Slightly odd this article - ignoring the t-word as usual, it reads like a strike for a rise in the council HC tariff, but only at the end does it state that the request is for 'company owners' to increase the fares.
Bolton taxi drivers to strike over fare prices
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/19 ... re-prices/
Image: Bolton News
BOLTON taxi drivers are planning a strike tomorrow demanding a 'nominal' fare increase to meet rising costs.
The private hire association say they have not seen fares increase for taxi journeys for nearly four years despite the cost of running their cars going up each year.
Many drivers, who have had their business devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, are now struggling financially due to the increasing costs, according to the association.
Drivers are planning to boycott driving their vehicles from 6am this Friday all the way through to 6am Saturday morning.
A spokesman from the Bolton private hire association said: “It’s been nearly four years since the last fare increase but every year our insurance goes up, even when we don’t make a claim.
“Petrol costs keep going up, the cost of living in general has gone up. We have been asking for years for a nominal increase to fares to match this so drivers can afford to run their vehicles but nothing has happened yet.
“We have to pay the costs for running the vehicles ourselves but the fares at the moment are just not enough.”
Changes announced by mayor of Greater Manchester to taxis to try and meet emissions targets, including all private hire cars having to be white, will also be increasing costs for drivers.
Drivers say they will have to buy new cars, in excess of £20,000 to meet these emissions targets, which at the moment is unaffordable, according to the association.
The spokesman added: “We’ve been told we have to get a new vehicle to fit these new rules, how are we supposed to afford that?
“In the current climate 90 per cent of drivers won’t be able to afford to get a new car. No one has that kind of money at the moment with what we’ve been through with coronavirus and rising costs over the last few years.
“We are a public service just like trains and busses. Their price goes up every year but ours doesn’t change, it isn’t fair.
“Bolton Council have been very understanding and not taken on any more drivers but now you see drivers with a Sefton or Wolverhampton licence around which makes business harder for everyone. We have a good working relationship with the council.
“We need company owners to increase our fares, that’s who we are striking against, so many of us are struggling."
