Two publicans say a shortage of taxi drivers in the Latrobe Valley is a safety issue and may result in more people drink driving.
Hotel Traralgon general manager Jason Bennett said patrons were often waiting more than an hour for a taxi late at night.
"The problem is when the venues close [on weekends] and all the patrons are ushered out onto the streets, there aren't enough taxis to get them home," he said.
"The volume of people then hanging around the streets and at the taxi rank … that's obviously when some not good things can happen."
Trevor Hornibrook manages the Yinnar Hotel, a small-town pub 30 kilometres south-west of Traralgon.
He said people were waiting two to three hours after ordering a taxi, and at times no taxi would arrive at all.
"It's hopeless really," he said.
"We've got people trying to get home and needing a cab. We can't throw them out on the street, but we have to as such, because your licence requires people to be off the premises at a certain time.
"Then they're stuck in the lurch, and when people have had a few, if they've got their car around … suddenly it becomes 3am and it's cold and raining, what do you think they're going to do?"
Worker shortage bites
Kenneth Krieger has been the booking manager at Traralgon Taxis for 20 years.
He said it had been difficult to find drivers after the pandemic.
"We've been advertising for the last 12 months, but we're getting nobody at all," he said.
"No interest, no emails, no phone calls — there is no-one."
Mr Krieger said late at night taxi drivers were often taking people from Traralgon to surrounding towns more than half an hour away, which also impacted wait times.
He said the worker shortage was also having an impact during daylight hours, with wheelchair accessible taxis in their fleet reduced from four to two.
"So people in wheelchairs are having to wait until the jobs are completed," he said.
Rideshare faces similar obstacles
At a recent meeting between hotel operators, police and local council, Mr Bennett questioned whether attracting rideshare services to the region would solve the issue.
However Mr Kreiger said those services would face the same problem as the taxi industry.
"Uber have been trying to get into town for a long time, but they can't get drivers or vehicles. So it's the same problem as us," he said.
"We already offer flexibility — if somebody just worked Friday and Saturday night, we'd take that."
The Latrobe City Council said they were aware of the issue and were trialling taxi decals in the CBD to "help visitors find transport home in the evenings".
"The decals have positive messaging to 'take care of your mates' and improve safety," a spokesperson said.
