The problems with taxis in Lanzarote, specifically in Arrecife, continue to worry the citizens of the capital of Lanzarote. The long waits to be able to catch a vehicle to move around the city become something habitual every day. A situation that the taxi cooperative has been aware of for many years.
The president of the San Marcial de Arrecife Cooperative, Manuel Guillén, in a recent interview on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, stressed the importance of offering an optimal service to the people of Arrecife. "The solution is to be able to provide service in Arrecife with any taxi on the island, that all vehicles in Lanzarote can operate in the capital," he stressed.
Following the complaint this Monday from a woman who could not return from the Molina Orosa hospital to her home after being operated on, Guillén clarifies that "the arrival of so many people was not expected" on the cruise. "No one expected the work that cruise was going to give," he told the radio microphones.
The position of the taxi drivers in Arrecife has been known for some time, in which they prefer to pick up tourists who have just arrived in the capital than the resident citizens themselves. "Being very short trips within Arrecife, it is very difficult for them to pick you up," Guillén pointed out.
The effective measure proposed by the president is clear: put "more drivers." From the Taxi Drivers Cooperative, they urge the city council to "get its act together" to offer an immediate solution to a situation that the people of Lanzarote continue to warn about day after day.
In addition, another of the issues surrounding the taxi group in Arrecife is the lack of adapted vehicles for people with mobility difficulties. "We only have four taxis for People with Reduced Mobility," he specified. The main objective should be focused on "granting more licenses for PMR vehicles and also acquiring them," he added.
The lack of cars to offer assistance is due to the non-use of some of them that remain stopped. "Ideally, the nine taxis that are in the garage should go out on the street." In addition, regarding the fact that some of the vehicles that circulate offering service in the capital of Conejera are old, Guillén states that they are crying out for a renewal," "vehicles that are not suitable for renewal must be removed," said the president.
The president is aware that there are "continuous complaints from citizens" regarding the attention of telephone assistants on the Radio Taxi Arrecife line. He acknowledges that "it is no excuse," but that the workers are "overwhelmed looking for taxis" due to the "insistence of users and the lack of available appointments."
Guillén reveals that it would be convenient to prepare a technological system to make the requests of residents in the capital effective. A tool that can "open assistance quickly and locate the nearest taxi at the moment," he pointed out. Some measures for which it is essential to have the initiative to act on them. "Everything is to sit down and see it," he concluded about the decisions that should be started to be taken.
Remembers the violent acts that occur in Arrecife
Another of the great concerns of taxi drivers and citizens in general are the violent acts that have occurred in Arrecife in recent weeks. A group that has suffered these altercations over a long period of time. "We have had incidents for years, such as people leaving without paying," he stressed.
La Marina, Guillén acknowledges, is the nightlife area where altercations usually occur. "There are incidents at night at the taxi rank in the area," he specified. Fights while waiting in the taxi queues, robberies in cars and homes, vandalism, etc. are some of the situations that are experienced in Arrecife every weekend. Something that does not leave the taxi driver exempt from suffering it. "You are not going to escape this," he criticized.
What would give security to taxi drivers would be "to put screens in the vehicles," but the response he received was the following: "With that, we give an image of insecurity to visitors in Lanzarote," he concluded.
