 4.8

Central area Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 30 20 600 Once a week 21 4 84 A few times a month 30 2 60 Once a month 9 1 9 Less than once a month 10 0.5 5 100 758 Trips per person per month 7.6 Factored for 34% not using at all 5.0

Leagrave Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 18 20 360 Once a week 35 4 140 A few times a month 21 2 42 Once a month 18 1 18 Less than once a month 8 0.5 4 100 564 Trips per person per month 5.6 Factored for 22% not using at all 4.4

Night clubs Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 19 20 380 41 Once a week 25 4 100 A few times a month 33 2 66 Once a month 17 1 17 Less than once a month 6 0.5 3 100 566 Trips per person per month 5.7 Factored for 28% not using at all 4.1

Overall, those interviewed in the streets of Luton made some 4.8 licensed vehicle trips per month. The range of usage varies a little between areas, with night club interviewees having lowest usage at 4.1 per month, and the central area with 5 per month. Leagrave saw 4.4 trips per month. These values are compared to specific hackney carriage usage below.

Most people told us how they obtained licensed vehicles in the Luton Council area. The dominant response was ‘telephone a taxi company’ – 36% overall - with 41% of those responding in the central area giving this answer. However, for Leagrave the dominant response was 64% saying they used mobile or smart phones – and club interviewees mainly used free-phones (44%).

Rank usage was also high in the central area at 36%, not far behind the telephone bookings (and 33% on average). Leagrave and night club respondents used ranks less (23%). Hailing was on average 3% although no-one hailed in the Leagrave sample, and the night club interviewees tended to hail a little less (2%). Nonetheless, the hail proportion is higher than the national 1% or less. The night club sample has to be tempered by the low response (just 16%), although all other areas had high response rates to this question (nearly everyone in the central area).

With respect to named companies, responses were totally different by place.

For those interviewed in Central Bedford, 153 gave operator names. 23 named three companies, 80 named 2 and 50 gave just one. Some 68 different names were given, although some of these are possibly the same company (eg use of Cabs, Cars or Taxi were kept separate).

In Leagrave, four people gave three company names, 17 gave two and 16 gave a single company. Overall, about 7 different operators were named. For the night club interviewees, only one person named two companies, with 29 naming one, with 15 different operators mentioned overall.

Overall, there is a lot of choice of private hire operators in peoples’ minds in Bedford. Though the two hackney carriage companies were mentioned, across the whole sample there do not appear to be any

42 dominant operators. There also appears to be confusion amongst people as to what the real names of companies are.

People were then asked to tell us how often they used hackney carriages (specifically) in the Luton area. Encouragingly, no one said they could not remember seeing a hackney carriage in Luton. However, for most people the response tended to be that they could not remember when they last used a hackney carriage in Luton.

The tables below identify how many trips per month the responses imply.

Average – hackney carriage usage Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 9 20 180 Once a week 14 4 56 A few times a month 16 2 32 Once a month 11 1 11 Less than once a month 21 0.5 10.5 Can’t remember using 29 0 0 100 289.5 Trips per person per month 2.9 Factored for 46% not responding 1.6

Central area – hackney carriage usage Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 11 20 220 Once a week 17 4 68 A few times a month 19 2 38 Once a month 14 1 14 Less than once a month 26 0.5 13 Can’t remember using 14 0 0 100 353 Trips per person per month 3.5 Factored for 44% not responding 2.0

Leagrave – hackney carriage usage Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 0 20 0 Once a week 3 4 12 A few times a month 0 2 0 Once a month 0 1 0 Less than once a month 3 0.5 1.5 Can’t remember using 94 0 0 100 13.5 Trips per person per month 0.1 Factored for 22% not responding at all 0.1 43

Night clubs – hackney carriage usage Frequency No of people Assumed Trips Total per month Almost daily 13 20 260 Once a week 12 4 48 A few times a month 25 2 50 Once a month 0 1 0 Less than once a month 0 0.5 0 Can’t remember using 50 0 0 100 358 Trips per person per month 3.6 Factored for 84% not responding at all 0.6

Hackney carriages are not used by those interviewed in Leagrave. In the central area, people interviewed said they made some 5 trips per month by ‘taxi’ but when asked specifically about hackney carriages this reduced to just 2 trips – the highest level of usage. The night club respondents made around 4.1 total licensed vehicle trips but just 0.6 of these are in hackney carriage. This further confirms the dominance of usage of private hire cars in the Luton area.

People were asked which ranks they were aware of, and which they made use of. In the central area, 73 people responded, 15 giving three ranks, 15 giving two ranks and the remainder citing a single rank. Of these 43 people, 38 used the rank they named. The most quoted rank was at the railway station, followed by Park Street. Bridge Street / Galaxy, Manchester Street and Parkway station were mentioned. Just four people mentioned Wellington Street, one of whom said they did not use it.

In Leagrave, just one person said they were aware of, and used, both Park Street and Wellington Street ranks. Only two night club respondents knew of ranks, near Farmfoods and at Bridge Street, and both said they used these.

Further, people were asked if there were locations they would like to see ranks and if they were provided and vehicles used them, if they themselves would make use of the new rank facility. No suggestions were made from the Leagrave or night club respondents.

The central area respondents gave 21 responses, one of whom suggested two locations. Nine different locations were suggested, with Chapel Street gaining six persons who said they would use a rank there. Midland Road saw four people who said they would use a rank there and one who suggested one there, but would not use it.

One person suggested near the university and another near the hospital, both of whom would use such a rank. Other locations were Castle Street, Church Street, High Street, High Town Road and next to Park Street. 44

Questions then progressed to examining if respondents had issues with the local hackney carriage service. Overall, just 9% of interviewees responded. Price was the only issue for those responding in Leagrave and from the night club respondents. Price was also the main issue for those in the central area (54% of the responses), with rank position next (17%), driver issues (11%) and design of vehicle (6%). Only the price issue is significant.

When people were asked what might make them use hackney carriages, or use them more often. Cheaper fares dominated the response, though it was not as significant in the central area. In the central area, better vehicles came next (26%), followed by better drivers and then better located ranks, whilst in Leagrave and the night club better drivers was second place. Only in Leagrave did a handful of people say they would use hackney carriages more if they could contact them by phone. Overall, there does not seem to be much that can be done to increase usage of hackney carriages although the experience of driver and vehicle clearly could help.

People were asked if they, or anyone they knew, needed an adapted licensed vehicle. Overall 91% of those responding said they did not. None of those from Leagrave or the night club sample felt they needed any adapted vehicle of any style. For the central area, the dominant response of vehicle type was wheel chair accessible, with hardly any response for other adapted vehicles. This is typical for an area with a fully wheel chair accessible fleet.

A question was asked if people had ever given up waiting for hackney carriages anywhere in Luton. In the central area, 3% of those responding had, in Leagrave this rose to 5%, but the few responding from the night clubs said none had. Overall, allowing for non- respondents, the latent demand factor based on this question is approximately 2%, very low. From the entire sample, just three people said where they had given up waiting, one at the railway station, one in various places (both Leagrave respondents), and the other had given up waiting at Galaxy. This level of response suggests there is no overall issue with people giving up waiting for hackney carriages in Luton.

Overall, 33% had regular access to a car (75% for the night club sample), and 61% lived in Luton. For the Leagrave respondents, 74% lived in Leagrave and the rest were from Luton itself. 60% of those interviewed near the night clubs were from Luton, the other 40% being from outside the Borough altogether.

In terms of employment, overall 53% were employed full time, 15% employed part time and 11% self employed. These values were relatively consistent, apart from there appearing to be more unemployed and retired persons in Leagrave.

45 Our sample tended to include a higher proportion of men than the 2008 estimates of 2013 would suggest (57% compared to 51%).

When checking the age sample, there seems to be over-representation of those between 18 and 34, although the proportion in the 35-44 groups was similar to that expected. There were a lot less over 55’s interviewed than expected.

In terms of ethnicity, a wide range was obtained, with on average just under a third not responding (quite a good level of response). People mainly responded white British (63%), with the next highest percentage being East European for the central area and night club, and black Caribbean for Leagrave.

46 5. Stakeholder Consultation The following key stakeholders were contacted in line with the DfT Best Practise Guidance 2010:

Supermarkets Hotels Hospital Pubwatch / night clubs Disability representatives Education and social services Police Luton Airport Rail operators

Specific comments have been aggregated below to provide an overall appreciation of the current situation, although in some cases comments are specific to the needs of a particular stakeholder. It should be noted that the comments contained in this Chapter are the view of those consulted, and not that of the authors of this Report. The licensed vehicle trade consultation is the subject of the following chapter. Appendix 2 provides further details of those consulted.

Supermarkets Attempts were made to contact a sample of six supermarkets across the Luton Borough area. Response was received from four locations. One store saw customers use a nearby rank, where vehicles were always available and from which they had never received a complaint.

The three other stores all used phones to specific companies, although customers could use pay phones to contact other companies if they so wished. One store had an issue when they changed their phone operator, but this was quickly resolved. Another knew that there were three or four vehicles that regularly serviced their location.

One other supermarket refused to answer questions except by our writing to their head office, whilst the other continually had busy phones.

In general, there is a good mix of service of supermarkets by hackney carriage from ranks and private hire by phones, dependant on the location.

47 Hotels Three hotels were contacted. All said people obtained licensed vehicles to leave their sites by phone. However, one had worked with one of the hackney carriage radio companies since they had opened and had built an excellent relationship that their customers enjoyed. Another had negotiated a discounted rate to the Airport, and used a hackney carriage radio company. The final hotel had never had a complaint about licensed vehicle services, and said its customers phoned a variety of companies when required.

Hospital A representative from the Luton and Dunstable Hospital on Lewsey Road told us they use a private hire company on account as required. They will phone for a vehicle for a visitor if required. The only rank they were aware of was the private hire provision at Leagrave station, which they thought was a hackney carriage rank.

Pubwatch / night clubs A representative from the Grosvenor G Casino told us that they undertook a tender exercise to obtain a licensed vehicle provider for their site. One of the hackney carriage radio companies won the contract. They won the contract on the basis of offering cleaner and newer vehicles, competitive rates and an improved offer of service. This has remained in place since 2007. Customer and staff feedback remains excellent and there are no plans to review the provision. The company has a proven record of demonstrating good service above that previously experienced with the two previous suppliers, and the casino feels they remain competitive in price in the market place.

Given that they have no issues with their provider, they did not feel it was relevant to give a view on if there were enough hackney carriages in places as they were not aware of any issues that might suggest otherwise.

Ten other night club or late venues were contacted. Just three responded. One venue had closed completely, whilst another told us they were selling up and only had occasional events at the present time. The two other respondents said they had specific private hire companies that most of their customers made use of, either by advertising on the club web site, or by other advertising. Neither had booking office facilities provided within their premises, nor made use of marshals. Neither made any comment about any shortage of hackney carriages as their customers seemed pleased with the private hire service provided.

