New taxi tariffs to be introduced in Walsall Borough

Walsall Council has recently announced plans to introduce new taxi tariffs across the borough, aimed at providing a fairer pricing structure for the hire of hackney carriages in the area.

The proposed changes, which have been notified under section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, will see alterations to the table of fares applicable to licensed taxis.

The new tariff, known as Tariff 1, will be applicable for both day and night hires. Under Tariff 1, passengers would be charged £3 for the first 335 yards or 93.1 seconds of the journey, with an additional 15p charged for every succeeding 129.5 yards or 36 seconds. The meter would also reflect a cost of up to £4.80 for the initial distance covered, followed by an additional charge of up to £2.25 for each subsequent mile.

To provide further clarity, the council has released a price guide for Tariff 1 indicating the potential costs associated with this new pricing structure. For example, a one-mile journey would now incur a charge of £4.80, while a two-mile journey would amount to £7.05. Similarly, a three-mile journey would cost £9.30, and so on, with a 10-mile journey totaling £25.05.

Additionally, a special tariff known as Tariff 2 will be in effect during the Christmas and New Year period. Tariff 2 will run from 6pm on 24 December until 6am on 27 December, and again from 6pm on New Year's Eve until 6am on 2 January. Under this tariff, the initial charge for hiring a taxi would be £6, with a further charge of £9.60 for the first mile and £4.50 for each mile thereafter.

In order to accommodate larger groups, an additional charge of £1 per person will be applied if six or more individuals are travelling in the same taxi. Moreover, a soiling charge of £25 has been included to address any incidents of damage or uncleanliness.