Taxi punters react to fare hike proposal
Taxi customers have expressed mixed reactions to news that fares in Sunderland could be on the rise from the end of the month.
The proposed changes to all three tariffs are as follows:
Tariff One - from Monday to Saturday, 7am to 11pm with the exception of public and bank holidays and the Christmas and New Year period - will see a minimum charge go from £2.40 to £2.60. For each subsequent 225 yards of the journey, the fare will rise by 20p.
Tariff Two - from Monday to Saturday, 11pm to 7am and all day Sunday with the exception of public and bank holidays and the Christmas and New Year period - will go from £2.80 to £3.
Tariff Three - from 6pm on Christmas Even to 7am on December 27, and from 6pm on December 31 to 7am on January 2 and all day on other public and bank holidays - will go from £3.80 to £4.
For Tariffs Two and Three, the fare would then rise by 20p for each subsequent 175 yards of the journey. The new pricing structure will cover the Snderland, Hetton, Houghton and Washington Licensing Zones.
Readers took to our Facebook-page expressing some strong views.
Graeme Wharton wrote: “Pure greed .... the only people who will benefit from the increase are the owners of the cabs that they hire out to hard working lads and lasses who are trying to make a living. I’d urge everybody to write into the council and object to the increase.”
Jeanette Savage posted: “Disgrace, prices are bad enough to start with.”
Ian Taggart said: “Don’t use them. Why pay over the odds when you can use a bus cheaper.”
However, some readers came out in support of the city’s hardworking cabbies.
Jim Dominguez wrote: “A local taxi driver may start their shift at 9am, they’ll join the back of the queue then wait patiently.
“How long for? Five minutes? Maybe ten? Could be as long as 45 minutes to an hour.
“Then they’ll get a job to take a passenger around the corner with a £4.50 fare, then it’s back to the rank and to the back of the queue. £4.50 isn’t minimum wage.”
Simon Johnson wrote: “Insurance is going up, fuel’s still sky high, work all the hours god sends but they’re greedy?”
If any objections made against the proposals are withdrawn, new prices could come into effect on April 27.
“Prices are bad enough to start with”
JEANETTE SAVAGE