Taxi Driver Online

A decision on proposed changes to fares - put forward in the hope of boosting the supply of taxis in the evenings - is set to be made at Glasgow City Council on Wednesday.

Taxi fares in Glasgow are set to rise by almost 10% and night-time charges could be extended by two hours, with a decision expected this week. No representations have been received after the city’s licensing committee proposed a 9.72% increase to the rates — and a change which will allow an extra £1.50 to be charged from 9pm rather than 11pm. It has been put forward in the hope of boosting the supply of taxis in the evenings.

Changes were recommended to Glasgow City Council in an independent report by Dr James Cooper, who assessed production costs — including fuel, vehicle and insurance fees — for drivers between September 2022 and February this year.

They were proposed by the committee in June and a public notice was issued. In a new report, officials stated representations could be received by Friday, July 19, but none were made.

The changes include:

- An increase in the minimum charge flag fall from £4 to £4.40
- A rise in the additional night-time charge from £1.40 to £1.50
- A change in the night-time hours from 11pm to 6am to 9pm to 6am
- An uplift in the soiling charge from £42 to £46

The proposals are now set to go back before councillors on the committee on Wednesday August 14 for a final decision.

Once the fares have been set, any “person who operates a taxi in Glasgow can lodge an appeal with the traffic commissioner for the Scottish traffic area against the committee’s decision. In the event that an appeal is lodged, the committee’s decision regarding the new taxi fare scales will be suspended until such time as the appeal is dismissed, determined or abandoned,” the report by officials added.

Additional Christmas and New Year charges — between 9pm on December 24 and 6am on December 27 and 9pm on December 31 and 6am on January 3 — could rise from £2.50 to £2.70. Currently, these charges only apply on December 25 and 26 and January 1 and 2.

Consultation on the proposals was held with the trade and 325 responses were received.

At the meeting in June, Robert McLean, of Glasgow Taxis, said the public “rely heavily on taxis to get back out of the city” at night-time. He encouraged an increase of the night-time charge from £1.50 to £3 to improve the availability of taxis.

Last year, an increase of 19.36% was agreed following a previous review. It came into effect in April 2023. Under the latest plans, the flag fall distance and time are also expected to be changed from 886 yards to 889 yards and 166 seconds to 167 seconds.

Each additional increment could change from a distance not exceeding 196 yards to 179 yards and the time changed from 42 seconds to 38 seconds. However, the distance and time charge would remain at an increment of 30p.

Dr Cooper concluded there had been a 9.72% increase in “the cost of operating a taxi in Glasgow”. His research considered a range of factors including fuel costs, vehicle purchase and maintenance expenditure, insurance and licence fees and the costs of Low Emission Zone compliance.

A council report stated Glasgow Taxis believe the 10p increase in the night-shift flag fall would “not be effective”. The firm wants to see it rise to £3 at nights and £5 over Christmas and New Year holidays.

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... e-29724071

As the article mentions, there was a fairly big tariff rise in mid-2023. Suppose we'll know if/when this goes through on Wednesday.

So a night-time flag of £5.90?

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IDFIMH

I guess so - and from 9pm instead of 11pm.

Not sure how that compares to PHC rates.

Looks like it was more or less rubber-stamped, but maybe better to leave the details to others...

But have avoided the use of italics here, because they make me think I've been on psychedelics drugs


Glasgow taxi fares set to rise 10% after committee approval

https://news.stv.tv/west-central/glasgo ... e-approval

The new charges which will apply from Monday, September 23 if there is no appeal.

Plans to raise taxi fares in Glasgow by almost 10% and extend night-time charges by two hours have been approved.

The city’s licensing committee agreed to the changes – which will apply from Monday, September 23 if there is no appeal – at a meeting on Wednesday.

They will see a 9.72% increase to the rates and an update which will allow an extra £1.50 to be charged from 9pm rather than 11pm.

When the changes were first proposed, it was suggested they could boost the supply of taxis in the evenings.

There will be:

An increase in the minimum charge flag fall from £4 to £4.40
A rise in the additional night-time charge from £1.40 to £1.50
A change in the night-time hours from 11pm to 6am to 9pm to 6am
An uplift in the soiling charge from £42 to £46

Additional Christmas and New Year charges – between 9pm on December 24 and 6am on December 27 and 9pm on December 31 and 6am on January 3 – will rise from £2.50 to £2.70. These charges have previously only applied on December 25 and 26 and January 1 and 2.

Changes were recommended to Glasgow City Council in an independent report by Dr James Cooper, who assessed production costs – including fuel, vehicle and insurance fees – for drivers between September 2022 and February this year.

They were initially proposed by the committee in June and a public notice was issued. Officials then reported representations could be received by Friday, July 19, but none were made.

An appeal against the decision can be lodged with the traffic commissioner for the Scottish traffic area by anyone who operates a taxi in the city.

If an appeal was submitted, the decision would be suspended until “such time as the appeal was dismissed, determined or abandoned”, council officials reported.

Consultation on the proposals was held with the trade and 325 responses were received.

At a meeting in June, Robert McLean, of Glasgow Taxis, said the public “rely heavily on taxis to get back out of the city” at night-time. He suggested an increase of the night-time charge from £1.50 to £3 to improve the availability of taxis.

Last year, an increase of 19.36% was agreed following a previous review. It came into effect in April 2023.

Under the latest plans, the flag fall distance and time will change from 886 yards to 889 yards and 166 seconds to 167 seconds.

Each additional increment will change from a distance not exceeding 196 yards to 179 yards and the time changed from 42 seconds to 38 seconds. However, the distance and time charge remains at an increment of 30p.

Dr Cooper concluded there had been a 9.72% increase in “the cost of operating a taxi in Glasgow”. His research considered a range of factors including fuel costs, vehicle purchase and maintenance expenditure, insurance and licence fees and the costs of Low Emission Zone compliance.

A council report stated Glasgow Taxis believe the 10p increase in the night-shift flag fall would “not be effective”. The firm wants to see it rise to £3 at nights and £5 over Christmas and New Year holidays.

It also suggested the night-time charges should stop at 5am rather than 6am as to “not penalise” workers who start early.

Glasgow Taxis Owners Federation suggested the night charge should be changed to £2, and wants extra charges per person after two passengers.

They don't have to charge the extra if they don't want to, they can offer a discount.

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

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IDFIMH

I do, to anyone suffering having to work on a weekend

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

First night on the new tariff - a £5.90 Rate 2 flag fall from 9pm caused a few comments. On cashing up, I'm seeing a modest but definitely not spectacular uplift. It'll soon be cancelled out if more drivers start working lates but that was one of the aims of the tariff change, so meh.

Have to say, a Glasgow tariff change is fairly painless. Both Patons (meter setup) and Polmadie test centre (re-seal) run a drive-in service with extra staff. I was all done and back home within an hour.

You might get a few extra drivers working a little while after 9.00 pm, but I'm not sure that many extra drivers will stick it out all night.

For them to do that they will have to change from basically working days, to basically working nights. That's quite a significant change and it would need a lot more than a £1 or £2 a job for most to do that.

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IDFIMH

Agree - won't make any difference to double-shift cabs as they're out anyway. Going much past 9pm is a stretch for a single-shift if they're doing any contract work during the day. I don't and am seldom out before 8pm. I've done the odd Sunday afternoon but weekday traffic in Glasgow would soon drive me insane.

It'll probably come and go for a bit. I drove a cab for a bit in the late 1980s - someone would brag about what a fantastic Wednesday (say) they'd had and for the next three Wednesdays, it was stone dead because every cab was out looking for the fantastic. Then it went back to normal until someone bragged about a different day.