Taxi Driver Online

Manchester Evening News

September 8, 2007 Saturday

Fare exchange over black cab price hike

MANCHESTER council has had to change its planned cab fare hikes - because their formula was too complicated for the drivers' meters.

Town hall chiefs wanted black cabs to charge a daytime rate of £2.30 for the first 495 yards followed by 30p for every extra 350 yards, and 20p for each 47.8 seconds of waiting time.

But they were forced to recalculate when George Simms, secretary of the Taxi Operators and Drivers Association, pointed out the meters couldn't handle the two different increments.

The council has come back with a new formula that works in jumps of 10p.

The agreed daytime rate is £2.30 for the first 495 yards followed by 10p for each extra 116.7 yards, and 10p for each 23.9 seconds of waiting time.

The night-time rate works out as £2.80 for the first 300 yards, plus 10p for each 87.5 yards and 10p for each 17.9 seconds of waiting time. Both rates became effective on Monday.

Mr Simms had asked the council not to use 10p jumps because it would cost drivers an average of 10p a journey compared to meters with 20p jumps.

"The passengers would not perceive any benefit, they would just see the meter going up a lot faster than it used to," he wrote in a letter to the council's licensing unit. "No one would thank you for it."

The council rejected the call and agreed the new increases using jumps of 10p.

The percentage increase remains the same, and means Manchester's daytime rates remain lower than Nottingham, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds but its night-time rates are higher.

A council spokesman said: "When the original hackney carriage fare increase was agreed in June there was a mistake on the fare card which meant that taxi meters could not be set to the rates shown on it. Officers have now changed the fare card."
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I can't believe that's true.

But having the meter going up in 10p's is not a good move IMO.

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IDFIMH

Our meters now go up in 10p increments. It is the only thing the punters notice. "bloody hell that changes quick"

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Grandad,

Unless they are using very old meters

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I could never understand why it was ever changed from 10p to 20p? The guys in Manchester have lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds over the years if not thousands? For instance If the Meter changed to 20p every 200 metres and you only traveled 150 metres then you are losing ten pence every time.

30 pence increments would have been disgraceful and everyone that I spoke to was of the same opinion. Manchester has had one of the lowest daytime fares in the country for years and its a sad indictment on the Cab committee for allowing it.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Isn't the driver gaining by using bigger increments - at least that's what George Sim seems to be saying?

It may not be the same everywhere, but I think the meter clicks up at the start of the distance, so if it was a choice between 20p for 200 yards or 10p for 100 yards then the bigger increment would be better?

For example, if the taxi went 50 yards past the flagfall distance then it would give him 20p with the bigger increments, but only 10p with the smaller ones?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

If the fare for the first 1000 yards was one pound and the increments went up in 20p units for each 200 yards then you would get five increments in the total of 1000 yards. 10p units will give you ten increments so if you drove 200 yards on the 20p structure you would get 20p and if you drove 100 yards you would get nothing. If you drove 100 yards with 10p increments you would get 10p. If 5p increments were the nom you would get 15p for 150 yards.

I assume the yardage for the first 10p drop has been adjusted downwards to accommodate the new 10p unit. The waiting time has also been adjusted to accommodate the 10p, therefore you also gain on waiting time.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

"For all or part of each subsequent 200 metres: 20p"

I'm not saying it's the same everywhere, but this wording is taken from the Brighton farecard (the distance is incorrect). Isn't it saying in the highlighted part that you just have to go any distance on the increment and it will click up on the meter, thus if you only go one metre then you get the 20p.

Thus bigger increments are better because if they only go one metre then they get 20p whereas if the increments were 10p then they would only get 10p for going the one metre.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Taxi meters work in advance, you pay for the next so many yards up front
But George Sims is right when he says the public get out of a vehicle when a metre keeps turning over.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!