People hailing a cab in Bristol will no longer have to rifle around for cash to pay the driver if a new proposal is adopted.
All of Bristol’s blue taxis will have to have card machines installed under a suggested change to the city’s licensing rules.
The proposal is among a raft of changes affecting the taxi industry in Bristol which are due to go out for consultation in the coming months.
If they are agreed and adopted, Hackney carriages will have to carry a card payment facility which can accept payments by debit/credit card or contactless card.
The machine will have to be stored in a transparent plastic holder which is permanently attached to the vehicle and in full view of any passengers.
A sign showing the issued card facility will also have to be clearly visible on the partition of the vehicle.
A Bristol City Council committee, which accepted the proposals on February 18, noted there were no objections from members of the taxi trade who sit on the council’s taxi forum.
Councillor Ruth Pickersgill, who chairs the council’s public safety and protection committee, said the card machine proposal had come “very strongly” from the Bristol Blue Trade Association.
“It’s them that has been asking us to do this,” she said.
“It seems to make sense in terms of public safety.”
The council’s senior licensing officer said mandatory card machines would “reduce the risk of robbery” because Hackney carriage customers would no longer have to stop and get cash out from an ATM late at night.
It would also stop the need for “vulnerable people” to walk home late at night if they’ve lost their cash and debit cards because they would be able to pay using their smartphone like a contactless debit card.
Passengers will not be charged extra to pay for their ride by card but drivers will have to spend between £19 and £200 to buy a card machine, a report to the committee notes.
A card payment facility can be incorporated into Hackney carriage apps which allow customers to book blue taxis, it adds.
There are currently 518 licensed Hackney carriage vehicles in Bristol, according to the report.
The card machine proposal will undergo an eight-week consultation round with council officers, taxi trade representatives, equality groups and Avon and Somerset Police.
The consultation will also include proposals to improve public safety by tightening up the rules around Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for drivers and safeguarding training for private-hire vehicle operator staff.
