Black cab Christmas fares to rise in Wolverhampton
People in Wolverhampton will be paying almost double the usual price to hire a taxi this Christmas after Hackney Carriage drivers applied to increase fares for the first time in more than six years.
Under the new proposals, passengers travelling in black cabs on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day will have to pay double what they would usually pay any other time of the year.
Previously they only had to pay one and a half times the charge.
Therefore if a taxi ride from Wolverhampton to Willenhall costs £10 on any standard day, it would cost £20 if booked on Christmas Eve 2019. On Christmas Eve 2018 it would have cost £15.
A revised table of fares was put to the council’s non-statutory licensing committee, and members unanimously agreed the application. The new rules will only apply to black cabs and not private hire drivers.
Chris Howell, the council’s licensing officer, said: “Hackney Carriages have been hit hard by the introduction of booking apps used by the majority of the private hire firms, and these new fares will be the first time they have had an increase in more than six years.”
“This application requests an increase in fares covering the festive period. The revised table of tariffs will be issued to Hackney Cab drivers in a clear A4 format which they can then display inside their vehicles for customers.”
Under the proposals, tariff one will have an initial charge of £2.80 for the first quarter of a mile and £1.60 for each subsequent mile, charged in 10p increments, from 6am to 11pm Monday to Saturday.
Between 11pm to 6am, the fare will be £3.50 for the first quarter-of-a-mile and £1.60 per additional mile from Monday to Thursday, Sundays and Bank Holidays from 6am.
Friday/Saturday and Saturday/Sunday nights and any preceding Bank Holidays between 11pm to 6am will be charged at £3.50 for the initial fare and then £2.20 per mile.
Prices between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 6pm on December 27, and also for New Year’s Eve until January 2 for the same time period, will be double the rate of tariff one instead of one and-a-half times, as they currently stand.
Additional charges of 10p waiting time per 30 seconds and a soiling charge of up to £40 will remain the same.
The application has been made by the Taxi Owners’ Association (Wolverhampton) Ltd, Wolverhampton Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association and the Hackney Carriage Union.
