City taxi price hike
CITY cab fares are set to rise by 10 per cent as taxi bosses battle to beat dwindling passenger numbers.
Bosses have blamed ‘app based firms’ for almost halving trade in the past 12 years.
TAXI fares will rise by 10 per cent in Glasgow as passenger numbers plummet.
City chiefs have agreed to increase fare scales despite a warning it could lead to a further drop in customers for black hackney drivers.
Glasgow Taxis boss Stephen Flynn yesterday admitted that use of the city’s taxi ranks has halved since 2006.
But he agreed to plans which will allow his drivers to charge a £3.30 initial fee – up from £3 – plus additional costs for the remaining distance and time spent in the cab.
The changes were recommended by Dr James Cooper, of Taxi Research Partners, who was commissioned to carry out an independent report into tariffs in Glasgow.
He highlighted the rising cost of vehicle purchase and maintenance as a reason for the rise, but warned: “There is a very fine balance and I want to highlight that this is a very large increase. There is a very real potential that an increase is going to create a loss in custom.
“We have been in a vicious circle for a number of years.
“The desire is to achieve a change in tariff that reflects a change in vehicle costs without penalising the passenger above the level of that change in costs.”
Under the new fare scale, passengers will be charged 20p for every 167 yards they are driven, with an additional 20p for every 34 seconds they remain in the taxi.
Currently, trips between 12am and 6am incur a £1 additional charge per trip during weekdays and there’s a £2.40 charge between 12.30am and 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Those will be replaced by a £1.10 additional fee for all trips made between 11am and 6am every night.
There will be a charge of £2 on Christmas day and January 1.
Mr Flynn, chairman of Glasgow Taxis, said: “What we’ve found in the last three or four years with the appbased firms, people are moving away from using taxis.
“We supplied marshals at Central Station when they were finishing at 5.30am. They are now finishing at 3,30am. Footfall has dropped 50 per cent since 2006 through the ranks.
“I’m happy with the changes and I think we really needed to go with Dr Cooper’s recommendations.”
The latest increase follows a decision last March which saw the cost of hiring a black hackney increase by 2.49 per cent.
That decision was subject to an appeal to the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland, who upheld a claim that insisted the 2.49 per cent rise was based on flawed and outdated information.
Driver Thomas McMahon successfully argued that Glasgow City Council had breached contemporaneity rules after it took more than 18 months to implement changes recommended in a 2016 review of taxi tariffs.
At that time the council agreed to immediately review its are scales based on information up to and including August this year.
And yesterday, Glasgow’s licensing committee agreed to push forward with plans to implement the new 10 per cent increase. Committee chairman Alex Wilson said: “I think what we’re trying to do is increase drivers’ earnings. Ultimately, we’re looking to protect the trade and try to maximise their income.”
A date for when the new tariffs will come into force will be issued in the coming weeks.