Taxi fares in Bournemouth will increase, from April by 3.2%, according to a new fare adjustment plan released last week.
Taxi driver Azzedine Lemhazem said: “We are not doing well on the moment. We struggle to reach which we have to do every day. Compare with other countries, I think the price in Bournemouth is still really cheap. But this moment, the price for us is really expensive, because the economy is down and the recession.”
Compared with the rise in 2012, this year’s increase in fare is smaller. According to a retired taxi driver John Delittle who participated in the taxi tariff , the adjustment is “very small” and the taxi price in Bournemouth is “very appropriate”.
Ashley Miller, chairman of Bournemouth Station Taxi Association, said: “It’s not a lot of increase for the drivers, but we can’t put the price up, because at this moment we are losing trade. People haven’t got money to go ahead. A lot of the people who used to use taxis take buses, now. We’ve missed a lot of trade because of the coming down in the tourism industry.”
Taxi driver Dave Newman said: “It’s a minimum of increase, no big difference. The season is not well, plus recession. Like many small businesses, we are struggling to keep pace for the expenditure.”
Want know Bournemouth’s residents’ opinion on taxi fare? Click below.
For more details about the fare adjustment, please visit HACKNEY CARRIAGE – MAXIMUM FARES & CHARGES APRIL 2013.
Featured image by I am Rudy from Flickr.
