THE cost of taxi journeys in Cambridge will increase by 20p next month.
Members of Cambridge City Council’s licensing committee agreed to raise the initial pick-up charge for passengers from £2.20 to £2.40.
Plans to increase the distance and time tariffs by 3.4 per cent were scrapped in light of the new levy, while a 40p pick-up charge increase was also rejected
A £3 surcharge for larger taxis carrying between five and eight people was also deferred for consideration next year.
The increased pick-up charge – or “drop price” – is a departure from the council’s previous policy of tracking the percentage increase agreed for London cabs, which was 3.4 per cent this year.
However, councillors estimated the increased pick-up fee was roughly the same as a 3.4 per cent increase on an average taxi ride.
Robert Soanes, chairman of Cambridge Drivers’ Association, said drivers need the price rise to cover increasing costs.
He said: “Fuel prices have been creeping up over the past few months, while insurance and maintenance costs are always going up.
“Diesel is well over £1 a litre now and if it touches £1.40, like it did last year, then we’ll be asking for a 50p charge on each fare so we can keep going.”
Taxi union representative David Wratton, from Cambridge City Licensed Taxis Ltd, said the switch to increasing drop prices would benefit drivers and passengers, who might be deterred from taking longer trips if fares were increased on a per-mile basis.
The increases will now go out for consultation and are set to come into effect on August 3.
Robert Boorman, chairman of Cambridge Older People’s Enterprise (Cope), said the rise meant the council should look again at its Taxicard voucher scheme, whose journey credit increased from £2.40 to £2.60 in January.
He said: “This increase wipes out any benefit we received from the last increase.
“As an ex-private hire driver, I understand these people must make a living and I don’t think it will hit most passengers too hard. They are normally quite wealthy or someone else is paying the bill.
“But there are many pensioners on low incomes who have to rely on taxis as they can’t use public trans port and, as a society, I think we have a duty to help them.”
Source: Cambridge News Online
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Some Twitter comments by Taxi users:
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£0.20 is just not enough. With the increases in fuels, rises in licensing costs and with more drivers on the road. I personal opinion is that rise is not sufficient to cover all the rises in other areas.
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