Late night cab drivers in Adelaide will feel more vulnerable and the public will lose important services with the end of supervised taxi ranks, the Taxi Council of South Australia has warned.
Council president Steve Savas says the supervised ranks in the city helped weed out potential troublemakers.
But he said drivers will still front up and do their jobs, especially on busy nights like New Year's Eve.
"They will feel more vulnerable, but they will still head to those ranks because that's where people will line up and wait," Mr Savas told ABC radio on Monday.
The council has lost $190,000 in state government funding which helped provide a late night concierge and security service at key city taxi ranks, including Hindley Street and the Adelaide Casino, on Friday and Saturday nights.
The services will stop after New Year's Eve, something Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas says will impact on passenger and driver safety.
"Parents concerned for the safety of their children in the city late at night will now have an added worry," he said.
"Simply put, managed taxi ranks help keep passengers and drivers safe."
The end to the service also comes after an attack on a driver at Felixstow on Sunday who escaped serious injury after being punched several times to the head and body by three passengers who then stole his wallet and overnight takings.
A 23-year-old man was later arrested over the incident and charged with aggravated robbery.
Mr Savas said late night and early morning pick-ups can be "scary" for drivers.
He said the council was continually trying to educate cabbies to better assess situations before picking up passengers in potentially dangerous circumstances such as a dark street or in a park.
"That's another reason why they prefer to go to those (supervised) ranks. They know that they're safe there," he said.
"They know that whoever is going to get in their cab has been scrutinised by the concierge and the security people."
Mr Savas said the managed ranks also provided a valuable service for the public, often serving as a safe pick-up venue for parents collecting their children or to provide assistance in emergencies.
Southern Domestic Violence Action Group chair Di Newton said the loss of the supervised ranks would put women at particular risk, "especially when they may have been out drinking and are vulnerable".
"Women will be planning their nights out from January 1 onwards expecting this service to be there, only to discover that it's not in the early hours of the morning, and they will be placed at even higher risk," she said.
Mr Savas said the council was looking to replace the government funding through private sponsorship.
