Taxi Driver Online

Fear of taxi drivers

Decision delayed on hiking taxi fares; Taxi boss warns 4,000 could be forced off road as regs call for bigger, newer cars


Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós postponed on Wednesday a City Council vote on new regulations governing the taxi industry that would increase minimum fares and ban cars older than 10 years. Taxi operators have been lobbying hard against the proposed framework, and many are threatening industrial action.

The director of Budapest’s largest cab firm, RT 5 Taxi Holding, welcomed the postponement pending further talks with operators. Csaba Horváth (not the similarly named leader of the council’s opposition Socialist group) had warned that some 4,000 sub-contractors could be forced off the roads if the regulations are pushed through in their present form.

Fight for fares

There are an estimated 5,500 taxis operating at present. Recent years have seen a cut-throat price war among firms, with some newcomers promising fares as low as HUF 300 plus HUF 240 per kilometre and even airport transfers from an unfeasible-sounding HUF 1,999 (EUR 6.58).

The proposals would impose a mandatory fare of HUF 480 plus HUF 280 per kilometre and HUF 70 per minute waiting time. Cars older than 10 years would be outlawed, along with any that do not meet Euro IV emission standards. Furthermore, the boot would have to be at least 430 litres, the wheelbase 2.55 metres or more, and all cabs air-conditioned.

Taxis waiting for fate

The right-wing Fidesz-backed council wants all taxis to be a New York-style yellow with a black chequered stripe down the side and emblazoned with the words “accredited Budapest taxi”. If the regulations take effect as planned in October, the taxi firm will only be allowed to put its logo on the driver’s door, adverts only on the rear bumper, and must accept in-car bankcard payments.

While RT 5 director Horváth said he was in favour of the changes but wanted the council to give drivers more time, the Independent Union of Cab Drivers had warned earlier that drivers were ready for a fight, news website hir24.hu reported. “If the plan is adopted in its present form, there will be a demonstration such as the capital has never seen,” Tamás Majercsik said.

Taxi drivers brought city traffic to a near standstill last summer with a kilometre-long convoy in protest over the proposed reforms. Tarlós said at the time that it was not in the interests of passengers or drivers to allow “any old wrecks” to be used as taxis and for pricing to be unpredictable.

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2013/03/30/ ... i-drivers/

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How come nobody takes a Huf with any of our councils and lets them get away with things,
See what I did there