PRIVATE cars continue to occupy taxi bases in some of the busiest parts of Lautoka City.
Fiji Taxi Association Lautoka branch assistant secretary Shalendra Prasad said private vehicles often occupied reserved spots, preventing public service vehicle drivers from providing services to the general public.
“Some private car owners don’t take into consideration the fact that they are taking up the space reserved for taxi- drivers,” Mr Prasad said.
“We don’t know whether it comes down to proper markings of the yellow lines which indicates the taxi base or that they are just being ignorant of the rules.
“A lot of customers in major supermarkets in Lautoka are left to wait for a long time for a taxi.
“The most common place where this happens is in front of supermarkets.”
He said there was a need for monitoring of those areas.
He said illegal drivers had also taken advantage of the lack of bases for taxis.
“The demand for transport is growing and when there is not enough space given to a taxidriver, this gives way for the illegal van drivers to step in.
“We have about 100 taxis operating within the city of Lautoka and we believe that it is enough to cater for this growing demand, but we are not fully maximising on the opportunity to offer an efficient service.”
