Taxi fares to climb 25 percent
Taxi fares are to increase by 25 percent after lobbying from cabbies, Transport Minister Shawn Crockwell announced yesterday.He told the House of Assembly in a statement that he’d held “extremely productive “ meetings with taxi industry members in recent weeks and their recommendations included:— Raising fares by a quarter;— Allowing a maximum of seven passengers in a cab, rather than six.— Enforcing a dress code for drivers.— Allowing advertising in cabs.— Introducing a Taxi Commission or other statutory authority.The Minister said: “Over the next few months, the Ministry will be bringing forth amendments to the Motor Car Act 1951 to address recommendations raised during the recent stakeholder consultation.”He was asked by Opposition leader Marc Bean if the list above encompassed all the recommendations that the Ministry planned to implement.Mr Crockwell replied: “The recommendations highlighted in the statement is just a portion of the ones that we have taken on from the taxi industry. The ones that we have mentioned are the ones that we can probably embrace in an expeditious way.”He added that the Cabinet still had to “wrap its mind around this as well”.Taxi drivers expressed frustration in July that Government hadn’t acted faster to make changes to the regulations governing the industry, including increasing fares for the first time in five years.Derek Young, head of the Bermuda Taxi Owners/Operators Association, said the failure to do so before the House adjourned for the summer meant drivers faced another difficult off-season this autumn and winter.Mr Crockwell told MPs yesterday that his meetings with taxi industry stakeholders had seen many historic issues and frustrations raised, including the use of GPS.He said his Ministry understood the “value of GPS technology and its impact on service delivery”, adding: “There is no doubt that the dispatchers that use GPS are able to provide an effective dispatching system, which is why we are not looking to do away with GPS but to make it optional.“All taxis are required to be registered with a taxi dispatching service. With a change from mandatory to optional, dispatching companies will have to sell the benefits of their systems to drivers in order to stimulate interest and encourage membership.“The Ministry is also looking to work with stakeholders to determine an attractive incentive programme for drivers to use GPS.”Shadow Finance Minister David Burt, after declaring an interest he has as a taxi owner, pointed out that at this point GPS is mandatory.He asked the Minister how he was instructing his department to enforce the law.Mr Crockwell replied: “My instruction to the department is to enforce the law.”Mr Burt asked if the Transport Control Department would fail any taxi without GPS.The Minister replied: “I can confirm that that is the policy of TCD. There have been some occasions where I have been petitioned and intervened and given some grace period. The position at TCD is to enforce the law and I believe that’s what they are doing.”Shadow Transport Minister Lawrence Scott asked Mr Crockwell if making GPS optional would not fragment the taxi industry.The Minister said: “The industry is fragmented. It has been fragmented for some time. They are fragmented on this issue of GPS. The option has always been to make it optional.”He said though Government believed in the technology, it didn’t feel forcing cabbies to use it was the right approach. “By now, the users of GPS should appreciate the value to their business.”
Taxi fares are currently split in to two groups: For 1-4 passengers and for 5-6 passengers.
For 1-4 passengers the fare is $6.40 for the first mile and $2.25 for each additional mile. Under these proposals this will increase to $8.00 for the first mile and $2.80 for each additional mile.
This means that a tourist travelling to, or from, the airport to the Fairmont Southampton on a weekday will, in the future, pay in the region of $47 for an approximately 15-mile journey.
This, however, does not include a tip, of between 15 percent and 20 percent and the cost of luggage, which is charged at $1 per piece. With a family of four that journey could easily cost more than $60.
That price jumps by another 25 percent on Sundays, public holidays, and after midnight, meaning the cost could reach $75.
For tourists wanting to return to their cruise ship at Dockyard after Harbour Nights, for example, the prices are similar for the 14.6-mile trip.
For a group of 5-6 passengers the costs are even higher. Currently the fare is $8 for the first mile and $2.80 for each additional mile. That will climb to $10 for the first mile and $3.50 for each additional mile. The trip to Dockyard will now cost approximately $57.60, or $66.24 with a 15 percent tip.
This of course applies only during weekdays, because the cost for 5-6 passengers jumps 50 percent on Sundays and public holidays, meaning it could cost a group of tourists nearly $100 to get back to their ship.