48 Disability Representative A representative from Shop Mobility spoke with us. Their main concern was that many licensed vehicles did not wish to bring customers up to level 3 of the car park where they were based. However, few customers actually used licensed vehicles to access their services in any case, most arriving in their own transport or in accessible buses from other organisations.

Chaul End Day Centre operates a service to those with disabilities. They have an arrangement with one hackney carriage driver for getting customers home and especially in emergencies. The driver is well-trained both in health and safety and in general service of customers with varied needs. Most of their customers needed wheel chair adapted vehicles, and found they were treated properly and professionally when travelling. Some customers used other licensed vehicle services according to their need and choice at the time.

Education and Social Services A representative from the Passenger Transport Unit of Luton Borough Council advised us that they procure contracts which are mixed between public carriage, hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. They have no issues with the type of vehicle provided as the onus is on the provider to present the correct vehicle and driver for the contract in question. However, the representative felt that Luton licensed vehicles tended to miss out on some contracts since most contracts won were providers from Central Bedfordshire, which was believed to relate to lower costs for those operators (arising from lower licensing costs and looser vehicle condition requirements).

Police A police representative gave their views about the current licensed vehicle situation in the Luton Borough licensing area. They felt the “town was awash with private hire vehicles”. The main area of interest to vehicles is Gordon Street between 2300 and 0500 on Friday and Saturday nights. Private hire vehicles are always available, and the representative feels that many wait for fares which are not booked. This also causes clear friction with the hackney carriages whose rank is on the opposite side of the same road.

The representative is aware there are liaison meetings with both hackney carriage and private hire, but the meetings tend to be attended by 7-8 hackney carriage reps but just one or two from the private hire side.

49 The representative felt the key issues occurred when the marshals ended their duty and the situation became uncontrolled. Most issues occur around New Bedford Road / Manchester Street / White House. At first, the road closure and marshals ended at 05:00, this has now been changed to 04:00 which means there are issues in that period. The main reason that the road near the clubs was shut was to prevent general traffic ‘cruising’ past the club and making the area dangerous for pedestrians. This now means that people from the clubs have to walk a short distance to ranks in either direction, but mainly towards Manchester Street.

The representative also noted there were two private hire offices located in this area – from which vehicles should really wait in Telford Way car park, but usually come to wait close to the hackney carriage ranks.

Another issue relates to the comment from hackney carriages that there is not enough rank space, but private hire vehicles tend to use rank spaces that are not used regularly by hackney carriages.

Luton Airport A representative was consulted from Luton Airport. They made it clear that the area where hackney carriages pick up at the Airport is a privately accessed separate area, not any formal rank. The fact that it is served by hackney carriages relates to the fact that the hackney carriage association won an exclusive contract to serve the airport around two years ago. There are a restricted number allowed to serve this location – currently 101 vehicles (plates 1 to 101, but determined entry by their registration plates). Entry to this area is provided by a cctv camera which also provides secure access for a wide variety of airport delivery or service vehicles.

All vehicles serving the area must comply with Luton licensing regulations and no touting is allowed at all. Private hire vehicles from any authority can fulfil pre-booked trips by picking up and setting down in specified areas in the short term car park. They have to pay for the price of entry to the car park.

Excellent service is obtained from the hackney carriage fleet at their private area. There can often be 70-80 of the fleet waiting for passengers in this area. The airport peaks tend to be outside normal traffic peaks – with high demand between 05:30 and 06:30, at lunch time, and between 21:00 and 22:00. Evidence of the excellent service is there have been no complaints at all for the last year. The only complaints received were concerns about the ‘airport surcharge’. The representative felt most passengers obtained a vehicle within two minutes of arriving at the area. The representative suggested any equipment installed would need to be in place by 04:00 and removed after midnight to get best results and be least intrusive on the operation of the area.

50 No operating statistics were recorded for the operation by the airport – the cctv served a wide range of vehicles and kept no record of entry times. Nor was there any marshal or booking system for passengers, they just arrived and used the area in true rank style.

The representative admitted that there would be re-tendering exercises in the future that might result in different operations of the area.

Rail Operators National statistics are publicly available showing the total number of entries and exits at each rail station in the United Kingdom. These numbers are calculated using ticket barrier and ticket issue information from ticket sales.

The Table below shows information for Luton council area stations from 1997/1998 to date. This gives background information on how other public transport has fared with the current economic climate – although rail tends to be the largest grower of patronage in difficult economic circumstances. It also provides some suggestion how potential customer levels have changed at stations.

All three Luton stations are primarily served by First Capital Connect who run services from Bedford to London and then south towards Brighton and other parts of the South East. These services will be expanded in the future both increasing frequencies and destinations. The two Luton stations are additionally serviced by East Midlands Trains with services from London to Bedford, Corby, Leicester, Sheffield and Nottingham albeit no more than hourly.

Luton Rail year (ends March of latest year) Entries / exits Growth / decline 1997 / 1998 2,354,387 n/a 1998 / 1999 3,009,858 +28% 1999 / 2000 3,253,976 +8% 2000 / 2001 2,998,940 -8% 2001 / 2002 2,960,761 -1% 2002 / 2003 2,979,994 +1% 2004 / 2005 3,064,000 +3% 2005 / 2006 3,143,672 +3% 2006 / 2007 3,354,253 +7% 2007 /2008 3,548,183 +6% 2008 / 2009 3,436,718 -3% 2009 / 2010 3,187,434 -7% 2010 / 2011 3,261,278 +2% 2011 / 2012 3,440,310 +5% Overall 97/98 to 11/12 +46%

51 Luton Airport Parkway Rail year (ends March latest year) Entries / exits Growth / decline 1997 / 1998 (6) n/a 1998 / 1999 (3,717) n/a 1999 / 2000 (325,801) n/a 2000 / 2001 1,195,856 n/a 2001 / 2002 1,389,701 +16% 2002 / 2003 1,569,178 +13% 2004 / 2005 1,886,911 +20% 2005 / 2006 2,156,699 +14% 2006 / 2007 2,384,740 +11% 2007 /2008 2,628,187 +10% 2008 / 2009 2,589,262 -1% 2009 / 2010 2,338,658 -10% 2010 / 2011 2,312,120 -1% 2011 / 2012 2,429,604 +5% Overall 00/01 to 11/12 +103%

Leagrave Rail year (ends March latest year) Entries / exits Growth / decline 1997 / 1998 745,047 n/a 1998 / 1999 988,487 +33% 1999 / 2000 1,115,346 +13% 2000 / 2001 1,168,833 +5% 2001 / 2002 1,226,852 +5% 2002 / 2003 1,253,018 +2% 2004 / 2005 1,341,713 +7% 2005 / 2006 1,413,294 +5% 2006 / 2007 1,524,828 +8% 2007 /2008 1,651,382 +8% 2008 / 2009 1,633,058 -1% 2009 / 2010 1,511,076 -7% 2010 / 2011 1,554,446 +3% 2011 / 2012 1,686,514 +8% Overall 97/98 to 11/12 +126%

Looking at overall growth from 1997/1998 through to the last statistics available for 2011/2012, rail passenger growth has been significant. Leagrave saw highest growth, more than doubling its passenger numbers in the period. Luton Airport Parkway grew by 103%, whilst Luton itself saw lowest growth, but still some 46%. All three stations saw decline in 2008-2010, with Parkway still seeing decline in the last but one period reviewed.

52 The largest passenger flow, however, remains at Luton station itself, where just over 3.4 million passengers per year were estimated – suggesting 1.7 million people leave the station each year to continue their journeys by other modes. In the latest year available, Parkway station saw 2.4 million passengers whilst Leagrave was just under 1.7 million. All these flows are high and all should give rise to potential demand for hackney carriage ranks at these locations.

A further review was undertaken of licensed vehicle provision at stations, according to the train-taxi guide. The table below summarises this.

Station Comment No. of private hire references Luton Has active rank 3, all WAV Luton Airport Parkway Rank or office, check 3 (as above) before travel Leagrave Rank or office, check 2, one WAV, which is before travel the company based in office here, or use Luton station instead

The record of ranks / offices is correct, although Luton Airport Parkway is a rank where vehicles are normally available. Both sets of companies to phone are the same, and all three advertise wheel chair available vehicles. The first two companies listed are hackney carriage radio companies whose vehicles will usually be at the rank in any case.

Leagrave is a booking office for a private hire company rather than a rank, although the company operating this is mentioned at the top of the operator list. This company also claims wheel chair accessible vehicles.

Luton station is being rebuilt, and the forecourt has already been revised with the rank moved further away from the entrance to the station (see further discussion in other parts of this report).

Apart from Leagrave, the rail station market appears to be principally served by the hackney carriage trade – although the private hire sector does have a booking office on the bridge leading to the station car park and the exit towards Midland Road.

53

54

6. Licensed Vehicle Trade Consultation

Trade consultation A meeting was held with two representatives of the hackney carriage trade on 14th February 2013 in the presence of the licensing officer.

A letter and questionnaire was issued to all Luton Council licensed hackney carriage drivers inviting them to provide their comments about current hackney carriage operation in the Luton area. Some 90 questionnaires were returned.

Private Hire Consultation One private hire operator provided their views on behalf of himself and two business partners. They felt they were suffering from the disadvantages of the policy of limiting vehicle numbers, which had been in place for the thirty years they had been in the industry. The biggest disadvantage is that private hire feel they suffer from a ‘them and us’ attitude from the hackney carriage trade. They feel this even splits families where one member is a hackney carriage driver and another a private hire.

They feel hackney carriages have an unfair advantage in the market place, currently serving 95% of hotels in the area, who prefer hackney carriages since they can take customers direct from station and airport to their hotel, and can also advertise the hotel on their vehicles.

Further, they felt that in Luton hackney carriages did not have the opportunity to work for private hire companies as occurs in other towns. They believe that any hackney carriage driver that works for a private hire company is intimidated back to working for the hackney carriage radio circuits. We found no further evidence of this issue.

They also felt there needed to be more hackney carriages available to reduce the level of people seeking private hire cars without pre-booking. They also told us they are aware that hackney carriage vehicle licences change hands for some £70,000.

Two responses within the survey were received from those who said they drove private hire vehicles. One favoured retaining the limit whilst the other suggested more vehicles were needed and opposed the limit.

55

Hackney Carriage responses At the initial trade representative meeting the trade said they now felt the weekend began on Friday nights, not Thursday.

With reference to ranks, the trade confirmed the main daytime rank was Park Street, followed by Wellington Street and Manchester Street. The main night location was Manchester Street.

The joint permit for Luton and Luton Airport Parkway stations, purchased from First Capital Connect is currently £160 per three month period. Between 80 and 90 drivers purchase this permit.

