Taxi price rise on the cards

Wednesday 08 January 2020

Taxi fares could be going up by roughly a couple of pounds, but the distance you can be driven without being charged extra could also be made much longer.

Plans have been put out by Environment & Infrastructure to get feedback from the public, which would see base tariffs increase if approved.

The Committee has said the maximum amount an average taxi journey would cost would only go up by 3.09% though, a figure calculated using an established taxi inflation index, which is based 40% on inflation and 60% on median earnings.

Changes are potentially coming to reflect the increase in how much it costs to operate a taxi, for example in the 12 months ending in June last year, fuel cost went up by 3p per litre, and vehicle cost, and service and maintenance costs also went up. 

Pictured: Standing charges are going up, but the cost of travelling is going down, which should see the maximum full journey cost go up by only 3%. 

While the proposals will see the initial standing prices of a taxi go up, they will also increase the minimum distance travelled before the first additional 20p fare increment is added. This will go from 246.5 yards to 1,385.32 yards, and should offset the large increases to the standing fares to hit the 3% point.  

• A 1.0 mile journey on Tariff 1 would increase by 30p from £4.80 to £5.10

• A 1.0 mile journey on Tariff 3 would increase by 20p from £6.40 to £6.60

• A 2.5 mile journey on Tariff 1 would increase by 10p from £8.00 to £8.10

• A 2.5 mile journey on Tariff 2 would increase by 30p from £11.00 to £11.30

• A 5.0 mile journey on Tariff 1 would increase by 30p from £13.00 to £13.30

• A 5.0 mile journey on Tariff 4 would increase by 80p from £24.00 to £24.80