Most taxi fares are to go up in Brighton and Hove within the next weeks.
Members of the Brighton and Hove City Council Licensing Committee agreed the proposal at a meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday afternoon (Thursday 5 March).
The rise is equivalent to 20p on most journeys except those late at night on a Friday or Saturday – from midnight to 6am.
It is being brought in by reducing the initial yardage from 480 yards to 320 yards for those journeys. The cheapest fare remains £2.80.
Hackney carriage officer Martin Seymour said that the last increase was in July 2013 and that journeys would cost £2.20 a mile.
One councillor pointed out that fuel prices had fallen but Mr Seymour said: “There’s no guarantee that they will stay down.”
Councillor Denise Cobb said: “I do think it’s badly timed. Many people can’t afford these charges. I know I can’t afford to get a taxi in and out of town.”
And Councillor Carol Theobald said: “We’re quite high with our taxi fares.”
She said that taxis in Brighton and Hove were among the most expensive in the country.
She was referring to a league table that listed just 20 council areas with more expensive taxi fares over two miles.
The Licensing Committee agreed the rise which is expected to take effect by the end of the month.
Yes – good old council – fuel prices down; inflation at its a lowest for ages – so what was the justification given by the taxi firms for the increase and why did the committee approve it ?
2 years no pay increase any more justification needed ?
Hi Gerald. The Justification is that they’ve just agreed a council tax rise so need to make sure the taxi drivers can afford to pay it by taking it out of the pockets of the other citizens who also have to pay the tax rise! Think that’s it… 🙂
Hmmm. It’s not the Taxi companies that have asked for a rise but the drivers and their unions.
Can Martin Seymour confirm that the distance from Hove Station to Hove Town Hall is two miles? Because £4.40 is pretty much what I pay for taxis to council meetings already. And I doubt this is a two-mile journey…..without any traffic lights, I would just add (because red lights cost).
Valerie your totally correct it’s not a 2 mile journey but the fare starts at 2.80 so the actual driving mileage equates to 1.60
I do wish people actually find out the facts 1st before opening there airways