The trade are concerned at the reduction in space and the increased distance from the station exit to the rank at Luton Station. In the old format, the rank was directly outside the station exit, and had 25 spaces. The permit fee was £120 (joint). The rank is now in a dedicated loop, although this is shared with other vehicles setting down and picking up passengers (who can do so closer than the head of the rank), and has just ten spaces for vehicles to wait. Furthermore, there is a private hire booking office nearer to the station exit to the new Station car park on the other side of the railway line.

At Parkway, there are six spaces for hackney carriages. These are located in the third row of the car park. This often means the hackney carriages are hidden behind coaches which park in the second row. We noticed this on our second site visit to the location. There has been recent revision of arrangements for additional vehicles here beyond the six rank spaces. Extra vehicles, to a maximum of 15 overall (ie nine more) can park within the further spaces of the car park.

The representatives said that most of the independent drivers tend to focus on work at the Airport, where the first 101 plates are allowed access to the pick-up area reserved for licensed vehicles. This location had been won by competitive tender.

Levels of double shifting had fallen, mainly as a result of the increasing costs required of insurance for a double shifted vehicle.

The representatives said that over 80% of the fleet operated on one of three radio circuits. These circuits were used to advise other drivers if they were the last to leave a particular rank, to try to minimise any opportunity for unmet demand. These two companies were those that other stakeholders often gave contracts to. Company vehicles tended to focus their work more on the central area ranks than at the airport, although there were company based vehicles serving the Airport.

There were several different hackney carriage representative bodies, but all talked to one another and the two representatives met provided evidence they shared information with others adequately.

56

Discussion occurred regarding the content of the survey, but it was agreed that, to ensure robustness, full details of the planned observations at ranks could not be provided. The trade representatives understood and accepted this. Methods to obtain driver responses to the general driver questionnaire were agreed.

It was accepted that change to ranks was planned, but that the surveys should go ahead as soon as possible since it was not clear when new ranks would be put in place, and even if they were in place quickly it would tend to take six months for their real use to be demonstrated. It was therefore felt important to get a record of the current rank operation as soon as weather and school terms permitted.

90 questionnaire responses were received. Of these, two persons said they mainly drove private hire vehicles. Analysis of the questions suggested that:

- Those responding had on average been drivers for 14 years - The longest a person had been a driver was 35 years - On average they worked six days per week - The average hours worked were 45 per week - However, this ranged from 6 hours to 84 hours for those responding - 76% of respondents owned and drove their own vehicle - 23% stated they drove a vehicle owned by someone else - 11% said a night shift person also used their vehicle - 8% said a person also used their vehicle on a day shift - 81% were on hackney carriage radio circuits (very high) - 5% were on private hire company circuits - On average, those completing the questionnaires had earned £30 in the time before they filled the questionnaire in; and on average they would be working around five hours more that day - 37% worked longer on Fridays and Saturdays and 17% more just on Saturdays, 62% did not work longer on any particular day - 83% said retaining a limit remained right for this area, but 16% said it was not - 76% would leave the trade if the limit was removed, 5% would react by working longer hours, 7% said they would react ‘positively’, one person felt it would allow them to reduce out of town private hire work and two said they would be unemployed. - 85 told us which ranks they worked. 13% said they worked all ranks. Apart from these drivers, the most frequent rank used was Park Street (64% of drivers, or 77% in total), followed by 41% at the airport, 36% at the station and 33% at both Wellington Street and Luton Airport Parkway. Just two drivers worked ‘all but the airport’, just two claimed only to work the airport and one just Parkway.

57 A wide range of comments were received but drivers told us (in order of number of similar responses): - There are already too many hackney carriages and not enough rank spaces available - More vehicles would make current owners find it hard to maintain their vehicle - Concern was raised over out of town vehicles taking trade - Some wanted more vehicles at night - A comment was made that the Casino rank appeared to be only served by one company and that others were not able to use it

58 7. Responses to DfT Best Practice Guidance 2010 Annex A of the Best Practice Guidance (BPG) provides a list of useful questions to help assess the issue of quantity controls of hackney carriage licences.

This chapter takes the form of a response to each question based on the evidence identified earlier in this report. BPG questions are shown in bold italic with responses following in normal type.

Have you considered the Government’s view that quantity control should be removed unless a specific case that such controls benefit the consumer can be made?

Yes, this report is the independent input to this consideration on behalf of Luton Council seeking to identify such a case.

Questions relating to the policy of controlling numbers: Have you recently reviewed the need for your policy of quantity controls?

Yes, this report forms a review of the need for the policy of quantity control of hackney carriages at this point in time in the Luton Council area. Previous studies were undertaken in 2006 and 2008, after which a policy of managed growth was introduced, the level of which was reduced and then halted.

What form did the review of your policy of quantity controls take? This current review follows the DfT Best Practise Guidance April 2010 in undertaking a full review of the current situation in regard to the policy towards hackney carriage vehicle limits. It includes: A review of the background policies of the Council A rank survey program to identify current demand and supply Public consultation with people in the streets of Luton Stakeholder consultation with all groups recommended by the DfT Best Practise Guidance as far as people were available A detailed trade consultation Consideration of the relevant section of the Equality Act

59 Who was involved in the review? This review was undertaken by an independent consultant and included direct discussion with the following respondents:

Local supermarkets Hotels in the area The local hospital Pubwatch and night clubs A local Disability representative Education and social services The local police A local highways representative Luton Airport Local rail operating company Drivers from the hackney carriage trade Selected private hire trade companies

For the sake of clarity, the following respondents were contacted in a number of ways but had not responded by the time this Report was finalised:

Several night life representatives

What decision was reached about retaining or removing quantity controls?

The decision regarding quantity controls is the subject of the final chapter in terms of independent technical recommendations, but is principally a matter for decision by the committee appointed to make such decisions on behalf of Luton Council.

Are you satisfied that your policy justifies restricting entry to the trade?

Please see the summary and conclusions section for guidance on technical conclusions from our review – ultimately this decision is for the local council to make.

Are you satisfied that quantity controls do not: Reduce the availability of taxis Increase waiting times for consumers Reduce choice and safety for consumers

Our technical conclusion is that there are sufficient hackney carriages available when and where needed in the Luton central area. The small amounts of identified unmet demand should be resolved by careful consideration and do not require further plates at this point in time. Hence, quantity controls do not reduce the availability of taxis, increase waiting times or reduce choice and safety.

60 What special circumstances justify retention of quantity controls? This issue is ultimately for the Councillors to conclude. Retaining the limit at the present time would help maintain the current high vehicle standards that exist, particularly with the fully wheel chair accessible vehicle policy. It protects the current road network from congestion that would increase were more plates issued, most of whom would gravitate to the areas least able to cope with additional vehicles. The managed growth policy has been important in balancing supply and demand over its years of application, and retaining this option provides the fastest way to respond when demand once again begins to increase as the economic climate improves.

How does your policy benefit consumers, particularly in remote rural areas? Luton has private hire companies who focus on the less urban areas of the authority. With sufficient hackney carriages available and serving the central area, as well as the current cctv enforced parking control of the pedestrianized streets, private hire are less drawn to service need in urban areas, leaving them better able to focus on outer area demand.

How does your policy benefit the trade? Retention of the current limit could allow further development of the hackney carriage trade in the area given the stability this would retain in the hackney carriage part of the industry. Injection of the instability of increasing new entrants to the hackney carriage trade would not support those who have been long term investors in the hackney carriage industry. This would lead to a reduction in the ability of members of the hackney carriage trade to retain high standards of vehicle maintenance.

If you have a local accessibility policy, how does this fit with restricting taxi licences? We did not become aware of the local accessibility policy, apart from the fact that having a limit assists the maintenance of high quality wheel chair accessible vehicles.

Questions relating to setting the number of taxi licences: When did you last assess unmet demand? Unmet demand has been assessed in 2006, 2008 and most recently in this 2013 survey. The principal data collection for this last assessment was collected in March 2013.

61 How is your taxi limit assessed? In all three studies the limit has been assessed using industry standard techniques.

Have you considered latent demand, ie potential customers who would use taxis if more were available, but currently do not? Yes, latent demand was considered by several methods, with the key method being through interviews with members of the public.

Are you satisfied that your limit is set at the correct level? This is a matter for decision by the Council committee based on evidence following in our summary, but at present there is no significant unmet demand that would require issue of further plates.

How does the need for adequate taxi ranks affect your policy of quantity controls? The need for adequate taxi ranks which reflect the current economics and footfall of the main urban area is critical at this time. There is currently plan to refresh rank provision in one developing area, Manchester Street although this will not affect the results of this survey. A further rank is planned in Midland Road which may increase usage of hackney carriages further, but the impact of this needed to be observed. At present there should be more than enough vehicles available to service this new rank.

Questions relating to consultation and other public transport service provision:

When consulting, have you included all those working in the market, consumer and passenger (including disabled groups), groups which represent those passengers with special needs, local interest groups, eg hospitals or visitor attractions, the police, a wide range of transport stakeholders, eg rail/bus/coach providers and traffic managers? See above, yes, all appropriate consultees have been taken into account.

Do you receive representations about taxi availability? No

What is the level of service currently available to consumers including other public transport modes? There are good rail and bus services available. However, most services reduce in early evening and cease before midnight.

62 8. The Equality Act 2010 Whilst several sections of the Equality Act (EA) affect licensed vehicle operations, the key provision relevant to this report is the requirement under section 161 that any authority with a limit on the number of hackney carriage vehicle licences should issue licences to wheel chair accessible vehicles (WAV) until an agreed percentage of the fleet were such WAV style. The last guidance in regard to timescales for introduction of this regulation saw consultation occurring around this point in time – although nothing has yet been issued by the Department for Transport. Luton Council currently has a limit and this section of the Act applies. However, Luton also has a fully wheel chair accessible policy and the fleet currently complies with this.

Section 161 of the Equality Act therefore applies to Luton but the fleet is currently fully compliant whilst the wheel chair accessible policy applies. At present there is no consideration of any revision of this policy, so the Council remains compliant with Section 161 of the Equality Act.

63 64 9. Summary and conclusions

Policy Background Luton Council has kept a regular review of its policies towards hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, including the issue of if a limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers is appropriate. There was a limit on vehicle numbers from at least the start of the 1985 Transport Act Section 16 until 2004 set at 81 vehicles (and 101 in 2005). A managed growth policy was then applied, introducing three sets of 20 plates per year reduced to two per year from 2010 to 2012, when the managed growth was put on hold awaiting the result of this survey. The limit is currently still in force, and no new hackney carriage plates are currently available under any circumstance. 167 vehicles is the present limit.

