“Raucous and febrile” were the words used by a local campaigner to describe the council meeting which was the culmination of a campaign led by Uber to remove the Street Knowledge test for private hire taxis.
Aberdeen City Council decided to keep the controversial test in place at the start of June. Local businessman Bob Keiller fought to remove the campaign, however he described his experience in the council chamber as “intimidating.”
The campaign has sought to remove the test as campaigners believe that it acts as “a barrier to more people becoming drivers,” and the lack of drivers is “a serious health and safety hazard for females,” among other issues.
Keiller and Matthew Freckleton, head of cities for Uber UK, were heckled by the gallery as they argued their side during the meeting. The gallery continued the heckling, even after being threatened with eviction numerous times by the convener Gill Al-Samarai.
However, Keiller faced backlash from industry bosses after saying that events at the P&J Live suffer as a result of the lack of taxis.
Rainbow City Taxis managing director Russel McLeod stated, “Unfortunately some of what Bob Keiller was saying was hearsay, things he had heard from someone else,” after claiming that the event was properly stocked with taxis.
Al-Samarai defended the “robust” conditions that the campaigners faced within the council chambers.
The council chamber unanimously voted in favour of keeping the Street Knowledge test after the questioning concluded.
What is the Street Knowledge test and why is it staying?
Uber has called for the test to be removed since they were allowed to operate in Aberdeen in 2024.
The mandatory test requires everyone who drives a taxi to memorise the geography of the city. However, calls to remove the test came as Uber moved into the city, questioning the necessity of it when so many drivers have access to sat navs.
Due to Uber being a pre-booked taxi service, they hoped that their drivers could bypass the test if it was removed for private hire services.
The council launched a public consultation in January, asking the public if they would be in favour of removing the test.
After over 1800 responses, 45% of respondents voted in favour of keeping it, while 42% disagreed.
However, this consultation came under fire with Keiller arguing that the majority of the responses came from those within the taxi trade. He stated “The vast majority of the trade don’t wish to see the removal of the Street Knowledge test, the vast majority of the public do.”
McLeod waved off any criticism towards the current taxi industry. He said that “any issues facing the trade were already being dealt with.”
In the council meeting he welcomed the result: “It was very pleasing and the common sense decision.”
He commented on the new Street Knowledge test implemented recently:
“The revamped Street Knowledge test has increased Aberdeen’s fleet by over 120 drivers in just over 12 months.
“I don’t remember a time where a test delivered 120 new drivers in a year.”
Keiller said he was disappointed in the conduct within the council chambers, claiming that the meeting was “hugely intimidating for people not on the side of taxi drivers.”