Taxi Driver Online

Taxi prices could increase across Basingstoke and Deane

THE COST of taking a taxi in Basingstoke and Deane could rise due to a 'substantial increase' in operating costs for drivers, says the council.

The proposals, which are currently under public consultation, would see the fare for Hackney Carriages across the borough raised to a 'more standardized unit of 1/10th a mile'.

The current fare starts at £4 to flag a taxi, with the price to travel one mile at £6 and the price to travel ten miles at £22.20.

The costs are calculated at 1/12th of a mile, which is 'impossible for anyone to work out what a journey might cost' according to regulatory services manager, Robert Draper.

He added: "Overall there is an increase of income for the driver, but hopefully in a way that does not significantly penalise the users of the Hackney Carriage service."

The proposals, which were raised at the council's Licensing Committee on Monday, November 4, would see the flag rate increase to £4.20 with the first mile charged at £6.20.

Each mile travelled would see an increase of £2, with the price of ten miles set at £24.20.

The committee agreed to the changes, however, the proposals will be put to residents for a 14-day consultation period before fares are updated.

If there are no objections, then the changes will be considered by the cabinet, however, if residents object, the proposals will be reconsidered by the committee.

_________________
IDFIMH

Even the proposed new fare seems incredibly cheap to me.

_________________
IDFIMH

Oh aye?

Who writes these things?

(Presumably the 'increase' means the running mile increment, but I read it to mean 'increase' as in, er, 'hike'. Particularly because the word 'increase' in the preceding paragraph is used in the 'hike' sense, as in the flagfall has been 'hiked'. Although if the running mile is genuinely £2 then 'hike' would be seriously overblowing it )

In fact the running mile is even worse than £2, although it's a mixed picture, and explains why they want to simplify it. So it's one of these stepped tariff structures, and not just a single step, but several. Thus:

Flag is £4.00, which covers 2/12ths of a mile

Then for the rest of the first mile (ie 10/12ths of a mile ) it's £2.40 for the running mile (or the part thereof).

So in total the first mile clocks £6.00

It's then £1.60 per mile for miles two and three

Then £1.50 per mile for miles four and five

Then £2 per mile for any distance thereafter

So no wonder they want to simplify it - I mean, one of the increments is per 2/15ths of a mile

And that's just the day rate

So the rate isn't too bad for the first mile or so, but after that...

Official card here if anyone's interested in the nitty gritty

https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/content/ ... 110522.pdf

Well nothing too out of the ordinary here, except maybe a moaning Labour councillor making a seemingly party political point, and he doesn't even seem to be a licensing councillor


Taxi fares to increase in Basingstoke from next week

https://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/ne ... next-week/

Taxi fares in Basingstoke and Deane borough are set to increase from next week after the Cabinet of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council approved a proposal from the taxi federation.


But I missed an interesting feature on the tariff card when I was looking at their crazy stepped fare structure last year, as in earlier post above.

Have a quick look at the fancy pants graphics (via the link to the article above) that the Basingstoke Gazette have created - there's one each for T1, T2 and T3...

A quick skim through the three graphics, and the unique tariff feature should be obvious

Maybe other councils have something similar, but I certainly can't recall one

It drives me mad.

Our trade is not a pawn in a political game of chess, we are a trade full of individuals trying our best, often under extreme difficulty.

What we don't need are snide comments from a politician, who should be representing working people, not viewing them as thieving c***s.

_________________
IDFIMH

For anyone who couldn't access the graphics etc, the tariff card shows a different fouling fee for different times of the day, or for the festive tariffs (T3 here).

Thus it's £50/£75/£100 on T1/T2/T3 respectively on the current card

Certainly can't recall any other council having a sickie charge that depends on the time of day, etc. But I suppose it makes sense if you look at it from a loss of earnings angle, but not if you look upon it in terms of a cleaning fee etc.

And note that it also refers to 'Fouling inside or outside of the vehicle', and it reads like it's a fixed amount, as opposed to 'up to', or whatever.

(Of course, in reality the difficulty is often getting any sickie fee at all, never mind maybe negotiating something reasonable and commensurate with the actual damage done...sometimes it's not that difficult to clean up...)

But, I mean, if you could recover that kind of money for someone vomiting on the vehicle exterior then can I have a couple per shift?