Comparison was made with the other two former Bedfordshire authorities, and three authorities from Hertfordshire nearby. Of these six authorities, three retain limits (with one having reinstated its limit in 2012 after six years of having no restriction). Luton is unique in these six authorities in having a fully wheel chair accessible fleet. Luton’s overall hackney carriage and private hire fleet provides the best provision within the six areas, although hackney provision is the second lowest (although still much higher than is traditional for an area with a limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers).

Luton Council fares are 134th equal out of the authorities listed in the Private Hire and Taxi Monthly March 2013 review. Similar fares apply in Eastbourne, Hastings, Manchester and Plymouth. This level of fare (£5-50 for two miles) is just a penny below the national average whilst the “southern” fare average is 9% more.

Luton Council has long required all hackney carriage vehicles to be wheel chair accessible, although the range of vehicles allowed has widened over the recent years. This therefore implies a relatively high entry cost were any new vehicles to be allowed.

The Luton hackney carriage fleet is also fairly unique in having three hackney carriage only radio circuits and very few, if any, hackney carriages working on private hire circuits or fleets. This makes Luton more similar to larger cities compared to major towns in this regard. There also appears to be very little double shifting of vehicles at this point in time, though this may be a national trend related to change in insurance structure as much as a reduction in work.

Rank Survey results Rank surveys were undertaken covering some 288 hours of rank operation. The observations show there are three all day / night ranks provided by the Council plus five night only ranks. In addition there is

65 one private central rank, two private railway station ranks, and the Airport pick-up area – a very high provision of active ranks. During our observations just two persons were observed using a wheel chair, although many passengers were given assistance to gain access to vehicles.

Of 4,936 passengers observed in the survey, just 2% waited for a vehicle to arrive (unmet demand), with the average wait over all passengers being just three seconds.

Rank usage has developed from the 2008 survey mainly related to the pedestrianisation of the Wellington Street / George Street area, and Friday and Saturday night closure of Gordon Street. Manchester Street has become an all-day rank location, with Wellington Street now used to pick up passengers, albeit to a lower level than when the rank was in George Street (although this is related to the increased use of Manchester Street in the daytime. Wellington Street sees a high proportion of vehicles leaving empty with the lower levels of demand – much of which has possibly moved to Manchester Street which is visible from near Wellington Street / George Street corner.

During daytime hours, Park Street is the busiest location, and this is the busiest rank overall (with a third of all passengers in a typical week). The Airport rank is the second busiest location, although its demand has fallen since the previous survey (currently a sixth of total rank passengers). Each private rail station rank provides around 13% of hiring whilst Manchester Street provides 12% and Wellington Street 7%.

Comparing night demand, the Saturday is 60% busier than the Friday, with both nights seeing peak demand around 02:00 the next morning, albeit much higher on the early Sunday morning. Focus of this demand is on Manchester Street, although the Casino rank was well-used on the night it was observed.

Overall, passengers using ranks received fair to excellent service from the vehicles serving them. On the contrary, vehicles often waited long times for passengers, markedly so at the Airport pick-up area. Service to the private ranks or pick-up areas does appear to be better than that provided to the council operated ranks, which may be related to the need to recoup payments made for using these locations, and also perhaps to service requirements applied by the private operators. In many cases, the hackney carriage trade has won the right to service the rank or pick-up area in competition with private hire operators, hence another reason for a focus on providing continual good service to these locations.

66

Comparing the three surveys shows a general fall in demand from 2006 to 2008, but an increase from 2008 to 2013. The airport is, however, a notable exception in that demand at the pick-up area has fallen. Overall, passengers have increase by a third in most cases. A key location that is growing significantly is the Manchester Street rank, which appears to be supplanting the Wellington Street rank as the main rank in the northern part of the town centre, day and night.

Data collected on one day found 47% of the fleet active, a reasonable level suggesting the data is robust.

Overall, demand for hackney carriages in a typical week is now around 16,500 passengers including the relatively high level of 3% hailing.

The index of significant unmet demand ranges from 9 to 14 dependent on the ranks included, well below the threshold of 80 that suggests significant unmet demand. Hence the ISUD index suggests there is no significant unmet demand for hackney carriages in Luton at this time, although the final conclusion on this matter is provided below in context of other evidence gathered.

Public Consultation A total of 421 persons were interviewed in the streets of the Luton Council area in March 2013. A reasonable sample was obtained, including some from Leagrave (50), and from outside the key night clubs of the area (50), with the remainder in the main central Luton area.

Some 68% had used a licensed vehicle in the Luton council area within the last three months. Highest recent use was recorded for those in the Leagrave sample, whilst the central area had the lowest usage. Average trip making by licensed vehicle was some 4.8 trips per person per month, with the highest value being 5 trips per month in the central area sample.

The split between phone and rank usage was almost equal, on average 41% phone and 33% use ranks, although the rank proportion was higher for the central sample (36%). Leagrave was dominated by use of mobile or smart phones (64%). Hailing was relatively high at 3%, mainly focussed on the central area sample (and to a lesser degree the night sample).

In terms of companies phoned, there was a large range of answers given, many being corruptions of the main name. There were no dominant operators, and relatively little phoning of the hackney carriage companies recorded.

67 When people were asked about specific use of hackney carriages, usage levels were lower. For the central area, 5 trips per week by licensed vehicle fell to just two by hackney carriage. When further questions were asked, overall 29% could not remember the last time they had used a hackney carriage, although encouragingly no-one said they could not remember seeing a hackney carriage in the area.

In terms of ranks, only those in the central area made significant use of ranks, with good knowledge of ranks being demonstrated. However, the main rank mentioned was at the station, followed by Park Street. Wellington Street rank was one of the least mentioned.

Suggestions for new ranks people would use were disparate, with Chapel Street getting six responses and Midland Road four responses. Overall, people therefore were generally satisfied with the ranks provided.

The main issue with use of vehicles in all areas related to price, although overall just 9% of people quoted any issue, a low level, suggesting general satisfaction with the service provided. To use vehicles more, prices would have to be lower, although better vehicles and ranks might increase usage (partly counter to the rank question which didn’t make many suggestions of places people would use). Overall, there does not seem to be much that can be done to increase usage of hackney carriages, although improved driver and vehicle standards might help.

In the central area, just 3% had given up waiting for a hackney carriage at some point. The value was higher, at 5% in Leagrave, but no-one from the night clubs had ever given up waiting, a very encouraging response. The overall latent demand factor is therefore just 2% (or an index of 1.02).

91% overall did not themselves need an adapted vehicle, nor know anyone who did. For those responding, the dominant need was a wheel chair accessible vehicle, suggesting the current wheel chair accessible policy remains correct for the area.

Access to a car was generally low – just 33%, though the night club respondents said 75% had, which may explain their low use of licensed vehicles.

Of those interviewed, the majority (53%) were employed full time. More men and more 18-34 year olds were interviewed than in the local census data. This may have reduced the level of response in favour of licensed vehicles. In ethnicity terms, 63% were white British, with the next highest groups being Eastern European for the central area and night club sample, and black Caribbean for Leagrave.

68 Stakeholder Consultation Supermarkets tended to obtain a good service from private hire vehicles for their customers although one saw its customers use a nearby rank (partly related to the pedestrianisation of the central area).

Two of the three hotels had good relationships with the hackney carriage radio companies whilst the third saw its customers use a range of private hire companies. This is consistent with a comment from the private hire trade stating many hotels tend to use hackney carriages to serve their customers.

The hospital receives service from private hire companies, partly due to its location away from the central area. One night venue said they had negotiated a contract with one of the hackney carriage radio companies (which explains why the Casino rank sees mainly one company hackney carriages). The remaining clubs which responded mentioned private hire company agreements although none had booking facilities within their premises.

Disability representatives had few concerns and in fact tended to obtain a good service, albeit in one case from one dedicated hackney carriage driver.

Education and social service contracts felt that Luton licensed vehicles lost out to Central Bedfordshire vehicles in contract tenders, mainly due to that authority having lower costs, and therefore being able to be more competitive in the tenders.

A police representative felt the town was ‘awash with private hire vehicles’ – mainly around Gordon Street and felt they often took un- booked fares, although no issues were caused to the police as the volume of vehicles took people away efficiently. The main friction was between hackney carriages and those the hackney carriage drivers felt were stealing their business. Marshals reduced this situation, although once they left this led to an increase in such activity. There was also an issue that private hire vehicles did not wait in the allotted car park, but tended to hang around the ranks in the Manchester Street area.

The Airport operator made it clear the area where hackney carriages pick up is a private pick-up area, not a rank, and is subject to an agreement which is currently held by the hackney carriages after a competitive tender exercise. The operator has received no complaints in the last year and feels the hackney carriages give excellent service to this location.

69 The three rail stations all see services principally provided by First Capital Connect. Two have hackney carriage ranks with a single private agreement covering these. Luton station had seen 46% growth from 1997/8 to 2011/2; whilst Luton Airport Parkway had seen 103% growth from 2000/01 to 2011/2. Contrary to this was decline in patronage from 2008 to 2010, only borne out in the rank statistics for Luton on Fridays. Otherwise 2008 to 2013 rank flows at the two stations had increased (partly contrary to trade feelings in regard to Luton station with its rank revisions). Two way passenger levels in the latest statistics were 3.4 million for Luton, 2.4 million for the Airport Parkway, and 1.7 million for Leagrave, all high levels of potential for the licensed vehicle industry.

The train taxi guide showed correct listing for each station, although there are always vehicles available at the Airport Parkway rank, and Leagrave is a booking office, not rank. The two Luton station phone references are the two hackney carriage companies and one private hire, all of which claim wheel chair accessible vehicles.

Trade Consultation A meeting was held with two hackney carriage trade representatives towards the start of the research, and one private hire company wrote in response to the consultation. The representatives said the weekend now began on Friday, not Thursday as had been the case before. Park Street was confirmed as the main rank followed by Wellington Street and Manchester Street. They suggested 80% of the fleet were on the three radio circuits, with more independents focussing on the Airport. The radio circuits were actively used to keep vehicles available at particular points.

A letter and questionnaire was circulated, to which some 90 persons responded. From the questionnaire, those responding had on average been drivers for 14 years, and worked six days per week, for an average of 45 hours per week. The range of hours was between 6 and 84. 76% owned and drove their own vehicle. 23% said they did not own the vehicle they drove. 81% were on hackney carriage radio circuits whilst 5% were on private hire circuits. 37% worked longer at weekends. These are all very high numbers in terms of the availability of the hackney carriage fleet to the public.

83% of those responding wanted to see the limit retained on the number of hackney carriage vehicles. 16% did not. Were the limit removed, 76% would leave the trade and just 5% would work longer hours to try to keep their income at a similar level.

In terms of ranks used, 13% said they used all ranks. A further 64% said they used Park Street, 41% the Airport and 36% Luton station.

In additional comments on the questionnaire drivers told us their concerns about their being already too many hackney carriage vehicles, and that further plates would reduce their ability to maintain the current standard of their vehicle.

