FARES...


LONDON TAXI FARES TO INCREASE BY 2.7 PER CENT


Transport for Lon- don’s (TfL) Board has noted a below inflation average taxi fare increase of 2.7 per cent for the 2011/12 financial year.


The new fare structure followed consultation by TfL with the taxi trade and others, including London TravelWatch and the London Cham- ber of Commerce and


Industry.


John Mason, Director of Taxi and Private Hire at Transport for Lon- don, said: “The annual taxi fare revision takes into account a range of components that make up taxi drivers’ running costs includ- ing vehicle costs, parts, fuel and insur- ance. This year’s moderate increase


continues to seek to cover increases in the cost of running a Lon- don taxi whilst providing passengers with value for money.” Taxi fares are reviewed annually and calculat- ed by TfL based on a cost index that has been used since 1981. The new fares will come into effect from 2 April 2011.


TEST VALLEY TAXI FARES ARE SET TO RISE


Taxi fares are set to rise after councillors agreed to pass on hikes in petrol prices and other charges to passengers. The Test Valley Taxi Association asked Test Valley Borough Council to approve the fare changes - which will see the cost of many journeys go up. Those using taxis after midnight and before 7am, or on bank holi- days, will pay 30p after each one eighth of a mile, instead of the


current 15p after each one 14th of a mile. The first mile is charged at £5.10. Tariffs outside of bank holidays and before 12pm will also go up from 10p for every one 14th of a mile to 20p for every eighth of a mile, after an initial charge of £3.40 for the first mile. According to the Andover Advertiser, the increases were recom- mended by council officers, who said in a report: “It is now over two years since the last


increase and there is a danger that propri- etors’ income is falling behind when consider- ing the increased costs they will have incurred in the last two years.” A two-mile journey, from 7am until 12pm, will go up by 20p, from £4.80 to £5.


Over the Christmas period, taxi users will pay as much as 40p for every one eighth of a mile after an initial charge. The fee is cur- rently 20p for one 14th of a mile.


More than 500 private hire drivers across Telford and Wrekin are planning to take advantage of a legal loophole to avoid a rise in licence fees. The drivers are plan- ning to give back their licences to Telford and Wrekin Council and instead apply for hack- ney carriage licences from Shropshire Council as the fees are lower.


TAXI LICENCES BID IN TELFORD FEE ROW try.


Cllr Miles Hosken, cabinet member for community protection at Telford and Wrekin, said there was case law that enabled pri- vate hire operators to apply for licences wherever they chose. Telford and Wrekin Council’s decision would see the opera- tor’s annual licence fee rise from £462 to £2,495.


David Edwards, head of county public pro- tection at Shropshire Council, said a hack- ney carriage licensed by Shropshire Council was able to undertake booked appointments anywhere in the coun-


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Mohammed Zaman, chairman of Telford Private Hire Drivers’ Association, said: “The majority, if not all, of the private hire trade licensed by Telford and Wrekin Council have decided


METERS WILL NOT TICK AS QUICK AS CHELTENHAM CABBIES WANT


Taxi drivers’ hopes of a 40 per cent fare increase have been dashed in Cheltenham. Hackney operators have vowed to fight on after licensing officers said their request to put up standard rates


from £2 to £2.80 should be rejected. Members of Chel- tenham Borough Council’s licensing committee have in- stead been advised to approve a 40p rise. Drivers’ representative


Paul Luke told the Western Daily Press: “Fuel has gone up by ten to 15 per cent since November. But we have to go cap in hand to the council and we will have to keep going back until they listen.”


DERBYSHIRE DALES FEES TO RISE DESPITE DRIVERS’ CONCERNS


Taxi licence fees have increased despite a warning some drivers will go out of business and customers could be hit hard.


Derbyshire Dales Dis- trict Council has agreed to raise hack- ney carriage and private hire licensing fees by 4.6 per cent. Fred Garside from Derbyshire Dales Taxi Operators’ and Own- ers’ Association told the Matlock Mercury: “It will be the public who will suffer since taxi owners will be left


with no choice but to readdress fares, and some will be forced to quit the trade as more taxi owners will find it too expensive to oper- ate.”


An application fee for an operator’s licence will now cost £225.15, a private hire vehicle licence will be £268 and a hackney car- riage vehicle licence, £303.


Councillor David Fearn said: “I have to say I don’t think we have dealt with taxi drivers particularly


well in this case. “It has a familiar ring to it. We are sometimes, as a council, extraordi- narily slow to react to situations and slow to answer letters.


“The problem is the fact that we have to balance books and we can’t expect council tax payers to sub- sidise taxi drivers. We should be looking at areas where we can save money.”


Council officers are set to meet with driv- ers to discuss plans for the future.


SHEFFIELD DRIVERS CALL FOR CAB FARES HIKE


to become licensed in the hackney carriage trade with Shropshire Council.”


It was revealed during a meeting of the coun- cil’s licensing com- mittee in December that council tax payers were paying more than £40,000 annually to subsidise the cost of operating PHVs in the borough. The council had said its aim was to reduce that.


Currently a private hire driver’s licence for 12 months costs £125, but this would rise to £170. A 12-month licence with Shrop- shire Council costs £80, but that amount is currently under review.


Black cab drivers in Sheffield are seeking to put up fares by more than three times the rate of inflation as diesel prices soar at the pumps.


The city’s taxi trade association is plan- ning to ask licensing chiefs for permission to increase the cost per mile by 20 pence, from £1.51 to £1.73, following price hikes already implemented by private hire firms. According to the Sheffield Star, mem- bers of the association were to meet to dis- cuss making a formal request to Sheffield Council’s licensing board for special per- mission to implement the fare rise. Normally fares are only


reviewed once a year. The initial £2.60 put on the meter at the start of the journey would be unchanged.


The increased charge per mile is equivalent to around 13 per cent, compared to the 3.7 per cent rate of infla- tion.


Cllr Ibrar Hussain is supporting the drivers by writing to Chancel- lor George Osborne calling for him to give drivers a partial rebate on their duty. He said: “Taxis are part of public transport and if we can keep the cost of fuel down then overall prices for cus- tomers will be kept low or at very reason- able level.


“I am urging the Gov- ernment to think hard


and make sure small businesses are helped to survive.”


Mr Osborne has said he may consider scrapping a planned rise in fuel duty in April, which was approved by the last Govern- ment, and implement a ‘fuel equaliser’ mecha- nism through which fuel duty falls if oil prices rise, to keep prices stable. However, no firm pro- posals have yet been made by the Govern- ment.


Cllr Clive Skelton, chairman of Sheffield Council’s licensing board, said: “I have been informed that this meeting of the associ- ation is being held and that the request may be made.”


PHTM MARCH 2011


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