Taxi home! - No cash, no problem for students

Glasgow joins Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool and a number of other cities from across the UK to join the Safe Taxi scheme.

Through the initiative, Glasgow Taxis Ltd will work with universities and continue to make sure the late night trip home is a safe one for students. Even if they don’t have cash or debit card on them.

Glasgow Taxis Ltd has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to city safety as the University of Glasgow becomes the latest to sign up to the Safe Taxi Scheme.

The programme, which has been operating in Glasgow since June, currently supports Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Strathclyde and allows students without cash to get home in a Glasgow Taxi, just by using their matriculation card. With the addition of the University of Glasgow, the scheme is now available to all students in the Glasgow area.

Through the initiative, Glasgow Taxis Ltd give the students access a Safe Taxi by calling and quoting a code available from the university.

The student will then give the driver their student card, and repay the cost to the Students’ Union when they collect their card after one working day.

Stephen Flynn, vice-chairman of Glasgow Taxis said: “We’re really pleased bring the University of Glasgow on board with the Safe Taxi Scheme. Safety is a key priority at Glasgow Taxis Ltd and we are glad to be able to offer this service to many more students in the city, ensuring their safe travel home.

“Students are a big part of Glasgow life and we are strong supporters of the university community, through the Glasgow Taxis cup – an intervarsity sporting competition between Glasgow’s three universities – and presence at Freshers’ Fairs.

“This new scheme will give both students, and our drivers, peace of mind.”

The Glasgow Safe Taxi Scheme will be run by Glasgow Taxis in partnership with the University of Glasgow Students’ Representative Council (GUSRC).

Liam King, President of the University of Glasgow Student Representative Council, said: “This is a fantastic initiative that the GUSRC and Glasgow Taxis Ltd are working on.

“Too often students can end up in potentially unsafe circumstances with no way of getting home and this will help to mitigate these risks. We’re very happy that the students of Glasgow University will now benefit from this scheme”.

This year, Glasgow Taxis Ltd also introduced Apple Pay meaning customers can pay using their iPhone app in the vehicle, rather than having to travel to an ATM before or even during the course of their journeys.