A planned review of Aberdeen City Council’s Taxi and Private Hire Policy will examine a key barrier limiting the growth of app-based services such as Uber in the city.
A report to the council’s Licensing Committee recommends a formal public consultation on the policy, including a reassessment of the requirement for all taxi and private hire drivers to pass the Street Knowledge Test before being licensed .
While Uber has already entered the Aberdeen market, the company has previously highlighted the Street Knowledge Test as a significant constraint on driver recruitment, given that its platform relies on GPS navigation rather than traditional route memorisation.
The council report explicitly proposes seeking public views on whether the test should remain in place for private hire drivers, be amended, or be removed altogether for that category — a change that would bring Aberdeen more closely into line with other UK cities where app-based operators have scaled more rapidly.
Other elements of the review include potential changes to the city’s two-zone taxi licensing system, vehicle age limits and restrictions on advertising, all of which could further affect how private hire services operate locally.
The licensing area is currently split into two zones, city and airport. It is suggested that views are sought on combining the zones so that all taxis are licensed for the whole of the council area.
The public consultation is expected to run from February to March 2026, with findings reported back to the Licensing Committee in May.