Glasgow City Council gives green light to 19.26% taxi fares increase
Taxi fares in Glasgow will rise by nearly 20% after counsellors give the green light.
Drivers and the public had one last chance to provide feedback on the planned increases. However, with no objections received by Glasgow City Council (GCC), the increase was given the final go-ahead.
GCC had been asked to decide on whether to introduce the 19.36% increase after a list of recommendations were produced by an independent research firm.
The steep increase is seen as vital to cover mounting operating costs and inflation.
The increase pushes the ‘flag fall’ (starting fare) price up 30p from £3.40 to £3.70. For fares between 11pm and 6am the flag fall will rise to £5.40.
There are also increases on all daytime and night-time tariffs.
Cabbies in Glasgow have struggled badly since coronavirus restrictions were imposed in Spring 2020. A slump in work levels and little support offered by the local authority saw taxi drivers leave the industry.
Despite the financial pressures, taxi drivers must also finance new vehicles or retrofit existing black cabs to meet new emission standards arriving on 1 June 2023.
Taxi operators who do not have access to funded retrofit solutions to meet Low Emission Zone requirements will however be given extra time to prepare, after the proposal was approved by the City Administration Committee in October 2022.
The plan to grant a 'time-limited exemption' of one year to operators under these circumstances would see enforcement of the emission standards required by Glasgow's LEZ deferred until 1 June 2024.