70 The private hire respondent gave the views from a company point of view, representing three operators. Their main concern was the ‘them and us’ attitude between hackney carriage and private hire which they felt the limit introduced. They felt hackney carriages had an unfair advantage leading to them winning many contracts for hotels and other locations. The hackney carriage radio circuits were also felt to dominate the hackney carriage trade and reduce and potential for hackney carriages to work on private hire circuits as they experienced in other similar locations. They felt the high plate value and volume of private hires seeking non-booked fares suggested more hackney carriages were needed at night.

Two private hire drivers completed the questionnaire, one of whom suggested need for more hackney carriages whilst the other felt there were more than enough.

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act is already on the statute books. There is a requirement that any authority with a limit on its number of hackney carriages should ensure no new entrant is refused entry if they are offering a wheel chair accessible vehicle if a given proportion of vehicles has not been achieved. However the Luton fleet is currently fully wheel chair accessible and therefore even retaining its limit, Luton remains compliant in this respect.

Best Practice Guidance A review of the questions posed in the BGP was undertaken and is presented in an earlier Chapter

Conclusion At the present time, whilst there is unmet demand at nearly all the council provide ranks, the low level of this (experienced by just 2% of passengers), together with general satisfaction from the public and stakeholders with the hackney carriage service, confirms there is no significant unmet demand for hackney carriage services in Luton at this time. On this basis, the limit on the number of hackney carriage vehicles can be retained and there is no need to consider how many more vehicles are required.

There is significant evidence that the licensed vehicle operation in Luton is much more akin to a city operation than to more large urban operations. For example, the hackney carriage trade is dominated by vehicles operating on three radio circuits (a very high level). Further, there are a very high number of contracts operated in the area by hackney carriages even though there are a relatively high number of private hire operators also competing.

71 Overall, the hackney carriage fleet is taking a high percentage of trade (36%) compared to its proportion of the fleet (17%), resulting from the professional and business-oriented focus of this part of the trade. There is need, however, to remember that the hackney carriage plate provides the privilege to serve the public of the area at ranks provided by the Council even when more lucrative private ranks and contracts supplement the hackney trade income.

The low level of unmet demand observed could be obviated by some vehicles moving from waiting long periods at the airport to fill many of the observed gaps, and it is important that the hackney carriage trade overall seek to ensure the low levels of unmet demand do not grow to become significant. With the rank survey results published in detail it would be relatively easy to review occurrence of unmet demand at specific times, and if this were repeated regularly, this could become significant and could be an early sign of the need to return to non zero managed growth levels.

There is no positive interaction between the hackney carriage and private hire trades, and if anything mainly friction generated by the two trades feeling they are seeing unfair competition from the other trade. This situation is not helped by the high level of organisation of the hackney carriage trade compared to the relative fragmentation of the private hire trade (evidenced by how many companies people quote they phone for).

Whilst there is a high level of satisfaction from both public and key stakeholders in the service provided, there is also some evidence that some of this results from the need to meet specific requirements for the contracts held. In particular, the standard required for service to the Airport leads to high costs borne by the trade in terms of very long waiting times at this location for fares (although the higher fare and potentially longer journeys would offset this somewhat). It has the negative effect (together with the other contracts) of the council operated ranks tending to have poorer service at times when contracts require hackney carriages.

Some of the unmet demand observed at the ranks was related to the impact of drivers undertaking personal business on Friday lunchtimes, although this was also suggested to increase availability later in the day when it was needed. Were notice boards available at ranks, such known lower levels of vehicle supply could be partially mitigated by notes to such effect (such as bus operators often advertise holiday periods or notice of out of course event impact on their service to stops).

72 10. Recommendations

Limits on the number of hackney carriage vehicles At the present time in the Luton Council area the Licensing Committee has a number of options: - (1) It could re-affirm the current policy of retaining a limit on hackney vehicle licences (with managed growth switched off) and make no other changes, and review this policy again in three years’ time (or earlier if legislation change occurs) - (2) It could re-affirm the limit on hackney carriages but also seek to take actions that would develop the licensed vehicle service further - (3) it could remove the limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers - (4) it could remove the limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers but also take actions to restrain any negative impacts of such a move by ensuring that entry to the hackney carriage trade is not made too wide leading to large increases in vehicle numbers, which would have sever repercussions for the highway section of the Council in terms of the need for extra rank space.

The lack of any significant unmet demand means that retention of the limit can be justified and defended in court if necessary. Nor have we found any evidence of any lack of hackney carriage vehicles to meet any potential new demand that might exist. A key need is to attempt to ensure the capacity of the current hackney carriage fleet is fully utilised.

There is also a need to use the current radio system more to attempt to cover the gaps in service that might occur, particularly Friday lunchtimes when fewer drivers tend to be available, and perhaps to balance up the focus between the Airport rank and the council town centre ranks. For example during our survey, at the time there were short waits at the town centre ranks, others were sitting at the airport waiting on average an hour for a fare.

In many areas, removal of the limit on hackney carriage vehicle numbers has allowed a rapid increase in numbers with relatively low entry criteria. With the requirement for wheel chair accessible vehicles, this may not be such an issue for Luton, although care should be taken not to allow an influx of older, less able vehicles to be added to the fleet as has occurred in some similar areas. It would, for example, be prudent that any new plates should be either new, or low age vehicles. This issue should also be thought about were the Law Commision review to remove the right to have hackney carriage vehicle number limits altogether (and they hint that such thought would be needed in such cases). At the present time, the interim Law Commission statement suggests the right to retain limits will remain.

73 Our technical recommendation at this point in time to the committee is to use Option 2, retaining the current managed growth policy (with no further plates at this time), whilst seeking to use the stability this provides to see key developments to the service, principally the new rank in Midland Road as well as improved information to customers.

Other Elements of an Action Plan Whilst there is no obligation for the committee to take any action other than determining its policy in regard to hackney carriage vehicle numbers, our survey has identified a number of matters that could improve the service provided to the public of the area. Technically, we would recommend taking such opportunities would be a sensible way to support economic growth in Luton with the underpinning of a healthy and active hackney carriage (and private hire) service.

There are several elements required which are within the gift of the Committee and licensing section of Luton Council. Other matters need assistance from other sections of the Council, principally the transportation and highway sections. Very little of any Action Plan can take effect without further collaboration from the hackney carriage and private hire trades in the area.

Luton Council (licensing) should review current policies towards customer service and, over a reasonable period, ensure that driver skills are revalidated and improved where necessary. Training is needed both for those serving the disabled and in honing skills in ensuring passengers feel they obtain the best possible service from the vehicles they enter at any rank.

The licensing section should ensure that rank details and contact numbers for hackney carriage and private hire are up to date and readily available to the public from the Luton Council internet site. Licensing should continue to liaise with highways and transportation in regard to rank development (see below).

Licensing need to continue to work with the police and parking representatives to ensure only booked private hire trips are made as far as this is practicable (although it must be remembered that the police do have full authorisation to enforce against any vehicle illegally plying for hire). It may be worth considering extending the currently effective system covering Upper George Street to the Manchester Street area, particularly at night.

74 Some discussion needs to occur between the licensing section and the hackney carriage trade in terms of how a better balance of service between ranks with specific contract needs and the Council ranks can be provided. This may require encouragement of more independent hackney carriage owners to join the current radio circuits or perhaps to have a new circuit to ensure better reaction to unexpected changes in demand during a day. There may be need to better formalise the privilege the hackney carriages have to service ranks provided for them by the Council and to ensure that this is given due priority amongst the various calls on hackney carriage time.

It would be prudent for the licensing section to discuss with the hackney carriage trade suitable indicators that might suggest when further plates were required so that faster reaction could be provided when the economy begins to recover from the current situation. It is possible that the records kept by the radio operations could be used to help since increased rank demand would often first be seen by reduced ability to react to radio network calls, although this would also need to overcome concerns about confidentiality raised by the hackney carriage representatives about use of such data.

The present ability of the hackney carriage trade to compete for contracts is a very healthy indicator of the viability of the hackney carriage trade, and should be encouraged. It is particularly important in that it allows those with disabilities to gain access to the vehicles with the most adaptations to ease their travel. Those remaining as independents should be encouraged towards ensuring their vehicles are accessible to those needing their facilities by encouraging them to have at least mobile phone numbers available advertised on their cards so passengers needing wheel chair accessible vehicles wishing to contact them by phone can do so for the full fleet.

Luton Council (transportation and highways) should be ensuring that ranks are well-signed by finger posts from key areas of pedestrian demand, as well as ensuring all on street maps and other maps provided show the location of current ranks (preferably using the taxi pictogram), and their operating hours.

Current ranks are well-marked in terms of lining and signing at the point of ranks. However, it would be useful for the number of spaces available at ranks to be clearly marked, and consideration of information boards at ranks may help customers further increase their confidence in the service. Such boards could provide sample fares which might increase usage by removing some of the potential misconception on how high fares are perceived to be. Having the three radio circuits is an opportunity to provide contact numbers in case a passenger arrives at a rank at a time it is not formally in use or when a vehicle is not present. This could also help the trade communicate with the public when they know there are events or issues that might lead to lesser supply of vehicles.

75 There was some demand from the public for the Midland Road rank which should be taken forward. However, taking such a rank forward would need agreement by the hackney carriage trade to use the radio and other methods to ensure the rank was well-served. Our experience suggests it needs vehicles to be present constantly at a location for perhaps six months or more before people will change their travel habits and trust using a hackney carriage from a new location. The use of an information board with the radio circuit phone numbers and sample fares might be a good way to help this development.

Whilst there is no statutory requirement for further research to be undertaken on the private hire side, consideration should be given to work to understand better the present private hire offer in the area. There are a large number of such vehicles, clearly meeting need in parts of the Borough beyond the main central area (see responses for Leagrave), where there is insufficient demand for hackney carriage ranks. This research could begin with a simple GIS plot of the base of each private hire company. Such companies also meet specific needs although the hackney carriage trade are, unusually, competing successfully for some contracts.

Hackney carriage trade representatives and all drivers need to ensure they work with all appropriate parties to take full advantage of any business opportunities that present themselves. This includes ensuring that good levels of service are provided to the new rank. They must remember, however, that the privilege of being a hackney carriage gives them the sole right to service council provided ranks, which must not be neglected in favour of other business opportunities.

The hackney carriage trade representatives should take their opportunity to work more closely with the APCOA and FCC representatives at Luton station to overcome their current concerns and need for signing in the period between now and when the station entrances are revised, to ensure people are easily able to find and access hackney carriage services. This relationship will also need to be in place to ensure proper signing when the Midland Road rank is introduced, with the potential tensions that this will be a Council (non- permit) rank which may affect remuneration for the station.

