There will be no rise in Liverpool’s taxi fares this year after drivers decided they would not be applying for an increase in the charges.
Representatives of the city’s hackney cabs can make an annual application for the fares to be reviewed but have decided that because of the economic situation they would not be seeking any rise this year.
Last year the fares increased by between 20p and 30, the first rise for three years.
The decision not to seek an increase this year has been welcomed by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson.
He said; “The drivers are to be congratulated on not trying to increase the burden on people in these difficult economic times. Despite being under financial pressures themselves they have clearly recognised that a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet and this gesture will be appreciated.”
Terry Stockton, the taxi trade representative said; “With Christmas coming a lot of our customers are going to be feeling the pinch this year and we did not think it was right that we should be asking for a fare rise.
“Like every other business we have faced increased costs but we have decided not to pass them on to our customers- we know this would cause real difficulties for those who rely on hackney cabs. It’s our early present to those people who support the taxi trade!”
A campaign highlighting the advantages of using hackney cabs was recently launched
Full information about taxi fare rates in Liverpool is available at
http://liverpool.gov.uk/Images/taxi-fare-rates.doc
