Taxi Driver Online

Well 'soar' is certainly a word often used in the context of price rises, but can't recall it being used recently with regard to taxi fares, so another word for some to moan about

But on reading the whole article, the headline maybe overeggs the possibility of the 19%, er, rise. It's just one possibility. Note, too, the double qualifier in the headline - not just 'set to' soar, which suggests it's not all cut and dried, but also the word 'could'. I 'could' win the Euromillions tonight.

In fact I could be set to win the Euromillions tonight

Anyway, despite no rise since 2017, Watford's two-mile run is currently £8.40, so 17th in the PHTM tables even before the possibility of a 19%, er, uplift

But in that regard the PHTM tables might distort things a bit - see the post below.


Watford taxi fares could be set to soar 19 per cent

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/ ... -per-cent/

Taxi fares in Watford could rise for the first time since 2017 after a consultation was launched.

The maximum cost of a journey from Watford is fixed by law, and changing it requires a borough council review and consultation.

At the request of the Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association, the council has put two surveys online, one for drivers and one for passengers.

Licensing committee chair, councillor Richard Wenham, said: “The council recognises the significant impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on individuals and families, which prompted us to declare a state of emergency on this issue.

“However, we also acknowledge that the taxi industry and its drivers are similarly affected by this crisis.”

One of the options is to raise fares in line with inflation over the six years since the tariff was last reviewed, which would mean a 19% rise.

Last year local taxi drivers told the Watford Observer that “the average taxi driver is struggling to make ends meet” largely due to rising petrol prices, competition from rideshare apps like Uber, and an inability to raise prices.

However, there were also fears a tariff rise could make licensed taxis even less competitive.

Another option raised in the survey, available from February 3 to 17, is to conduct a more detailed review into the tariff and specific areas which require change.

At the last review the speed at which fares tick up over longer journey distances and times was increased. The survey asks if this would be a good idea to do again.

Currently, a taxi driver can charge £2.20 for the first 109.7 metres, or 25.7 seconds, of a normal journey. They can then charge 20p for each additional 64 metres, or 15 seconds, until the fare reaches £4.60 when they can charge 20p for every 128 metres, or 31 seconds, after that.

This is higher for groups of six or more and for journeys between 11pm and 6am or during a public holiday.

If changes are proposed after the consultation closes, details will then be subject to a further public consultation.

Flag certainly not much at £2.20, but obviously it starts cranking up pretty quickly. And at 20p for every 64 metres, which is about 70 yards

Or £5 per running mile

But then halves to a more normal £2.50 per running mile. (And don't stepped tariff structures like that normally go up rather than down like this?)

So a very odd tariff structure, but which explains Watford's quite high position in the PHTM tables. But which, in turn, maybe demonstrates why only showing a two-mile run might be unrepresentative of true fares, because the tariff structure is so unconventional

For what it's worth, this is the article from nine months ago referred in the piece above.

Not particularly illuminating, but maybe if they're simply asking for fare rises while at the same time say they're struggling against competition from Uber, then they don't get how the market works

By the same token, they're saying they're all working extra hours but, as per usual, if they're all working an extra 10 hours per week, say, then they're simply all doing the same amount of jobs at the end of the day, so they're just doing an extra 10 hours per week sitting around doing nothing...

Also, the figures given imply they're maybe spending something like £400 per week on fuel. Oh to have such problems

And some of the cars look pretty modest, so it's not as if they're running £60k LEVCs and needing £8.40 for the two miles as a consequence.

On the other hand, maybe they spend the high fares on their clothes budget - certainly a bit smarter than some of the drivers in other parts

But if £8.40 for the two-mile run and running modest motors is 'pushing them below the poverty line'...


Watford taxis hit by fuel price rises and cost of living

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/ ... st-living/


Image: Watford Observer

Watford taxi drivers say they are struggling to make ends meet as fuel price rises devastate profits.

Cabbies say rising fuel prices mean costs are soaring, competition from Uber prevents them raising fares, and Watford’s vital night-time sector is under threat - meanwhile they face the same cost of living crisis many deal with at home.

The last fare increase came in 2017 when petrol cost around 115 pence per litre, this week prices reached 165.9 pence.

Further problems appear to be on the horizon after plans to turn the popular Pryzm nightclub into 147 homes were submitted.

We spoke to drivers at Watford Junction to see how they’ve been affected.


Image: Watford Observer

Independent taxi driver and Liberal Democrat councillor Shafiq Ahmed, 53, said: “With the prices going up there’s not enough business all over. It’s making drivers work extra hours. We can’t make £120 a week less.

“With the competition from Uber and the big apps, the average taxi driver in Watford is struggling to make ends meet.”

Maqsood, 61, said: “Drivers can only make ends meet by working more and more hours. But it means we are not giving our families our time. We have no time, a couple of the drivers will be half asleep here.”

Over the past year diesel has also risen by 48.6 pence per litre.

Another driver, Kfen, 55, said: “Making enough money is more and more difficult because my fare has not changed but the fuel prices have. Now everybody does so many hours.”


Image: Watford Observer

Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers Association chairman Zaheer Ahmed, 44, said: “We are looking at about £80 to 120 extra a week that comes out of our profit.

“If you are losing £400 at the end of the month there is no coming back from that. The drivers are struggling, and you really do feel the pinch.

“It’s everything, it’s not just fuel but your everyday life expenses, electricity, gas, your food bill. So everything is going up, its pushing people below the poverty line."


Image: Watford Observer