The current excellent hackney carriage trade representation must be encouraged and developed further.

Significant improvement is needed in representation and engagement between the private hire industry and the Council. Were such engagement in place, it might prove possible to seek to reduce the tensions between the hackney carriage and private hire parts of the industry. This would lead to an improved service to the public since the current tensions are one of the few weak points in an otherwise excellent offer to the public.

76 Police representatives need to continue to work with the trade and licensing to ensure the excellent clearing of the town centre late at night can continue with the minimum of hassle to drivers. Consideration should be given to extending the marshal hours again since their presence is a very positive impact, and there are concerns that issues arise upon their departure. The police also need to ensure they take every advantage to exercise their powers to enforce against private hire vehicles when they operate outside their remit. Whilst it is critical such enforcement must be agreed with the licensing section to ensure consistency of approach, it does not necessarily require members of the licensing section to be directly involved in every action taken.

77

Appendix 1 Detail of Rank Observations

79

80 Luton, Park Street Rank and feeder, Friday 1st March 2013, 0700 – 0500

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures Total loaded vehicle departures Empty vehi departures Total Vehicle ( waiting times Average vehicle fare, waiting times (for a Average vehicle ( fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle hour (m waiting time an in Average passenger waiting only (mins) wait Average passenger waiting 1 Number of people waiting 6 Number of people mins more or Number waiting 11 time passenger wait Maximum

(mins)

hh:

ing time, thoseing time,

m

hh:m

hh:m

m:ss

:s

- -

s)

5 mins5 mins10

m

mins)

)

cle cle

:s

s)

07 5 2 2 2 4 0:11:24 0:16:20 0:35:00 08 17 14 11 1 12 0:15:11 0:15:37 0:30:00 09 19 19 16 0 16 0:21:51 0:21:51 0:31:00 No passenger waits 10 37 40 33 1 34 0:19:57 0:19:58 0:25:00 11 36 53 36 1 37 0:21:27 0:21:46 0:26:00 12 34 67 45 0 45 0:04:02 0:04:02 0:18:00 0:31 4:15 4 4 0 7 13 57 72 50 0 50 0:05:11 0:05:11 0:20:00 0:28 1:42 20 0 0 3 14 56 66 50 0 50 0:11:05 0:11:02 0:17:00 15 51 83 54 4 58 0:11:13 0:11:06 0:16:00 16 54 72 45 1 46 0:12:49 0:13:03 0:26:00 17 43 66 45 2 47 0:17:08 0:17:26 0:27:00 18 51 75 54 1 55 0:08:22 0:08:26 0:15:00 19 21 22 17 4 21 0:23:11 0:27:35 0:41:00 20 8 14 9 1 10 0:24:52 0:26:34 1:00:00 21 11 9 9 3 12 0:22:22 0:27:30 0:43:00 No passenger waits 22 16 21 13 2 15 0:11:52 0:12:56 0:32:00 23 21 32 20 5 25 0:19:49 0:24:19 0:53:00 00 18 11 8 2 10 0:25:50 0:27:28 0:40:00 01 8 22 12 2 14 0:08:37 0:09:43 0:22:00 02 8 14 6 3 9 0:17:15 0:06:30 0:09:00 03 1 0 0 2 2 0:07:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 04 1 0 0 1 1 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 573 774 535 38 573 0:05 2:26 24 4 0 7

81 Luton, Park Street Rank and feeder, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0500 – 0500

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures passenger Total departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle ( waiting times vehicle hh:m Average (for a fare, waiting times vehicle ( Average a for fare waiting time vehi (mins) Maximum inhour an waiting time passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins waiting 1 people Number of mins waiting 6 people Number of mins more or waiting 11 Number (mins) wait time pa Maximum

hh:m hh:

ssenger

cle

m

m

m m:s

:s

:s

- -

s)

5 10

s) s)

05 2 0 0 1 1 0:07:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 06 2 2 2 1 3 0:03:00 0:03:00 0:06:00 07 4 0 0 2 2 0:30:45 0:58:00 0:58:00 08 12 4 3 4 7 0:29:30 0:36:27 0:41:00 09 22 15 15 3 18 0:24:55 0:27:00 0:32:00 10 32 41 27 4 31 0:20:32 0:21:41 0:29:00 11 43 71 42 1 43 0:19:47 0:19:47 0:27:00 12 40 63 35 0 35 0:29:17 0:29:31 0:36:00 13 42 60 36 1 37 0:25:21 0:25:21 0:31:00 14 39 78 47 1 48 0:24:32 0:24:32 0:30:00 15 54 93 58 0 58 0:14:51 0:14:51 0:22:00 No passenger waits 16 33 57 30 0 30 0:20:33 0:20:33 0:33:00 17 42 72 40 0 40 0:18:59 0:18:59 0:26:00 18 20 42 24 1 25 0:32:51 0:33:25 0:58:00 19 13 15 11 2 13 0:30:14 0:42:38 1:08:00 20 11 13 8 6 14 0:35:11 0:49:20 1:09:00 21 12 7 5 7 12 0:24:10 0:45:24 1:03:00 22 16 14 9 9 18 0:16:45 0:22:20 0:43:00 23 25 35 24 5 29 0:12:36 0:13:33 0:28:00 00 26 34 19 3 22 0:07:44 0:08:29 0:28:00 01 20 31 18 4 22 0:10:45 0:10:56 0:24:00 02 16 29 15 1 16 0:04:11 0:04:04 0:12:00 0:25 4:00 3 0 0 4 03 5 10 4 3 7 0:08:24 0:16:30 0:31:00

04 2 0 0 2 2 0:00:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 533 786 472 61 533 0:01 4:00 3 0 0 4

82 Luton, Wellington Street rank, Friday 1st March 2013, 0800 – 0400

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehi departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting wait passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

ing time,

cle cle

- -

08 12 3 2 10 12 0:01:30 0:05:30 0:11:00 09 15 3 3 8 11 0:15:04 0:32:09 0:45:00 10 8 5 5 2 7 0:36:15 0:48:10 1:10:00 No passenger waits 11 12 11 6 7 13 0:12:40 0:30:45 0:34:00 12 23 10 8 19 27 0:05:18 0:20:48 0:29:00 13 25 27 14 8 22 0:02:12 0:02:23 0:09:00 0:16 1:24 5 0 0 2 14 20 13 10 10 20 0:10:12 0:16:55 0:30:00 15 22 29 19 4 23 0:07:49 0:09:27 0:19:00 16 27 27 17 10 27 0:05:24 0:08:18 0:13:00 17 17 21 12 4 16 0:10:25 0:13:14 0:31:00 18 8 13 7 3 10 0:04:15 0:06:30 0:14:00 No passenger waits 19 9 8 7 1 8 0:08:20 0:08:20 0:23:00 20 4 3 2 4 6 0:01:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 21 5 1 1 4 5 0:02:24 0:01:00 0:01:00 22 5 1 1 4 5 0:03:12 0:00:00 0:00:00 23 6 0 0 6 6 0:00:50 0:00:00 0:00:00 00 9 2 1 8 9 0:01:27 0:00:00 0:00:00 3:00 3:00 2 0 0 3 01 9 0 0 7 7 0:06:20 0:00:00 0:00:00 02 16 6 4 14 18 0:03:08 0:04:45 0:08:00 No passenger waits 03 6 5 2 3 5 0:04:20 0:03:30 0:04:00 04 0 1 1 TOTALS 258 188 121 137 258 0:04 1:51 7 0 0 3

83 Luton, Wellington Street rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0700 – 0400

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loade departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hou waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

r (mins)

d

- -

07 4 0 0 4 4 0:00:45 0:00:00 0:00:00 08 4 0 0 4 4 0:00:45 0:00:00 0:00:00 09 11 1 1 8 9 0:13:49 0:37:20 0:44:00 10 8 3 3 5 8 0:15:00 0:37:40 0:42:00 11 19 11 6 10 16 0:07:44 0:16:00 0:22:00 No passenger waits 12 18 22 12 9 21 0:06:03 0:10:00 0:21:00 13 31 37 19 13 32 0:02:27 0:03:40 0:14:00 14 24 30 16 9 25 0:07:17 0:11:32 0:20:00 15 22 19 12 6 18 0:14:33 0:19:45 0:29:00 16 14 20 11 3 14 0:22:56 0:23:33 0:48:00 17 10 11 7 5 12 0:17:00 0:21:09 0:54:00 1:27 4:00 4 0 0 4 18 9 11 7 0 7 0:22:20 0:22:20 1:05:00 19 1 6 4 1 5 0:01:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits 20 10 3 2 7 9 0:03:42 0:00:00 0:00:00 21 5 4 1 5 6 0:01:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 22 5 7 3 2 5 0:01:12 0:01:40 0:03:00 2:09 3:00 5 0 0 3 23 7 0 0 7 7 0:00:34 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits 00 10 5 3 7 10 0:01:48 0:03:40 0:10:00 1:12 3:00 2 0 0 3 01 6 0 0 6 6 0:03:40 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits 02 8 4 4 4 8 0:03:30 0:04:30 0:09:00 03 7 6 3 4 7 0:01:26 0:02:20 0:04:00 0:30 1:00 3 0 0 1 04 1 0 0 1 1 0:02:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits TOTALS 234 200 114 120 234 0:12 2:51 14 0 0 4

84 Luton, Manchester Street / New Bedford Road rank, Friday 1st March 2013, 0700 – 0400

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average veh hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 peopl Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

e waitinge 1

icle

- -

07 2 0 0 2 2 0:00:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 08 2 0 0 1 1 0:09:30 0:19:00 0:19:00 09 8 5 5 1 6 0:10:37 0:10:50 0:19:00 No passenger waits 10 9 4 4 5 9 0:14:00 0:19:48 0:25:00 11 15 25 15 0 15 0:09:08 0:09:08 0:22:00 12 4 9 7 0 7 0:08:45 0:08:45 0:20:00 0:13 2:00 2 0 0 1 13 12 12 9 1 10 0:07:00 0:07:22 0:16:00 0:05 1:00 1 0 0 1 14 13 22 12 0 12 0:11:09 0:11:09 0:23:00 0:03 1:00 1 0 0 1 15 5 6 5 0 5 0:32:12 0:32:12 0:41:00 No passenger waits 16 13 18 13 1 14 0:13:18 0:14:25 0:32:00 0:03 1:00 1 0 0 1 17 7 7 6 0 6 0:27:17 0:27:17 0:54:00 18 6 14 7 1 8 0:18:50 0:22:36 0:38:00 19 8 14 8 1 9 0:19:30 0:22:00 0:35:00 No passenger waits 20 9 10 6 1 7 0:06:07 0:06:22 0:19:00 21 9 13 9 0 9 0:09:53 0:09:53 0:19:00 22 15 25 14 2 16 0:03:12 0:03:10 0:10:00 0:24 1:12 5 0 0 2 23 8 10 6 3 9 0:08:07 0:08:10 0:18:00 No passenger waits 00 12 14 7 2 9 0:22:20 0:26:13 0:51:00 01 21 27 17 3 20 0:09:34 0:10:20 0:24:00 0:09 4:00 1 0 0 4 02 21 32 20 3 23 0:10:34 0:10:03 0:26:00 No passenger waits 03 25 41 19 5 24 0:05:31 0:05:04 0:10:00 0:02 1:00 3 0 0 1 04 3 0 0 6 6 0:02:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits TOTALS 227 308 189 38 227 0:04 1:17 14 0 0 4

