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Hackney carriage fares set to rise in Wakefield district for first time since 2011

https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/busi ... 1-10066274


Image: Wakefield Express

Fares for hackney carriage passengers in Wakefield are set to rise, subject to a public consultation.

Under proposals expected to come into force at the start of next year, the price of a six mile journey during the day will rise from £10.60 to £11.50.

At night, the cost of the same journey will go up from £12.20 to £13.10.

If approved, it will be the first time fares for hackney carriages in the district have gone up since 2011.

The district's Private Hire and Hackney Carriages Association, which represents drivers, had asked for the changes to bring Wakefield into line with other local authority areas.

But they turned down the offer of an incremental fare rise every year.

Speaking at a licensing committee meeting on Wednesday, licensing officer Dave Hollis told councillors: "The increases amount to around 50 or 60 pence per mile.

"The new fares are not radically different to the ones that are charged at the moment.

"We met with representatives of the trade, and they believed that an annual rise in fares would not be supported by the public.

"So they've hung on to the current fares for a long time, to the point that in West Yorkshire they're now at the bottom (price wise).

"We did ask if they wanted to look at a way of doing it on a yearly basis, but they weren't interested."

Councillors gave a provisional green light to the increase, though members of the public can now contact Wakefield Council with their views on the rise before it is put into practice.

But the committee did not support cabbies' requests for the more expensive night-time tariff to come into force at 11pm, instead of midnight as it is currently.

Councillors said that move may prove too costly for low-paid shift workers doing their jobs late into the night.

But Waj Ali, chairman of the drivers' association, was critical of that decision, and accused the licensing of committee of "not seeing things from our perspective."

He said: "When you have a night-time economy that starts at 10pm, it makes sense that we should be able to charge a little bit extra to cover your costs.

"Other authorities have their night-time tariff starting earlier. One even has theirs starting at 8pm.

"We're under pressure and have competition from Uber and a lot of other operators from outside the area.

"But the licensing committee doesn't seem to want to help us, only to hinder us."

Selected changes to fares

1 mile journey between 6am and 11pm (tariff 1) rises from £3.10 to £3.60

4 mile journey between 11pm and 6am (tariff 2) rises from £8.80 to £9.50

8 mile journey during the day rises from £13.60 to £14.70

8 mile journey at night rises from £15.60 to £16.70

Soiling charge rises from £30 to £45.

Tariff 3 changes

Tariff 3 applies between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on December 27, and between 6pm on New Year's Eve and 6am on January 2.

It also applies during the rest of the year where more than four passengers are carried at a time.

Under proposals, the price of a five mile journey under these conditions rises from £13.50 to £14.85.

An eight mile journey goes from £20.25 to £22.05.

No.


Well they would be radically different if they actually did go up by 50 or 60 pence per mile.


Unlikely to impress some on here. But looking at the modest increases after eight years, if they did implement them each year pro rata then it would hardly be worth the time and effort to do it annually. A bit like the 100 yard decrease in the flagfall that's likely to be implemented here in Fife shortly



But the trade's request to bring forward T2 to 11pm from midnight was rejected?


But they did offer you annual increases across the board, or at least an annual review?

And seems a bit of an overreaction to the council rejecting bringing forward T2 one hour compared to a very modest increase after an eight year wait.

And if they're under pressure from Uber and cross-border cars then I doubt if bringing forward T2 will help, particularly as Uber et al presumably unlikely to be 'surging' at 10/11pm.

Our T2 rate went to 23.00 from 00.00 30 years ago and people still query it and ask why ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Tariff 2 at 2200 here

Could you not have just said reject, then you could have had your 'e'?

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IDFIMH

21.00pm here.

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IDFIMH

Very good

Sometimes just can't see the wood for the trees

Of course, depends on whether you look at the HCA as a single entity or a group of people, but it works either way - in my head I obviously saw it as single entity, and didn't really consider the alternative

Reminds me of an American usage in relation to rock bands etc.

They would say: "Coldplay is a British rock band".

I would say: "Coldplay are a British rock band".

The first one doesn't work for me at all, so it's not an either/or.

But HCA 'is' or 'are' works for me either way, so I've changed the thread title accordingly

No wonder you can afford 8 holidays a year !!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector