Which towns have cheap taxi fares?

[johncrossley]

Which towns in the UK have cheap taxi fares? If possible, give examples of sample fares and the approximate distance.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Which towns in the UK have cheap taxi fares? If possible, give examples of sample fares and the approximate distance.

Milton Keynes does for private-hire services. It is very competitive and the fast roads and lack of congestion mean that the cost of operation is very low.

I couldn't tell you fares, though, not used one since the start of the pandemic. But typically if two are travelling it won't be much more than a bus fare, and three will pretty much always make it cheaper than the bus. And while Arriva MK is pretty dire in many ways, the fares are not that high.

 

[johncrossley]

Milton Keynes does for private-hire services. It is very competitive and the fast roads and lack of congestion mean that the cost of operation is very low.

I couldn't tell you fares, though, not used one since the start of the pandemic. But typically if two are travelling it won't be much more than a bus fare, and three will pretty much always make it cheaper than the bus. And while Arriva MK is pretty dire in many ways, the fares are not that high.

This company has prices per mile on its website. Do these fares sound typical for the area?

Price Guide - Skyline Taxis Milton Keynes Premier Taxi Service

Check the Skyline Taxis Price Guide for details of the cost of your journey in & around the Milton Keynes area.

www.skylinetaxis.co.uk

Mileage Rate and/or 10p for each 20 seconds	£1.10
Minimum Fare (Up to 1 Mile)	£3.70
Waiting Time (Per Minute)	£0.30

 

[Bletchleyite]

Skyline is the one I mostly used, so assuming these aren't out of date they are probably right.

In 2019 it appeared (checks bank) to be about £7 to go from MKC station to my house, which according to Google is 3.7 miles.

The bus fare back then would have been £2.50, for comparison. It has probably gone up a bit now.

The Hackney carriage rate is quite a bit higher, as is Uber. Hardly anyone uses the former here, though, as the road system doesn't make hailing one an easy thing to do, and they have a bit of a reputation for misbehaving e.g. refusing to use the meter. Some people do use Uber, but I don't see any particular reason to use it because it's more expensive than Skyline/Speedline and offers the exact same service.

Airport rates are fairly cheap too, typically a fixed £30-40 to Luton depending on what the current offer is. Just checked and Skyline are offering £30 for Luton Airport (plus the drop off fee) which means it hasn't gone up in over 10 years.

 

[johncrossley]

In most towns Hackney carriages are generally only for picking up from the station and maybe one or two other places in the town centre.

 

[S&CLER]

When I moved to Southport in 1995, I was told that the town had the cheapest taxis in the UK. No idea if this was or still is true, but I suspect the statistics are to be found somewhere in the DfT files. I rarely used them, but do recall that it was quite cheap just to go from the town centre to the seafront for the Vue cinema on a cold wet night. I also frequently used disabled taxis when I was taking a friend out in his wheelchair, but as he paid for them I don't recall how much they cost. I know we tried to use one in particular, a Peugeot I think, if it was available, because it was the only one tall enough for him to sit comfortably inside and had a lifting platform instead of a ramp, and a helpful driver. Taxis don't ply for hire here, some wait at ranks, most are private hire and need to be phoned for.

 

[Alfonso]

This is an interesting question, as hackney carriage (taxi) fares are set by councils and can be found digging around on their websites, but private hire prices are set by the market, and even on a case by case basis, so more difficult to pin down. I think companies like the one mentioned upthread in Milton Keynes that publishes a tariff are the exceptionrather than the rule

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is an interesting question, as hackney carriage (taxi) fares are set by councils and can be found digging around on their websites, but private hire prices are set by the market, and even on a case by case basis, so more difficult to pin down. I think companies like the one mentioned upthread in Milton Keynes that publishes a tariff are the exceptionrather than the rule

A tariff being fixed (whether published or not) will increasingly be the norm as it's needed for app-based services, which are what people expect in urban areas these days (and if the "minicab" companies don't offer it, people just use Uber). The days of "what did you pay last time mate?" probably only exist now in rural areas where the trade is often just "one man bands" who you call individually on their mobile.

The development of app based taxis in MK is interesting - Speedline were I think first, and started offering theirs well before Uber was established here, and did manage to keep Uber out for a fair period as a result. In the end only one company, Raffles, didn't offer an app, and as a result rapidly faded into obscurity and was taken over. It seems to have been spun back out now and does have an app.

 

[spyinthesky]

Where I live near Salisbury costs me more one way to the station than a 1st Advance to Waterloo return

 

[miklcct]

Milton Keynes does for private-hire services. It is very competitive and the fast roads and lack of congestion mean that the cost of operation is very low.

I couldn't tell you fares, though, not used one since the start of the pandemic. But typically if two are travelling it won't be much more than a bus fare, and three will pretty much always make it cheaper than the bus. And while Arriva MK is pretty dire in many ways, the fares are not that high.

I think the OP is specifically asking for taxi fares here (as set in meter by council regulation), rather than private hire which are unregulated. It's impossible to have meaningful comparison if we consider private hires as the price is negotiable.

Taxi fare is the fare we expect when hailing a taxi down the street.

 

[thejuggler]

I estimate on about £2 a mile.

 

[johncrossley]

I estimate on about £2 a mile.

Where is that?

 

[Alfonso]

Where is that?

I've worked on £4 for the first mile, then £2 a mile. For long distance work I'd hope to get close to £1 a mile bit that's pretty optimistic. My mental fare calculator hasn't updated in about a decade. Interesting reading about MK taxis. I used them nearly 30 years ago and was struck by how cheap cabs were compared with taxis from the station

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Feb 2022 ==

Hackney Taxi Fare Tables

PHTM provides and maintains an extensive resource of national and regional hackney taxi fare league tables. These are available to download or view.

www.phtm.co.uk

it's surprising (at least to me) what a wide range there is

 

[johncrossley]

I think the OP is specifically asking for taxi fares here (as set in meter by council regulation), rather than private hire which are unregulated. It's impossible to have meaningful comparison if we consider private hires as the price is negotiable.

Taxi fare is the fare we expect when hailing a taxi down the street.

I'm using the informal definition of taxi here, so I'm including private hire. Hackney carriages are almost always more expensive. As I mentioned earlier, hailing a taxi is not really a thing in most towns. Even in London you will wait a long time unless you are near central London and on a main road.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

In Manchester, the black cab hackney carriages are something like £2.30 when you get in the taxi, then £1.22 per kilometre. But you also get charged when the taxi is stuck at the lights, so a shortish two kilometre trip across the City Centre might cost you slightly more than the £4.75 you were perhaps expecting. And it's slightly more at night (after 10 p.m. up to 6.00 a.m.)

 

[GusB]

Maximum regulated fares for taxis and private hire in this area are:

• £3.60 for the first mile
• £0.30 per 1/10 of a mile

That doesn't include any surcharges that may be added on at certain times, and the maximum fares only apply within the district.

Source:

http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file136982.pdf

 

[miklcct]

In Bournemouth, a 5 km trip, which took me 8 minutes, cost me £11, and I did that because a half-hourly bus which ran non-stop on exactly the same route didn't show up on time

 

[thejuggler]

Where is that?

Suburbs of Leeds.

My wife took a private hire taxi earlier this week from her office, which is just outside the city centre to a meeting 5 miles away and it was £9.

 

[Dai Corner]

Here in Newport (south Wales) the 3.3m 10 mins journey from the city centre to my home is £8. For comparison, the bus fare is £2.

 

[Trackman]

Cheap Taxis? If I'm stuck and a fair distance from home I'll try the bartering system especially in London (which is in the licencing conditions, so you are insured etc.).
I think my best one was a taxi from South Kenton station to Hither Green for £30 after myself, Mrs T and family left a party late and missed the last train home (23 miles). Uber quoted something like £57.
Once I was stuck at Preston after a dud connection (which I should have really checked on my mobile rather than listening to the guard) and tried my luck, the ones at the front didn't want to know but further down the line someone agreed to the price.
I don't do this all the time, as a say if I'm stuck and quite a distance from my destination I'll ask for a quote and agree the price.

In Manchester, the black cab hackney carriages are something like £2.30 when you get in the taxi, then £1.22 per kilometre. But you also get charged when the taxi is stuck at the lights, so a shortish two kilometre trip across the City Centre might cost you slightly more than the £4.75 you were perhaps expecting. And it's slightly more at night (after 10 p.m. up to 6.00 a.m.)

Not Manchester, but I asked a black cab driver about this - I wasn't moaning or anything- They told me it's the council or whoever who program the meters and it cannot be changed.
There was a big uproar about it around Christmas and New year as people would avoid Hackney carriages like the plague and local private hire companies would capitalise and take most of the trade by under cutting them as they are not tied to 'excess' fare on Christmas day or whatever.

 

[Dai Corner]

Not Manchester, but I asked a black cab driver about this - I wasn't moaning or anything- They told me it's the council or whoever who program the meters and it cannot be changed.
There was a big uproar about it around Christmas and New year as people would avoid Hackney carriages like the plague and local private hire companies would capitalise and take most of the trade by under cutting them as they are not tied to 'excess' fare on Christmas day or whatever.

My understanding is that Councils can set maximum fares but drivers can charge less if they wish. The maximum fares can vary depending on time of day, on Bank Holidays, Christmas etc. My local Council's policy includes the following:

HackneyCarriageFaresPolicy
Licensing Authorities have the power to set maximum Hackney Carriage fares for journeys within their area and the majority, including Newport City Council, do so. There is no power to set Private Hire fees. Fare scales should be designed with a view to practicality. The DfT sees it as good practice to review the fare scales at regular intervals, including any graduation of the fare scale by time of day or day of the week. The DfT also suggests that in reviewing fares, Authorities should pay particular regard to the needs of the travelling public, with reference both to what it is reasonable to expect people to pay but also to the need to give taxi drivers sufficient incentive to provide a service when it is needed. There may well be a case for allowing higher fares to be changed at times of higher demand, for example later at night and early morning.

The Council will set Hackney Carriages fares, at maximum fare that Drivers or Operators of Hackney Carriage Vehicles can charge. Drivers or Operators of Hackney Carriage Vehicles who wish to charge less than the Council Tariff may do so. The Fare Tariff will be subject of on-going review to ensure that it meets with both the needs of the travelling public and of the Hackney Carriage Trade in providing that service.

 

[Trackman]

My understanding is that Councils can set maximum fares but drivers can charge less if they wish. The maximum fares can vary depending on time of day, on Bank Holidays, Christmas etc. My local Council's policy includes the following:

Sounds like the bartering system I mentioned earlier.
As I understand if you flagged down a black cab -say- on Christmas day and didn't say anything they would use the meter which is pre-programmed by the council (or whoever) which susses out the date and time and fare.

 

[GusB]

My understanding is that Councils can set maximum fares but drivers can charge less if they wish. The maximum fares can vary depending on time of day, on Bank Holidays, Christmas etc. My local Council's policy includes the following:

There's nothing to stop a driver switching the meter off at a certain point, and it has happened to me several times.

The key point here is that it's the maximum fare that is regulated. In the case of my own local authority, those regulated fares only apply where the journey is wholly within the relevant council boundary.