85 Luton, Manchester Street / New Bedford Road rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0700 – 0400

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) w Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people wait Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

aiting times

ing 1

- -

06 1 0 0 0 0 0:10:00 0:10:00 0:10:00 07 2 2 2 1 3 0:06:00 0:11:00 0:11:00 08 1 0 0 0 0 1:52:00 1:52:00 1:52:00 09 0 0 0 0 0 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 10 6 4 3 1 4 0:33:30 0:40:12 0:55:00 11 5 5 4 1 5 0:36:00 0:41:15 0:52:00 12 5 11 6 0 6 0:18:48 0:18:48 0:40:00 13 5 16 5 0 5 0:18:12 0:18:12 0:36:00 14 9 17 7 1 8 0:19:13 0:21:37 0:34:00 No passenger waits 15 7 11 7 0 7 0:24:17 0:24:17 0:37:00 16 7 13 7 0 7 0:23:17 0:23:17 0:35:00 17 10 19 12 0 12 0:13:24 0:13:24 0:29:00 18 13 23 10 1 11 0:13:37 0:14:45 0:29:00 19 5 8 4 1 5 0:35:48 0:44:45 0:51:00 20 6 9 5 2 7 0:19:20 0:21:45 0:31:00 21 7 6 5 2 7 0:13:26 0:18:36 0:44:00 22 9 8 6 2 8 0:14:33 0:18:20 0:30:00 23 8 18 10 1 11 0:14:15 0:14:15 0:32:00 00 30 38 23 3 26 0:07:02 0:07:40 1:17:00 0:02 1:00 1 0 0 1 01 11 24 11 1 12 0:08:44 0:09:30 0:19:00 02 35 80 34 1 35 0:06:17 0:06:16 1:02:00 No passenger waits 03 23 72 25 0 25 0:04:00 0:04:00 0:10:00 04 7 6 4 4 8 0:01:34 0:01:40 0:02:00 TOTALS 212 390 190 22 212 0:00.01 1:00 1 0 0 1

86 Luton, Upper George Street (night ) ranks, Friday 1st March 2013, 2200 – 0500

Hour of vehicleNo arrivals Total passenger departur Total departures loaded vehicle Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle departures (hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting times fare, hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting times (for a (hh:mm:ss)fare Maximumtime waiting vehicle for a an hour (mins) Average passenger waiting those waiting only (mins) Average passenger waiting time, Number of people waiting 1 Number of people waiting 6 Number waiting mins 11 more or (mins) Maximum waitpassenger time

es

time in in time

- -

5 mins5 mins 10

22 4 0 0 4 4 0:02:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 23 9 4 2 7 9 0:00:40 0:00:00 0:00:00 00 10 1 1 9 10 0:03:12 0:27:00 0:27:00 No passenger waits 01 14 11 6 6 12 0:10:56 0:17:15 0:48:00 02 13 10 7 5 12 0:16:46 0:23:15 1:01:00 03 11 21 10 3 13 0:04:00 0:04:34 0:21:00 0:03 1:00 1 0 0 1 04 15 11 7 9 16 0:01:00 0:01:00 0:04:00 1:05 2:00 6 0 0 2 TOTALS 76 58 33 43 76 0:13 1:51 7 0 0 2

87 Luton, Park Street West (Casino) rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 2000 – 0400

Hour of vehicleNo arrivals departures Total passenger departures Total loaded vehicle Em Total Vehicle departures times (hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting hh:mm:ss) times a fare, (for Average vehicle waiting (hh:mm:ss) time for a fare Maximum waiting vehicle (mins) waiting time an in hour Average passenger waiting only (mins) waitingthose time, Average passen 1 Number of people waiting 6 Number of people waiting more or Number waiting mins 11 time (mins) Maximum waitpassenger

- -

5 mins5 mins10

pty vehicle departures

ger

19 1 0 0 0 0 0:02:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 20 3 0 0 4 4 0:00:40 0:00:00 0:00:00 21 7 2 1 3 4 0:32:51 0:52:40 1:16:00 22 14 1 1 13 14 0:09:26 0:40:30 0:47:00 23 11 20 8 6 14 0:13:22 0:28:48 0:35:00 No passenger waits 00 15 17 9 2 11 0:14:32 0:16:42 0:30:00 01 24 54 21 3 24 0:10:22 0:11:43 0:27:00 02 18 39 18 2 20 0:10:47 0:12:00 0:24:00 03 18 36 16 4 20 0:09:53 0:08:39 0:16:00 TOTALS 111 169 74 37 111

88 Luton, Cheapside (night) rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 2200 – 0400

Hour of vehicleNo arrivals Total passenger departures Total departures loaded vehicle Empty Total Vehicle departures (hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting times fare, hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting times (for a (hh:mm:ss)fare Maximumtime waiting vehicle for a an hour (mins) Average passenger waiting time in those waiting only (mins) Average passenger Number of people waiting 1 Number of people waiting 6 Number waiting mins 11 more or (mins) Maximum waitpassenger time

vehicle departures vehicle

waiting time,

n

- -

5 mins5 mins 10

22 1 0 0 1 1 0:01:00 No passenger waits 23 6 0 0 6 6 0:02:10 00 3 7 3 0 3 0:01:40 0:01:40 0:03:00 0:09 6:00 0 1 0 6 01 6 2 1 5 6 0:09:20 0:20:00 0:20:00 02 3 2 1 2 3 0:07:00 0:17:00 0:17:00 No passenger waits 03 3 3 2 1 3 0:00:20 0:00:30 0:01:00 TOTALS 22 14 7 15 22 0:26 6:00 0 1 0 6

89 Luton, Airport (Private) pick-up area, Friday 1st March 2013, 0500 – 0200

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number wai time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

ting

- -

05 31 3 2 17 19 0:49:17 1:47:47 2:38:00 06 18 2 2 2 4 1:44:37 1:59:23 2:26:00 07 22 10 7 0 7 1:56:44 1:56:44 2:19:00 08 11 41 20 3 23 2:13:05 2:13:05 2:48:00 09 10 33 16 0 16 2:19:12 2:19:12 2:37:00 10 5 13 8 0 8 2:02:36 2:02:36 2:11:00 11 4 24 14 0 14 1:30:15 1:30:15 1:31:00 12 12 19 8 0 8 1:03:45 1:03:45 1:19:00 13 22 24 11 0 11 1:18:30 1:18:30 1:57:00 14 18 31 19 0 19 1:51:47 1:51:47 2:02:00 15 6 15 9 0 9 1:26:00 1:26:00 1:33:00 No passenger waits 16 22 29 18 0 18 1:22:35 1:22:14 1:40:00 17 21 21 14 0 14 1:21:11 1:21:11 1:34:00 18 14 33 24 1 25 1:03:47 1:03:47 1:19:00 19 31 26 19 0 19 1:20:08 1:22:13 1:45:00 20 21 27 18 7 25 1:41:57 1:42:44 1:49:00 21 18 20 14 0 14 1:13:20 1:18:22 1:33:00 22 17 57 30 12 42 0:39:28 0:39:33 1:25:00 23 4 7 5 7 12 0:10:15 0:00:00 0:00:00 00 1 0 0 0 0 1:41:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 01 0 0 0 1 1 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 308 435 258 50 308

90 Luton, Airport (Private) pick-up area, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0400 – 0200

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number wait time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

ing

- -

04 11 0 0 10 10 0:02:22 0:00:00 0:00:00 05 16 0 0 9 9 0:50:37 1:39:52 1:59:00 06 21 3 2 2 4 2:11:00 2:27:13 3:21:00 07 9 15 7 1 8 3:31:20 3:31:20 3:41:00 08 14 15 9 0 9 4:08:34 4:09:16 4:22:00 09 8 7 5 0 5 3:45:38 3:46:09 4:02:00 10 5 12 6 0 6 3:22:48 3:31:30 3:48:00 11 11 11 7 0 7 2:51:00 2:51:00 3:01:00 12 7 27 12 4 16 2:34:51 2:36:50 2:52:00 13 4 13 7 1 8 2:07:00 2:07:00 2:28:00 14 15 36 16 0 16 2:52:04 2:52:04 4:13:00 15 7 12 9 1 10 3:57:34 3:57:34 4:06:00 No passenger waits 16 9 15 6 0 6 3:57:00 3:57:00 4:08:00 17 5 2 1 0 1 3:34:00 3:34:00 3:56:00 18 6 7 6 0 6 3:02:50 3:02:50 3:18:00 19 6 18 9 0 9 2:48:00 2:48:00 3:05:00 20 11 19 9 0 9 2:00:22 2:01:24 2:13:00 21 13 13 9 0 9 1:57:32 1:57:45 2:13:00 22 13 32 17 1 18 1:24:32 1:32:26 1:47:00 23 11 37 18 7 25 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 00 7 0 0 0 0 1:06:00 1:06:00 1:50:00 01 0 28 14 3 17 0:13:26 0:20:20 0:35:00 02 0 0 0 1 1 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 209 322 169 40 209

