Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers split over huge fare hike

PEOPLE in Dacorum face the prospect of a hike of more than 50 per cent in the minimum cost of a taxi trip as a row erupts over the right level of fares. Under recommendations by licensing chiefs at Dacorum Borough Council, the minimum price of a journey would increase from £2.60 to £4.

The massive increase has divided taxi drivers, with some supporting it and others warning it will put off customers. Tony Clarke, secretary of Hemel Hempstead Taxi Association, which represents 80 drivers, said: “In all my 41 years as a taxi driver I’ve never seen the drivers so divided in opinion. “Some want no increase to avoid driving people away, some want a big increase to cover costs, and others want a small rise.”

Currently hackney taxis, which are licensed to pick up fares from the street, charge £2.60 for the first 880 yards of a journey and then 20p for each further 220 yards. Under a proposal put forward by driver Martin Hanlon, the first mile or part thereof will cost £4 and each subsequent 200 yards will cost 20p.

This fare structure was backed by councillors at a meeting of the council’s licensing enforcement sub committee on April 14 and will now go forward to a public consultation. Ahead of the meeting the council sent letters to all the borough’s 263 hackney drivers asking what level of charges they would support.

Derek Gowlett, manager of Choice Taxis, said the fare hike would hit people who use taxis for short journeys, such as his elderly and immobile clients who find it difficult travelling to venues including Hemel Hempstead Hospital.

He said: “If the proposed fare comes in we would have to change our meters in accordance with it but I might do a fixed price of £2.60, or less than the £4, to take people on short trips.”

Mr Gowlett believes that although petrol prices and insurance costs have increased, there should be no fare increase because he thinks customers will find alternative transport.

A group of 40 taxi drivers, including Tony Clarke, sent an alternative proposal to the council suggesting a fare increase to £2.80 for a quarter mile and a subsequent 20 pence per 200 yards.

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