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Brighton taxi fares could rise to £9.30 for two-mile journey under council proposal
Brighton and Hove taxi passengers could pay £9.30 for a two-mile daytime journey under fare changes being considered by councillors.
The proposed increase, up from £8.70, will be presented to Brighton & Hove City Council’s Cabinet on 17 September 2026. If approved, the plans would still need to pass through equality engagement and the statutory public consultation process.
The taxi trade has proposed retaining the £3 initial meter charge while reducing the distance travelled between subsequent fare increments. The council said this would distribute the increase across journeys while limiting the effect on passengers making shorter trips.
The changes would increase the approximate daytime rate by 30p per mile to £3.30. The hourly waiting-time charge would also rise by 50%, from £20 to £30, in response to concerns about drivers’ earnings when vehicles are stationary or delayed.
According to the council report, the proposed fare structure represents an overall increase of 27.55% since August 2019. Consumer Price Index inflation rose by 30% between August 2019 and March 2026.
For journeys of more than 10 miles, the changes would amount to an average increase of about 7.4% since the last fare revision in March 2024.
Among a group of comparable councils and neighbouring Sussex authorities, Brighton and Hove would have the third-highest two-mile fare. It would remain below Eastbourne at £9.60 and Arun at £9.50.
The report cautioned that relatively small differences can produce large movements in national taxi fare rankings. The proposed 60p increase would lift Brighton and Hove by around 23 places, while rankings may change as other authorities conduct their own reviews.
Trade representatives said fares had not kept pace with higher fuel, insurance, vehicle maintenance and regulatory compliance costs. They also cited the expense of maintaining vehicles to the standards contained in the council’s taxi licensing conditions, commonly known as the Blue Book.
The trade told the council that a driver operating under a 50/50 revenue arrangement may need to take at least £30 an hour to secure an income equivalent to the applicable living-wage level, particularly when the driver is responsible for fuel.
Higher tariffs for vehicles carrying five or more passengers would remain set at 1.5 times the corresponding standard rates. These tariffs were introduced to encourage proprietors to invest in wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
The proposals apply only to hackney carriage journeys beginning at a taxi rank or when a cab is hailed in the street. The council cannot regulate private hire fares, although its report said local private hire operators have historically followed the authority’s taxi tariff structure.
School transport costs would not be affected because those journeys are covered by contracts between operators and the council’s school transport team.
