..FARES..FARES..FARES..FARES MIDLOTHIAN:
Taxi fares increases of up to 20 per cent have been given the green light to go out for public consultation by councillors. The Edinburgh Evening News reports that new tariffs pro- posed following talks between Midlothian Council and taxi operators are the first increase in six years. The new tariffs will see a weekday starting rate of £3, evening and weekend rates increase to £3.80 and all festive trips given a starting rate of £4.50. Distance/waiting times will also go up from 20p to 25p dur- ing the year and 35p to 40p over the festive period. The soiling charge will more than double from £20 to a £50. The committee was told that the new fares proposed were benchmarked against fares in other Lothian and Borders local authority areas.
WORCESTER:
Taxi fares are set to increase by 20 per cent in Worcester due to the rising cost of petrol. According to Worcester News, councillors have backed a request by the city’s taxi drivers who have been demanding an increase for a number of months due to higher costs and the Covid-19 pandemic. Worcester City Council’s licensing and environment health committee backed the request by Worcester Taxi Associa- tion at a meeting on Thursday 24 March, and the proposal will now go out for public consultation. If backed, the new fares could be in place by June and it would be the first increase in five years. The rise in fares sees the initial cost of flagging a cab rise by 19 per cent to £4.30 with a one-mile journey costing £5 and the cost of a two-mile journey increasing to £7. Special fares for late-night and Bank Holiday trips would increase to £5.50 initially and rise to £6.30 and £9.10 for one-and-two-mile journeys. Councillors also agreed to look at reviewing the price of fares at least once a year in the future.
TRANSPORT FOR LONDON:
Taxi fares are to rise by 5.5 per cent in a bid to stem the flood of cab drivers quitting London. The Evening Standard reports that TfL approved the increase amid concerns at the threat to the number of “icon- ic” black cabs in the capital. It’s the first increase in licensed taxi fares in more than two years after the annual rise was abandoned last year and in 2020 due to the pandemic. The new fares are due to come into effect from April 30. The minimum cab fare will increase from £3.20 to £3.80 and the taxi meter will “tick over” more quickly. TfL’s finance committee, which approved the increases, was
APRIL 2022
told there had been a near 25 per cent fall in the number of taxis in the capital. TfL has to balance the “negative impacts” of a rise in fares, such as the disincentive for passengers to hail a cab, against the disadvantages of not implementing a rise. These include drivers leaving the trade and the potential for passengers to switch to unlicensed touts. The safety of women travelling at night is also a concern. The 5.5 per cent hike applies to journeys between 5am and 10pm. The overnight tariff and rate for journeys longer than six miles are being frozen. In addition, Heathrow passengers will pay a supplement up to £3.60, up from £2.80, and drivers can charge an addition- al £5.20 if using a “drop off” zone at an airport terminal. This is to help reimburse cabbies for the £7.20 cost of accessing the taxi ranks at Heathrow and the introduction of a £5 terminal drop-off charge from next month. TfL initially proposed a four per cent hike but the taxi trade – the London Cab Drivers Club, LTDA, RMT, Unite and the United Cabbies Group - wanted a 5.5 per cent increase, with the minimum fare reduced by 20p from £4 proposed by TfL. The cost of operating a taxi has increased by almost 10 per cent since 2019 and there are concerns the record price of diesel due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will cause cabbies further problems.
SOUTH LANARKSHIRE:
Taxi fares in South Lanarkshire are set to rise as the council reviews prices in the area. STV News reports that there are four licensing zones and the local authority is proposing to apply an increase in fares in two of them; Clydesdale and East Kilbride, while charges for taxis will remain the same in Hamilton and in Cambuslang and Rutherglen. Currently, in the Clydesdale zone, the cost is £3.30 for fares not exceeding one mile – the council is proposing to raise this to £3.40. The average two-mile hire is £5.30 and it is being suggested this should increase to £5.80. As well as this, for each additional 88 yards travelled, it is being suggested to raise the charge to 12p from 10p. Currently, in East Kilbride, the fare for a taxi that does not exceed 880 yards costs £2.90, and the council is proposing to raise this to £3.20. On top of this, a charge of 30p is added for the next nine additional 293 yards. The council is hoping to change this to 20p for the next 14 additional 189 yards. This would see the price of an average two-mile hire increas- ing from £5.60 to £6. Fares in the Hamilton zone will remain at £5.20 for an aver- age two-mile hire and for Cambuslang and Rutherglen, the average cost of a two-mile hire will be £5.60. Representations about the proposals can be made before April 10 and will then be considered by the council which will carry out a review.
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