Taxi Driver Online

Apropos of what I was saying yesterday about the meaningless blizzard of stats in some of these fare articles, this one takes the biscuit. They might as well just publish the old and new tariff cards and leave it at that. Talk about churnalism.

And particularly when these look like very hefty and potentially confusing increases

T1 flag going up from £2.80 to £4.50

T2 flag going up from £3.00 to £4.70

And the T1 running mile going up 25 per cent, blah, blah

And looks like T1 coming forward from 10pm to 8pm. And the oddball T3 that applies from 3am to 6am will now start at midnight

On the other hand, look closely and it seems that the flag currently doesn't cover any distance, and the running mile starts immediately, while the new flags are covering the first mile.

So although very big hikes on very short trips, it's not so bad on the longer runs. But it looks like the tariffs are being totally restructured and extended in time rather than just going up, which underlines the largely pointless nature of the article. How many readers of the South Wales Guardian are going to wade through all that and make sense of it?

Anyway, can't be bothered with the details of the number crunching, but certainly looks like quite a major change in the tariffs here. Or maybe I'm totally misreading the whole thing


Carmarthenshire's taxi fare increase proposals

https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/ne ... proposals/

TAXI fares across Carmarthenshire could be increased according to council proposals.

In a public noticed placed by Carmarthenshire County Council in the South Wales Guardian on November 2, the proposals for the increase in prices.

Currently, the prices are as follows:

Tariff 1 (between 6am and 10pm): £2.80 initial charge, 20p for additional mileage for each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, 20p waiting time per minute.

Tariff 2 (between 10pm and 3am): £3 initial charge, 25p for additional mileage for each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, p waiting time per minute.

Tariff 3 *between 3am and 6am): £3 initial charge, 30p for additional mileage for each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, 30p waiting time per minute.

There is also a tariff 2 surcharge on the meter on Sundays, public and bank holidays and nightly between 10pm and 3am.

A tariff 3 surcharge applies from 3am to 6am.

The cost for extra charges (optional) is currently: £60 contamination fee for fouling of vehicle, £5 booking fee when journey begins more than five miles from the operator’s base, £1 for each passenger for vehicles carrying between five and eight passengers and a double tariff 1 on the meter on Christmas Day and New Years Day.

Carmarthenshire County Council proposes the following price increases:

Tariff 1 (between 6am and 8pm): £4.50 for the first mile or part thereof, 25p for additional mileage of each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, £30p waiting time per minute.

Tariff 2 (between 8pm-midnight): £4.70 for the first mile or part thereof, 30p for additional mileage of each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, 30p waiting time per minute.

Tariff 3 (between midnight and 6am): £5.15 for the first mile or part thereof, 35p for additional mileage of each one tenth of a mile or part thereof, 40p waiting time per minute.

A tariff 2 surcharge on the meter will apply on Sundays, public and bank holidays and nightly from 8pm until midnight.

A tariff 3 surcharge on the meter will apply from midnight until 6am.

The proposed changes to the extra charges will see the costs rise to: up to £120 contamination fee for fouling of vehicle, £5 booking fee when journey commences four miles from the operator’s base (note the change from five to four miles), £1 for each extra passenger when vehicle carries between five and eight passengers (no extra charge for four passengers) and double tariff 1 on the meter on Christmas and New Years Day.

Anyone who has any objections to the proposals must state their objections in writing to the Head of Homes and Safer Communities, Carmarthenshire County Council, 3 Spilman Street, Carmarthen, SA31 1LE or by emailing schtaxilicensing@carmarthenshire.gov.uk by November 21.

Well that's seems a bit daft for a booking fee structure.

I mean, currently 4.99 miles away and there's no charge, then it's £5 even if it's just a few yards further on. And another ten miles further on, and the charge is still £5

And I'll bet actually measuring the distance from the base causes some disputes at the margins - how is it actually quantified?

Also, it presupposes that the car is always sent from the operator's base

Never been a fan of booking fees, but I suppose in rural areas there is an argument to be had for them.

And is it right to charge £5 if it’s a job returning to the city centre, or to near your base?

Not going to be easy explaining the fare going somewhere to be £10 and £15 coming back.

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IDFIMH