Could Somerset’s proposed £10 taxi booking fee change rural transport? Industry weighs potential benefits and risks
- Perry Richardson
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Somerset Council’s proposal to allow hackney carriage drivers to charge a discretionary booking fee of up to £10 for pre-booked journeys has become one of the most closely watched elements of its latest taxi fare consultation.
While the proposed 10% increase in metered fares broadly reflects rising operating costs, the suggested booking fee represents a different approach. Rather than increasing the price of every journey, the proposal would give drivers the option to recover the cost of travelling to collect passengers before the meter begins recording the fare.
The issue is particularly relevant in large rural licensing areas such as Somerset. Unlike urban locations where the next customer may be only a few streets away, drivers in rural communities can spend considerable time and fuel travelling to reach a passenger. Those miles are often unpaid because the taximeter only begins charging once the passenger enters the vehicle.
For drivers, the proposed fee could make previously uneconomic bookings financially worthwhile. A driver asked to collect a passenger from a remote village may spend 20 or 30 minutes reaching the pickup point, only to complete a relatively short journey afterwards. In some cases, the cost of travelling to the passenger can outweigh the income from the fare itself.
By allowing a discretionary charge of up to £10, Somerset Council hopes more drivers will be willing to accept advance bookings in areas that can be difficult to serve. If more operators are prepared to travel to isolated communities, residents could benefit from improved access to healthcare appointments, railway stations, airports and other essential destinations where public transport options are limited.
The proposal could also provide greater transparency. Instead of recovering dead mileage through higher metered fares or simply declining bookings altogether, drivers would be able to explain the additional cost before accepting the work. Passengers would know the full price in advance and could decide whether to proceed.
However, the proposal is not without potential drawbacks. For passengers, particularly those making shorter trips, an additional booking fee could represent a significant proportion of the total cost. A journey that might previously have cost around £12 could increase to more than £20 if the maximum booking fee were applied, making taxis less affordable for some users.
There is also the question of competition as private hire vehicles already operate on pre-agreed fares and many firms build collection mileage into their quoted prices rather than applying a separate fee. If passengers perceive a standalone booking charge as an extra cost, some may favour private hire operators instead, particularly where both services are available.
Not every hackney carriage driver is expected to use the maximum fee. The proposal is discretionary, meaning operators would remain free to charge nothing at all, apply a lower amount or reserve the charge only for bookings where collection distances make the journey commercially difficult. Market forces are therefore likely to play an important role in determining how widely the fee is used.
The proposal may also influence driver behaviour. Rather than spending time waiting on taxi ranks in quieter periods, some drivers could become more willing to accept advance bookings from outlying communities if they know their approach journey can be partly recovered. Whether that results in better overall vehicle availability will depend on local demand patterns and how individual businesses choose to implement the new flexibility.
Somerset is not the first licensing authority to examine how taxi fares can better reflect the realities of serving rural areas, but its proposal illustrates the growing challenge facing councils balancing passenger affordability with maintaining viable taxi services. Rising fuel prices, inflation, vehicle costs and insurance premiums have all increased pressure on operators in recent years, particularly those working in counties where long empty journeys are common.
If approved, the booking fee would remain a maximum permitted charge rather than a mandatory addition to every fare. That distinction is likely to prove important. Drivers would gain another pricing tool to reflect the true cost of certain journeys, while passengers would continue to have the option of comparing prices between operators before making a booking.
