Dear stakeholder,
We are seeking views on changes to taxi fares and tariffs in London, to take place in April 2015.
Transport for London (TfL) licenses and regulates taxi and private hire services in London. As part of this, we set the maximum fares that taxis (black cabs or ‘hackney carriages’) can charge. These fares are determined by tariffs that are reviewed each year and normally changed in early April, to reflect changes in a cost index that reflects the costs of operating a taxi.
Previous tariff reviews have followed three basic principles:
- Using the taxi cost index to guide the increase in average fares;
- Maintaining reasonable differentials between the day, evening/weekend and late night tariffs;
- Maintaining a reasonable progression of fare with journey length.
We propose to follow these principles again for the change to take effect on 11 April 2015. The final cost index figures are still to be assessed but on the basis of the information currently available, we would increase average taxi fares by 0.3 per cent.
We also propose to continue the present arrangement that will allow taxi drivers to add an extra charge of 40 pence if fuel prices increase significantly.
Consultation
Please go to our consultation website atconsultations.tfl.gov.uk/taxis/fares-and-tariffs. You will find more information about the background to these proposals and the calculation of the cost index, as well as a questionnaire seeking your views. Responses must be received by Friday 5 December 2014.
We are seeking the views of anyone with interest in these matters on these proposals. Please pass this message on to others who might be interested.
If you have any questions about this, please email me at STEngagement@tfl.gov.uk with ‘Taxi Tariff review ’ in the subject line.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Crowson
Strategy and Infrastructure Manager
TfL Taxi & Private Hire
