Private hire fares could rise by 500 per cent
Wednesday 14th April 2010, 11:14AM BST.
FARES FOR private hire cars in Telford could go up by 500 per cent, it was revealed today.
A dispute has broken out between Telford Private Hire Drivers Association and Telford & Wrekin Council after it was revealed the cost for renewing licences could rocket – meaning the minimum fare could jump from £3 to £15.
The dispute also centres around a proposal to pay for marshals to escort nightclub revellers to waiting taxis.
The council currently charges £124 for a single operator licence but this could rise to £365.
The council’s licensing committee proposed the increases, to include the cost of marshaling, which could see a private hire driver’s licence for 12 months rise from £125 to £200 and the cost of a 12 month car licence jump from £134 to £225.
But today council bosses said nothing has been decided and a solution had to be found as council taxpayers were subsidising the service to the tune of £40,000.
Mohammed Zaman, chairman of the Telford Private Hire Drivers Association, said if the fees went up fares would also increase.
“We are very concerned with this increase of licence fees,” he said. “An operator’s licence has increased from £462 to over £15,000 for an average fleet of vehicles, a cost that will be passed on to the drivers and then ultimately the customer.
“If this increase is adopted there will be no option but to increase the fares by 500 per cent.
“Of further concern is regular taxi users during the day tend to be the elderly and disabled, a fare increase will directly affect their ability to travel freely, upsetting their lives, while nightclub revellers are put safely in taxis by marshals.
“If Telford & Wrekin Council have their way, Telford taxi fares will have to be increased to absorb the proposed increase in license fees. Hackney drivers will also see their costs rise by the same amount.”
Council spokesman Russell Griffin said: “Nothing is decided on this issue and we are meeting the taxi forum today to stress that we will be extending our consultation, beginning with extensive pre-consultation talks with the taxi trade, which will allow more time for all views to considered and heard. However, this council must find a way to address the issue of the costs.”
By Jason Lavan
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500%? No they won’t.
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This is a joke right?
Telford Private Hire Drivers Association – go ahead and raise the minimum fare to £15 – see where that gets you – undercut by Shrewsbury Cars probably – idiots.
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And i bet the people on benefits still manage to get one to and back from sainsburys
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What on earth?
Firstly, the figures quoted for licences are hardly clear, but seemingly at the most they might be paying £425 a year. How does this translate to a 500% rise in fares exactly?
Either someone’s maths are just really bad, or you’re regurgitating rubbish from the taxi people who are trying to avoid the increase. Either way, it cannot equate to a 500% rise in fares!
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“The dispute also centres around a proposal to pay for marshals to escort nightclub revellers to waiting taxis.”
^another stupid money wasting idea for drunk people.
i wonder if it was thaught of by the same clown that had the brain fart a few months back to give out lollies/flipflops & water bottles.
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500% ! What complete and utter over sensationalised nonsense
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Sounds good to me. Maybe then I’ll be able to walk by Asda Telford and not find my path blocked by chain-smoking, obese, chavs waiting for a taxi to across the road to Hollinswood.
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They *could* rise by 5 million percent. But they won’t.
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IF THE COUNCIL TAX PAYERS ARE SUBSIDISING THE TAXIS TO A TUNE OF 40,000 surely they owe us the taxpayers free fares for some time.
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Not sure about the taxi marshalls ‘escorting nightclub revellers to waiting taxis’ I thought they were they to stop people jumping the queue and make sure the private hire drivers weren’t picking up unbooked fares ………
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£3 to £15 is a 400% rise isn’t it ??
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Taxi drivers think they rule the waves and above the law. Why should they be exempt from fare increases when everyone else is subject to them. The small minority spoil it for the rest and if they did a good job and obeyed the law like everyone else then they would have nothing to fear.
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so the minimum fare ‘could’ rise from £3 to £15 which is 5 times, 500%. However truthfully how many fares are the minimum these days, perhaps once they do this they’ll realise the impact on their business and get to be more realistic.
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” the minimum fare ‘could’ rise from £3 to £15 which is 5 times, 500% ”
No, it’s a 400% RISE
100% rise is £6 (2 times )
200% rise is £9 (3 times)
300% rise is £12 (4 times)
400% rise is £15 (5 times)
It’s 500% of the original amount, a 400% rise
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Let’s see,licence fees go up, fewer drivers = companies who will raise their game, clean, looked after vehicles, a better service, and polite helpful drivers, as none of this happens now the fees rise can only be a good thing, even if fares increase as it will also improve the service.
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You cannot get greater than 100%
The actual increase is only 20% of the original price which is 5 times the origial cost of £3.00 = 20% increase.
Perhaps you are all working on Inshalla (God willing) mathematics, and spreading alarm and despondecy amongs the poor people of Telford.
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If any cab drivers are reading this thread,
USE YOUR BLOODY INDICATORS!!!
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@paddymeboy
Of course you can get greater than 100% increases – look at house prices over the last 10 years !
A 20% increase on £3-00 would take it up to £3-60
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Pat Sluff said: Apr 15th, 2010 at 10:17
” the minimum fare ‘could’ rise from £3 to £15 which is 5 times, 500% ”
No, it’s a 400% RISE
100% rise is £6 (2 times )
200% rise is £9 (3 times)
300% rise is £12 (4 times)
400% rise is £15 (5 times)
It’s 500% of the original amount, a 400% rise
Looking at the above theory, how can £6 be a 100% increase on £3, when £3 is a half of £6 which will make it a 50% increase.
£3 is 1/3 of £9. (3×3=9) so the increase is 33%
You can work the rest out for yourself.
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@paddymeboy
You don’t work it out like that. By your logic the bigger the rise the lower the percentage.
An example: If someone is on £3 an hour and they get a 10% pay rise their new pay is £3-30 an hour, no ?
With increasing rises the new pay is as follows;
20% £3-60
50% £4-50
75% £5-25
99% £5-97
Unsurprisgly 100% rise is £6-00
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