Taxi Driver Online

might be of slight interest to a certain St Andrews based driver

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/cost-of-falkirk-taxis-at-christmas-could-rise-to-attract-more-drivers-over-festive-period/ar-AA1fikQF

The cost of getting a taxi at Christmas should be increased to encourage more drivers to work, Falkirk council has been told. Next week's meeting of Falkirk Council 's executive will discuss proposals to update taxi fares, which last rose in September 2022 in response to concerns over rising fuel costs.

And while general fares look set to remain steady, calls have been made to increase the festive fares - and to more than double the penalty charge for soiling a taxi.

Falkirk Council has consulted members of the local taxi forum, which represents members of the trade, about what changes are now considered necessary. Its members were not in favour of any increase in the taxi tariff but they have proposed a change to how public holidays are treated.

They would like to see additional charges for most public holidays removed entirely, so it would no longer be more expensive to get a taxi on Easter, May Day, Falkirk Trades Fair, and the Falkirk September holiday. However, they would like to see a higher charge for Christmas and New Year public holidays, introducing a new rate of time and a half.

The taxi forum has told the council it is getting increasingly difficult to get drivers to operate during the festive period and they feel the suggested changes would encourage people to work.

If agreed, the dates and times of the revised tariff would be from 9pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on December 27, and 9pm on December 31 to 6am on January 3.

Other proposals being put forward by the forum are increasing the soiling charge to £100, as the current charge of £40 does not cover the cost of a vehicle being valeted and does not take into account loss of income when a car is off the road to be cleaned.

The forum is also suggesting that a £5 charge be introduced for larger capacity vehicles that have been engaged for more than four passengers or for large items such as luggage/ golf clubs.

The forum says that the cost of running larger vehicles is making such journeys uneconomic. This charge would not apply to wheelchair users.

If the proposals are approved by the executive, members of the public and businesses would then have an opportunity to comment. If comments are received, a further report would be brought back to the Executive for members to discuss.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

So their thought process seems to be higher rates will get more drivers out at Xmas and New Year.

If we follow that logic, which may or may not be valid, then surely there will be fewer drivers working on those other holiday periods.

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IDFIMH

Looks like it's been rubber-stamped.

And don't get me started on the public holiday angle.

Apart from the festive period, we don't have any public holiday premium in Fife, so doesn't seem a big deal to me.

And I don't think public holiday tariffs are as much of a thing in Scotland than in England. Which probably reflects the fact that public holidays up here have never been as big an event as in England, and historically each town and city up here has fixed its own holiday dates. And, of course, increasingly over the years much of the world has carried on normally on public holidays, so to that extent it's not such an event either...


Falkirk Council: Higher taxi fares at festive period agreed

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/po ... ed-4377120

Falkirk taxi firms are hoping that higher fares over the festive period will entice drivers to work at Christmas and New Year.

A shortage of drivers during the peak time for the trade led to calls from members of the taxi trade to allow them to double the usual £3 tariff for festive journeys.

After a public consultation, the proposals were finally agreed by Falkirk Council’s executive on Tuesday.

Other public holidays will no longer have increased fares, but Christmas and New Year will be subject to a new rate.

The new tariff will be £6, rather than the usual £3 for the first 880 yards, or £3.75 for journeys between 9pm and 6 am.

For every additional 171 yards or 57 seconds, or a combination of time and distance, there is a charge of 20p.

The new “festive” tariff will apply from 9pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on December 27 and 9pm on December 31 to 6 am on January 3.

Members also agreed a big increase in charges that drivers can make for soilage, which will now be £100, despite concerns that the charge could affect parents travelling with children.

Chief governance officer, Colin Moodie, told members that it was important to note that it is “not a mandatory charge” but something that could be exercised with discretion.

He said there was a recognisable difference between an adult being sick in the back of a taxi, “after a long night out”, and a child being sick during the day.

But he added that the substantial increase was felt to be necessary by the trade to act as a deterrent, as drivers stand to lose an entire shift if the taxi must stop operating until professionally valeted.

The changes approved by the council were the suggestion of the local Taxi Forum. However, the consultation highlighted that some drivers are unhappy at the prospect of losing extra payment on public holidays.

One said: “Public holidays are generally quieter so the tariff 2 makes up for any lost revenue. As for Xmas and new year a higher tariff won’t make any more drivers come out and work as we all want to spend time with family like everyone else does at this time of year.”

Some drivers were also concerned that it is already difficult to get a £40 soilage fee from passengers.

Well maybe that's the point about 'professional valeting' - it's not going to be dearer because it's an adult out on the pi$$ as opposed to a child being sick during the day. But obviously you can see where he's coming from in terms of using discretion:


And, hate to be pedantic, but NONE of the charges on the tariff card are mandatory

And, as for his claim that raising the fee to £100 will act as a deterrent, does he really think that'll stop the pi$hheads getting pi$hed and heaving up?

And, as per the comments from the drivers at the end, as usual it's one thing increasing a soiling charge, but another thing actually getting it

Of course the one they seem to be ignoring is that with inflation stubornly high anf the cost of living crisis will peeople be wanting taxis anyway. There are loads of stories online of pubs,restaurants and other entertainment venues closing are we heading towards an era when people don't go out aanymore ?

Higher prices certainly won't encourage that

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

If I didn't want to work over the festive period doubling the fares would make no difference.

For those drivers who want to work, good luck to them.

Will it make a difference, very much doubt it.

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IDFIMH