91 Luton, Railway Station (Private) Rank, Friday 1st March 2013, 0700 – 0500

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures Total loaded vehicle departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waitin Average vehicle fare, hh:mm:ss) waiting times (for a Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle hour (mins) waiting time an in Average passenger waiting only (mins) waitingthose time, Average passenger waiting 1 Number of people waiting 6 Number of people mins more or Number waiting 11 time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

g times

- -

5 mins5 mins10

06 1 0 0 0 0 0:35:00 0:35:00 0:35:00 No passenger waits 07 10 2 2 3 5 0:23:48 0:32:20 0:37:00 08 16 13 13 2 15 0:08:56 0:09:39 0:27:00 1:23 4:30 3 1 0 7 09 18 23 17 1 18 0:32:50 0:32:50 1:27:00 10 6 5 4 0 4 1:23:30 1:43:30 1:52:00 No passenger waits 11 4 4 4 4 8 0:38:00 0:50:00 0:50:00 12 2 7 5 1 6 0:21:00 0:21:00 0:30:00 13 15 16 12 0 12 0:16:52 0:16:52 0:49:00 0:23 1:30 4 0 0 2 14 6 7 6 1 7 0:34:30 0:41:12 0:58:00 No passenger waits 15 15 22 16 1 17 0:08:44 0:09:09 0:23:00 0:14 2:30 2 0 0 3 16 12 5 5 3 8 0:33:45 0:39:40 0:50:00 17 14 9 8 2 10 0:40:30 0:46:15 0:56:00 18 25 25 21 0 21 0:27:07 0:27:07 0:40:00 19 17 28 20 0 20 0:42:18 0:42:18 0:55:00 20 23 28 24 3 27 0:19:26 0:20:51 0:38:00 21 19 20 11 0 11 0:42:57 0:45:10 1:06:00 22 9 20 12 2 14 0:35:40 0:43:17 1:00:00 No passenger waits 23 12 25 20 1 21 0:35:05 0:35:05 0:52:00 00 12 4 2 0 2 0:53:00 0:55:05 1:10:00 01 6 19 11 4 15 0:25:30 0:41:30 0:51:00 02 0 0 0 1 1 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 03 3 1 1 2 3 0:03:00 0:05:00 0:05:00 04 0 0 0 0 0 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 245 283 214 31 245 0:06 2:54 9 1 0 7

92 Luton, Railway Station (Private) Rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0500 – 0500

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maxi an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting time (mins) passenger wait Ma

ximum

mum mum vehicle

- -

05 1 1 1 0 1 0:21:00 0:21:00 0:21:00 06 2 0 0 1 1 0:29:00 0:32:00 0:32:00 07 10 5 4 3 7 0:48:06 0:55:45 1:56:00 08 2 0 0 3 3 0:31:00 0:37:00 0:37:00 09 8 8 6 1 7 0:25:07 0:25:07 0:56:00 10 8 9 5 0 5 1:13:08 1:17:17 1:47:00 11 2 4 3 1 4 1:27:30 1:27:30 1:29:00 12 3 7 4 0 4 0:28:40 0:28:40 0:32:00 13 8 12 8 0 8 0:31:38 0:31:38 0:54:00 14 7 5 4 1 5 0:46:26 1:00:00 1:17:00 15 5 9 6 2 8 0:25:00 0:28:45 0:37:00 16 7 10 5 0 5 0:28:51 0:28:51 0:38:00 No passenger waits 17 7 15 9 1 10 0:29:34 0:33:30 0:42:00 18 25 30 14 0 14 0:23:55 0:24:52 0:44:00 19 16 28 18 2 20 0:28:07 0:28:07 0:47:00 20 18 29 14 2 16 0:44:53 0:51:43 1:06:00 21 5 9 7 2 9 1:02:48 1:02:48 1:07:00 22 25 42 23 2 25 0:12:22 0:12:55 0:31:00 23 10 25 15 2 17 0:23:00 0:24:37 0:42:00 00 33 39 23 2 25 0:14:09 0:15:18 0:35:00 01 12 40 16 1 17 0:32:45 0:32:45 0:49:00 02 11 26 10 3 13 0:13:49 0:19:43 0:29:00 03 2 0 0 3 3 0:01:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 04 1 0 0 1 1 0:05:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 228 353 195 33 228 93 Luton, Airport Parkway Station (Private) Rank, Friday 1st March 2013, 0600 – 0200

Hour arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures Total loaded vehicle departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle fare, hh:mm:ss) waiting times (for a Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting time for a Maximum vehicle hour (mins) waiting time an in Average passenger waiting only (mins) waitingthose time, Average passenger waiting 1 Numb waiting 6 Number of people mins more or Number waiting 11 time (mins) passenger wait Maximum

er of of peopleer

- -

5 mins5 mins10

06 4 1 1 2 3 0:03:30 0:02:30 0:04:00 07 22 11 11 10 21 0:08:22 0:09:00 0:23:00 08 43 42 35 7 42 0:05:45 0:06:35 1:32:00 No passenger waits 09 25 24 20 2 22 0:17:02 0:16:55 0:39:00 10 9 15 10 0 10 0:36:33 0:35:45 0:46:00 11 9 8 6 3 9 0:30:13 0:41:12 1:00:00 12 8 8 7 5 12 0:02:45 0:03:48 0:08:00 0:23 1:30 2 0 0 2 13 12 13 8 2 10 0:12:15 0:14:30 0:31:00 14 10 8 5 4 9 0:40:30 1:00:40 1:18:00 15 10 9 7 2 9 0:32:00 0:39:45 0:58:00 16 9 7 6 2 8 0:30:47 0:39:17 0:54:00 No passenger waits 17 20 12 9 11 20 0:15:48 0:31:47 0:56:00 18 21 23 16 5 21 0:18:17 0:23:56 0:38:00 19 12 14 13 2 15 0:17:55 0:21:12 0:37:00 20 18 23 14 2 16 0:19:23 0:22:16 0:30:00 21 15 30 18 2 20 0:16:32 0:17:34 0:41:00 0:16 1:36 5 0 0 2 22 18 17 13 0 13 0:21:53 0:21:53 0:50:00 0:14 2:00 2 0 0 2 23 8 25 13 0 13 0:37:37 0:37:37 0:57:00 No passenger waits 00 9 8 4 0 4 0:39:07 0:39:07 0:52:00 01 13 23 15 1 16 0:11:46 0:11:54 0:19:00 0:05 2:00 1 0 0 2 02 0 0 0 2 2 0:00:00 0:00:00 0:00:00 No passenger waits TOTALS 295 321 231 64 295 0:03 1:42 10 0 0 2

94 Luton, Airport Parkway Station (Private) Rank, Saturday 2nd March 2013, 0600 – 0000

H arrivals of vehicleNo departures Total passenger departures vehicle Total loaded departures Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle (hh:mm:ss) waiting times Average vehicle hh:mm:ss) a fare, waiting times (for Average vehicle (hh:mm:ss)fare waiting ti Maximum vehicle an hour (mins) waiting time in passenger only (mins) Average those waiting waiting time, passenger Average mins5 people waiting 1 Number of mins10 people waiting 6 Number of mins11 more or Number waiting t passenger wait Maximum

ime (mins)

our

me for a

- -

06 8 4 4 2 6 0:16:15 0:20:12 0:45:00 07 10 2 2 6 8 0:26:30 0:50:30 0:55:00 08 6 4 3 1 4 1:13:20 1:23:15 1:32:00 09 5 8 5 4 9 0:26:00 0:38:00 0:51:00 10 7 6 4 1 5 0:22:00 0:25:20 0:40:00 11 9 7 5 3 8 0:34:20 0:56:36 1:10:00 12 5 6 4 2 6 0:28:12 0:40:00 0:49:00 13 9 16 8 2 10 0:26:20 0:29:37 0:56:00 14 9 7 5 2 7 0:45:07 1:00:40 1:26:00 No passenger waits 15 4 3 2 1 3 1:35:15 1:35:15 1:44:00 16 3 8 5 0 5 0:54:20 0:54:20 1:16:00 17 13 21 10 1 11 0:33:00 0:35:45 1:03:00 18 5 8 6 1 7 0:49:24 1:01:30 1:15:00 19 11 8 6 3 9 0:30:44 0:36:45 0:56:00 20 10 24 14 0 14 0:19:36 0:19:36 0:43:00 21 12 18 9 0 9 0:28:50 0:28:50 0:45:00 22 10 17 10 0 10 0:31:30 0:31:30 0:53:00 23 9 11 8 6 14 0:29:27 0:33:40 0:38:00 TOTALS 145 178 110 35 145

95

Luton, Bridge Street (Galaxy) (private) rank, Friday 1st March 2013, 2000 – 0600

Hour of vehicleNo arrivals Total passenger departures Total departures loaded vehicle Empty vehicle departures Total Vehicle departures (hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle fare, hh:mm:ss) Average vehicle waiting times (for a (hh:mm:ss)fare Maximumtime waiting vehicle for a an hour (mins) Average passenger waiting time in those waiting only (mins) Average passenger waiting time, Number of people wa Number of people waiting 6 Number waiting mins 11 more or (mins) Maximum waitpassenger time

waiting timeswaiting

iting 1

- -

5 mins5 mins 10

19 3 0 0 0 0 0:23:20 0:00:00 0:00:00 20 29 17 9 22 31 0:02:06 0:02:13 0:08:00 21 34 24 15 20 35 0:02:11 0:02:36 0:11:00 22 28 18 12 15 27 0:02:49 0:04:18 0:26:00 23 36 47 26 11 37 0:02:43 0:03:29 0:21:00 00 23 14 10 11 21 0:04:47 0:05:50 0:13:00 No passenger waits 01 12 15 7 2 9 0:15:40 0:14:00 0:37:00 02 6 7 6 2 8 0:17:40 0:15:15 0:23:00 03 8 12 7 3 10 0:06:53 0:04:48 0:16:00 04 3 3 2 2 4 0:04:20 0:00:30 0:01:00 05 2 0 0 2 2 0:01:30 0:00:00 0:00:00 TOTALS 184 157 94 90 184

96 Appendix 2 Stakeholder Feedback Diary

Views Chapter Stakeholder Group / Person Date returned?

5 Supermarkets Tesco, Arndale Centre 28/2/13 Y Sainsbury’s Dunstable Road 28/2/13 Y Aldi, Dallow Road 28/2/13 Refused Lidl, Francis Street 28/2/13 N Asda, Wigmore Lane 28/2/13 Y Sainsubury’s Bramingham Park 28/2/13 Y

5 Hotels Icon Hotel 28/2/13 Y Easy Hotel, Guildford Street 28/2/13 Y Leamside Hotel 28/2/13 Y

5 Hospital Luton and Dunstable Hospital 28/2/13 Y

5 Pubwatch / night clubs Diamond Club 1/3/13 Y Grosvenor G Casino 29/1/13 Y After 8 1/3/13 N Velvet Lounge 1/3/13 N Kink 1/3/13 N The Edge 1/3/13 N Deja Vu 1/3/13 N Chicago’s 1/3/13 Y Liquid 1/3/13 N Charlie Browns 1/3/13 Y (closing) Broxbourne Health Leisure 1/3/13 (gone)

5 Disability representatives Bramingham Centre (Janine Macey) 22/3/13 Y Chaul End Centre (Blossom Wilson) 31/1/13 e-mail

5 Other Council contacts Mark Mullane, Passenger Transport 27/2/13 e-mail Unit

Police Russell Goldsmith, Bedfordshire 13/2/13 Y Police

Luton Airport Kevin Midgley 14/2/13 Meeting

97 First Capital Connect Karl McCormack 14/2/13 Email Darran Marchant (APCOA) 14/2/13 Email

Hackney carriage and private 6 hire trade Javed Hussain 14/2/13 Meeting Mr Raja 14/2/13 Meeting

Andy Geddes, Private Hire operator 8/4/13 e-mail

98