Some taxi fares in Bath and North East Somerset could increase to help drivers cover fuel costs, the council has said.

According to SomersetLive, taxi fares may rise by 11.7 per cent and people are being asked for their views on the proposal.

At the moment, the most hackney cabs can charge for a one-mile journey is £4.80. This will rise to £5.40, if the planned changes go ahead, and is based on a long-standing formula used by the council to decide fare increases.

The calculation is looking at the annual impact of inflation on motoring costs and wages from April to April. It takes the annual percentage increase of the Motoring Expenditure Retail Price Index and also the Average Weekly Earnings Retail Price Index, then weighted 50/50, calculates the applied inflationary rate.

People have eight weeks to comment on the proposed fare increase and the council said it recognised that many residents relied on taxis as an essential form of transport - especially in areas with reduced private hire services.

Tim Ball, the council's cabinet member for planning and licensing, said: "It is vitally important we get people's views because we have to balance the needs of the taxi trade to make a good standard of living in the face of rising costs with the need for an affordable immediate hire taxi service for people who may be dependent on taxis as their only method of door-to-door transport."

Hackney carriage fares were last increased in 2020.

You can comment on the consultation here: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/taxi-fares-consultation.

Source: https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/bath-taxi-fares-could-increase-7289935

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