After a piece appeared in the Evening Mail reporting that taxi fares are to rise by 12.5 % I have had quite a few people moaning to me about this and asking when our fares go up. Well, I for one am sad to report that it doesn’t affect pre-booked or private hire fares, this fare hike is solely for hackney fares from a taxi rank. Passengers from the rank are a small proportion of the total of daily fares and this rise will only benefit a relatively small number of drivers.
In the past private hire rate rises used to follow on the heels of hackney increases but always at a lower rate, this has fallen by the wayside over the last few years due to fierce competition between taxi firms. None of them want to be the first to raise fares for fear that the others may not follow suit. This has left us the poor self-employed drivers as the piggies in the middle with rising fuel prices and ever increasing overheads without a fare increase for more years now than I care to think about. This has to stop its not good for the taxi trade and in the long run its not good for the customers, I’m sure people would rather have small regular fare rises that are in line with inflation rather than at some time in the future have one big fare hike, because that’s what will happen, eventually the piggy in the middle won't want to play anymore.
In the past private hire rate rises used to follow on the heels of hackney increases but always at a lower rate, this has fallen by the wayside over the last few years due to fierce competition between taxi firms. None of them want to be the first to raise fares for fear that the others may not follow suit. This has left us the poor self-employed drivers as the piggies in the middle with rising fuel prices and ever increasing overheads without a fare increase for more years now than I care to think about. This has to stop its not good for the taxi trade and in the long run its not good for the customers, I’m sure people would rather have small regular fare rises that are in line with inflation rather than at some time in the future have one big fare hike, because that’s what will happen, eventually the piggy in the middle won't want to play anymore.
6 comments:
Is there a gov't agency that regulates meter rates or is it left to the companies' business judgement?
Disregard!
I hadn't clicked on your newspaper link before I asked my question.
I wish we had a "soiling" or "fouling" charge that we could legally assess.
hmm. they're ready for an increase in fares in singapore too.
people will moan and complain for a while. then forget about it once the government shoves a couple of hundred dolars in peoples' bank accounts on national day. pity as a foreigner i'm not entitled to it :(
We get no increase on anything.. Just on the price of gas. Our city council said No to our request. After all we wouldn't want the poor to give up their beer or smokes to take a taxi now would we?
What are your gasoline (petrol) prices like, Bob, compared to the U.S.?
Tuffenuf gas is a lot dearer over here because it is heavily taxed works out at just over $9 a gallon
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