Taxi Driver Online

Of course, even the fare hike fundamentalists on here might appreciate that, even in the unlikely event such a rise was implemented, it might lose them the odd customer, particularly in the current economic climate


Windsor and Maidenhead: Taxi drivers call for fares rise amid soaring costs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... e-62033478

Taxi drivers in Windsor and Maidenhead are calling for a number of price hikes - including doubling minimum fares.

Due to the rising costs in fuel and living drivers want to put up the minimum fare from £3 to £6.

A petition put forward by the hackney carriage drivers states the current tariff of £3 is "completely unreasonable" amid soaring costs.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's licensing panel are set to consider their proposals on Tuesday.

The taxi drivers also want to increase the tariff from 23:00 to 06:00 and Bank Holidays from £4.50 to £9 and want to double the luggage fee to 40p.

The petition, submitted by nearly 50 drivers, states: "Firstly, as the majority of customers are commuters from the train station, the taxi journeys usually do not last much longer than a mile.

"Secondly, drivers wait up to an hour in a queue, before they receive a taxi fare, and to only receive an extremely low fare around the £3 region is very frustrating, which is especially heightened now with the increased cost of living," according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The drivers are also proposing to display a "minimum fare £6.00" sticker inside their vehicles.

So it can be seen from the outside, presumably

Common sense would suggest that.

But it doesn't seem to work with Uber's surge pricing.

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IDFIMH

Maybe not in terms of losing customers completely (although I suspect even that happens), but in fact the whole surge-pricing thing is based on losing customers, who will either try something else, or try later when prices are at a more normal level

But the surge-pricing model is predicated on the fact that some people are largely insensitive to price, and will pay a significant premium to get a car immediately when those paying the normal fares are struggling to get one.

So, yes, it does work to a degree, but it's a relatively small segment of the overall market.

But that's why it wouldn't work so well across the board with the likes of a £9 flag on T2

It would all get very messy, and a recipe for confusion and conflict.

And even assuming all the drivers charged a £9 minimum, there's bound to be leakage of customers, as was evidenced by the other side of the Uber model in the form of cheaper prices, although to a degree that's not such a selling point now.

And even if there wasn't any leakage, the other side of the coin is that if taxi drivers could indeed double their takings overnight, that would eventually mean more drivers in the trade, decreasing profits for individual drivers

I think in the current climate buses are seeing a resurgence in ridership time will tell if that trend is boosted by rapidly rising taxi and PH fares but at the moment fuel and energy prices are an all time high so you can't blame them for wanting to offset that BUT will the general public accept it who can say

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

I've always suggested the answer to the operator's 'no drivers' claims is to up the fares, but I'm not sure there really is anything that's going to bring new blood to the taxi/PH trade in the next five years, possibly for good.

Clearly, there will always be some people joining the trade, and good on them, but I very much doubt we will ever see more taxi/PH drivers than we had in 2019.

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IDFIMH