For many, finding a taxi home at the end of the night in Belfast recently has become something of an ordeal.
As the city centre opens its doors again for nightlife, shopping and tourism, it has prompted the boss of a leading live music venue to call for an intervention.
Charlotte Dryden, CEO of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in the Cathedral Quarter, has highlighted what she called the city's "serious problem" with night time transport, particularly at weekends, branding it "embarrassing".
Read more: Why is it still so hard to get a taxi in Belfast?
In a tweet in the early hours of Sunday morning, Charlotte wrote: "Hey @Translink_NI @niexecutive @belfastcc & taxis. We’ve a serious problem.
"We’re losing customers at gigs who leave early terrified of missing last bus/train or not having a chance of getting a taxi. We can’t boast being a great destination if we don’t sort this out. Embarrassing."
She added: "Our gig was free. It was a showcase. An annual event. We’ve adapted most of our events in (order) to allow for access to public transport.
"But you would hope that on a bank holiday Saturday night people could confidently stay out longer. The streets are full of people trying to get home."
Charlotte said one solution would be to improve Belfast's late night public transport.
Her tweet prompted a huge response from others who have faced transport issues while enjoying a night out in Belfast.
"I was surprised by the response as this clearly evoked a really strong reaction about how we need to have better infrastructure around public transport," she told Belfast Live.
"I have been working in the Cathedral Quarter for 14 years and it has really grown. It's amazing to see Belfast as such an international city now and a wonderful place to visit as there's so much happening.
"This weekend was unreal with the AVA Festival and Billie Eilish playing on Friday night while we also had our own events peppered around smaller venues over four days."
Charlotte added: "We're doing all this great cultural work, which is bringing people into the city as well as the local community to enjoy and get back out there again after the pandemic but the demand isn't being met around public transport.
"When you're running a venue you want your audience, community and customers to have a really good experience overall and be safe when they go home. It's just really frustrating when you're trying to put on a great offering in the city.
"This was probably our first big weekend since coming out of lockdown and it was great to get back out there again. However I spent most of the weekend talking to people who said they had a great night but would have to leave our venue early to catch the last bus or train home because they knew they just wouldn't get a taxi.
"We have been running some events early to ensure people do get home but every now and again you do run a night a bit later because there's an audience there who want a late night.
"We can't cater for that now so we're in a bit of a bottleneck and it came to a head this weekend because there was so much happening. I was driving home from work on Friday night and there were people just everywhere and the same on Saturday.
"Translink do provide a great service but one option might be to pilot a late night service at weekends in the summer. I don't think it would be as difficult as they think in a city that is pitching itself as an international destination for great weekend breaks."
One taxi driver for Value Cabs recently spoke to Belfast Live, but didn't wish to give his name, about the ongoing transport problems in the city.
He said between the pandemic slowing business, the rise in the cost of living and the availability of steadier work elsewhere, taxiing had become a much less attractive option.
He said that there had been some talk of a fare increase around March time but it did not progress anywhere before last month's Assembly election.
He also said the lack of taxi drivers around for work meant people were less likely to go into the city centre for fear of waiting hours after a night out, meaning the cycle would continue without intervention.
Meanwhile Stephen Anton from Fonacab said their numbers have been hit hard by drivers leaving and not returning during the pandemic.
He said that from a position of having around 1,440 drivers available before Covid-19, they're down to roughly 900 now.
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and Translink have been approached for comment.
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