Hackney carriage fare increase agreed for Barnsley taxi drivers to fall in line with PHV fares
Barnsley Council have agreed a fare increase for licensed hackney carriage taxis despite previously rejecting the request.
At a meeting held on Wednesday 27 October, licensing committee members were presented with further evidence to back up the request for an increase in fares to help cover the increasing costs of running a hackney carriage vehicle.
The report indicated that a further four submissions providing additional information had been received in support of the original application.
Mr R Taylor (Secretary of the Barnsley Hackney Carriage Association) and Mr S Smith (Member of the Barnsley Hackney Carriage Association and Chair of the Barnsley Private Hire Association) attended the meeting and, with the permission of the Chair addressed the meeting in support of their proposals.
In summary, the request for the increase in the tariff was because of:
The increased cost of fuel, insurance and maintenance costs and the need to purchase replacement vehicles more often due to the large mileage.
The need to incentivise drivers to come into the trade and particularly to work nights and at weekends.
The increasing disparity between private hire and hackney carriage fares (given that the hackney trade was usually the higher of the two which was no longer the case) and the fact that this was leading to increasing recruitment difficulties as more drivers were opting to work for private hire ompanies.
The need to encourage drivers to work late into the evenings and work unsociable hours and thereby support Barnsley’s growing night time economy.
Members were reminded that the proposal sought an increase of 40p for the first 1760 yards or part thereof.
It also sought to change the times when tariff 2 would become effective from 11pm to 8pm in order to encourage more drivers at unsociable hours, and bring the super rate from 1am from 3am, giving an incentive for working unsociable hours, which in turn would help reduce queuing.
All proposals were agreed by the committee, who will now implement the changes with immediate effect.
