Taxi Driver Online

Quite a few numbers and detail here, but can't really be bothered picking through it all


Cabbies call on council to increase taxi tariffs to cover soaring cost of living

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/transport/ca ... ng-3514977

Cabbies in South Ribble want permission to put up fares claiming running costs have "gone through the roof."

The drivers have written to the district council asking for the set tariff to be increased to take account of a dramatic rise in the cost of living.

Taxi fares, which are fixed by the local authority, have not risen in South Ribble for seven years and the cabbies say they are struggling to make ends meet.

The council's licensing and public safety committee will consider the request at a meeting tonight and are expected to put the idea out to consultation before making a decision.

A letter to the committee from the South Ribble Taxi Drivers Association asks for a 50p rise in the start-up fee - the standard amount put on the clock before a journey begins - and also increases in waiting charges, soiling charges and the additional cost of carrying non-assistance dogs.

But the SRTDA is not asking for the charge per mile to be increased.

The start-up price is fixed on three levels, with the current Tariff 1 charge (between 6am and midnight) set at £2.20 for the first two tenths of a mile followed by 20p for each tenth after that. Cabbies want that to rise to £2.70 and 20p.

Tariff 2 (between midnight and 6am, statutory holidays and Bank Holidays, or when carrying five or more passengers) is currently £3.00 and 25p. Drivers want that to go up to £3.50 and 25p.

And Tariff 3 (over Christmas and New Year) is currently £4 and 35p, the taxi association wants that to rise to £4.5 and 35p.

Waiting times are currently 10p every 30 seconds, but cabbies are asking for that to be shortened to 10p for every 20 seconds.

They want soiling charges - where a passenger causes a mess which requires the cab to be valeted - to go up from £40 to £100.

And the the additional charge for carrying a dog - assistance dogs apart - should rise from 60p to £1 per animal.

In its letter to the committee, the SRTDA says its members have faced costly rises in running costs since the last review in 2015, with the price of fuel and second hand vehicles soaring.

The organisation says Covid lockdowns have also had a big impact.

"The last tariff increase was over five years ago. Since then the cost of living has gone through the roof and sadly does not look like slowing down.

"Taxi cost increases this year alone on running cost of vehicles has increased, from parts and labour, insurance, along with the rapid increase in vehicle purchasing costs. The price of fuel has also gone through the roof, having jumped up 20p a litre on average to an eye-watering £1.50-plus.

"The increase we are asking for has taken all of this into account and even though a lot of drivers was asking for a greater increase, the strong argument of the majority has been accepted to make it as less harsh as possible.

"We have taken into account all of the customer base and especially the elderly within the community. However sadly we all have livings to make and families to feed, along with bills to pay.

"We have also noticed a huge reduction in our elderly going shopping, we have put this down to the pandemic families having made other arrangements in getting shopping delivered to the parents homes."

Figures issued by the council show that cabs in South Ribble are mid-table when it comes to charging for a standard two-mile journey compared to other pars of Lancashire.

In South Ribble the journey would cost £5.80, while in Preston a passenger would be charged £6. Most expensive is Blackburn where the journey would cost £6.30. Chorley comes out cheapest at £5.10.

£2.20 obviously quite a modest flagfall, but not sure if it's best to increase this by 50p and leave the running mile at the same rate.

Ditto the fixed charge for carrying a dog and the soiling charge. Quite big hikes, and the type that passengers will tend to notice (although of course to a degree the soiling charge is academic).

So maybe they'd have been better with lower rises on the flagfall and fixed charges, and putting a bit on the running mile

They wait nearly 7 years for a rise, then don't change the mileage rate.

They should have done what Mr T did in Sefton, up the flag and increase the mileage.

Then when the councillors knock back part of the proposal they will still have a reasonable increase.

Now what could happen is the council knock back the 50p to say 30p and they then have no running rate increase.

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IDFIMH

I thought that the Council had the choice to approve the suggested rate or not approve it. I didn't think they could approve something that had not been asked for.

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Grandad,

I suppose it depends on which part of the process.

In that at the end of the process the council can agree on anything or nothing.

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IDFIMH

The thing with increases to the meter is that you have to select the best option for the way you work in your area i.e., If you work from a stand and do 80% short journeys, then obviously your first drop is where the money goes up, but if your work is in the 3 4. 5. Miles Pay journey or long distance then you would be increasing your mileage rate

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Obviously a different approach to that in Denbighshire and Isle of Wight


Cabbies holding back on extra fare rises in South Ribble saying public would suffer

https://www.lep.co.uk/business/consumer ... es-3592162

Taxi drivers in South Ribble have opted not to push for an extra rise in fares after accepting passengers might struggle to pay them.

A first cost of living increase in seven years is ready to be brought in across the borough after cabbies complained rates were too low.

But a move by some taxi leaders to increase the tariffs even more to compensate for soaring fuel prices and other vehicle costs has been abandoned after consultation with drivers showed many felt it would be unfair on the public.

Fares still look set to rise by 50p a journey, but the additional increase called for by leaders at a recent Taxi Trade Forum has been put on hold due to the effect inflation is having on everyone.

A report to members of next week's licensing and public safety committee explains: "Some members of the trade and representatives in attendance (at the forum in January 12) felt that maybe the proposed increase was not high enough, given that an increase has not been given since 2015."

But after consulting with members of the South Ribble Taxi Drivers' Association, the idea of a second increase was dropped.

The report adds: "The trade believe the general public is going through financial hard times and further increases to the one originally proposed would not be fair on their customers and would not look good on the taxi trade within the borough."

The original fare increases, if agreed by the committee, will see the start-up charge - the amount already on the clock when the journey begins - upped by 50p. But the price per mile will stay the same as it is.

The standard fare for dogs, other than assistance dogs, will rise from 60p to £1. The waiting time charge will be 10p for every 20 seconds instead of 30 seconds.

And the soiling charge, when a cab needs to be cleaned after a customer has been sick in the vehicle, will shoot up from £40 to £100 to take account of the length of time a vehicle could be off the road being valeted.

The taxi trade asked for the new fees saying the rates had stayed the same for seven years, despite inflation. Only three out of 60 cabbies consulted opposed the increase.

Drivers complained that the cost of living had risen, as had the cost of taxi plates and badges, fuel had shot up and cabbies had suffered severe hardship during the Covid pandemic.

They said several members of the association had left the profession to work in food delivery because the rates of pay were better.

On the other hand, pets staying at 20p a skull in Denbighshire - bargain

Absolute f***wits.

We have just had two years of earning next to nothing, and when fuel is soaring these idiots don't want punters to suffer.

You really couldn't make it up.

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IDFIMH

Yes, maybe if they'd gone for less than 50p on the flag in April, together with a mileage increase, then that might have gone through.

And clearly 25% on the T1 mileage now a bit too much for councillors

But obviously there are 'hawks' and 'doves' representing the trade in the area