Eire.

Public Transport Junior Minister Alan Kelly has announced the introduction of a new suite of regulations for the taxi sector set to come into force this month, along with the commencement of a comprehensive enforcement programme known as ‘Operation Taximeter’.

The new regulations will include mandatory area knowledge tests for drivers with a history of poor local knowledge, continuous tax compliance monitoring, and restrictions on stamp 2 visa holders from operating a taxi, as well as a maximum payment charge for credit/debit card holders.

The regulations, which will be introduced and overseen by the National Transport Authority, will also see an amendment to the specifications for wheelchair accessible taxis making them more affordable.

“The taxi market relies on consumer confidence in a safe, reliable and high quality SPSV service. I believe that the new regulations will ensure that consumers will have that confidence in the sector and the taxi drivers that do their jobs professionally will be rewarded by the market. The new standards for wheelchair accessible vehicles will reduce the costs of purchasing wheelchair accessible taxis significantly and make more available for people with mobility impairments,” stated Minister Kelly.

The new regulations coincide with the appointment of fifteen new taxi enforcement officers as part of ‘Operation Taximeter’. The operation will target both urban centers and rural towns to address unlicensed operators and licensed operators not complying with the new Small Public Service Vehicle (SPSV) regulations.

“I am determined that those who attempt to flout the law will be pursued and face the consequences. This move will see the number of enforcement officers treble, rising from eight to twenty-three. Enforcement is the most significant issue that taxi drivers raise when I meet them and we are pursuing a more rigorous way,” the Minister said.

“The taxi sector is a vital part of the country’s transport system and it has to be held to a high standard. I am satisfied that significant improvements over the last three years means that we have a better sector for both consumers and drivers.”

http://tinyurl.com/o2e5qrq

Former Transport Minister Steven Norris rides along with minicabit

London, 7th April 2014 Following its recent success as the first mobile app to win offers on Dragons’ Den, minicabit has announced that Steven Norris has joined as an Advisor to the Board.

Norris was previously a Minister of Transport, Board Member of Transport for London and Mayor of London candidate, and has held a number of top executive roles across the UK transport sector. He is currently President of ITS (UK), the public/private sector body that promotes developments in transport technology.

Regarding his role at minicabit, he said : “As we move deeper into the digital age, the UK private hire sector still remains one of the last transport modes to be bookable online. At the same time, the app and web market for booking cabs is pretty fragmented, with some options if you’re in central London but little else for the rest of the UK. minicabit’s mission to enable customers UK-wide to book cabs on web and mobile is a compelling one. In particular, I can see its smart technology platform helping position the cab as a credible option for long distance, not just local, trips.

 Given this means a wider choice of minicabs for customers and more business for cab operators, I look forward to helping minicabit in pursuing its mission.”

http://www.prfire.co.uk/transportation/news-steven-norris-joins-minicabit-as-advisor-to-the-board-155163

Scotland, Peterhead.

A taxi driver has died after a car plunged into the water at Peterhead Harbour on Monday morning.

The Vauxhall Vectra, which was marked with taxi plates, careered into the harbour at around 8.50am.

The driver was believed to have been in his early 40s.

Emergency services are currently at the scene and police have warned nearby roads will be shut for "some time".

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "A man has died following a vehicle entering the harbour in Peterhead today at around 8.50am.

"Road closures around the harbour remain in place and the roads are expected to be in place for some time.

"The junction of Ellis Street to Longate and Seagate in Peterhead is currently closed due to an ongoing incident at the harbour.

"The next of kin of the man have been informed and no further details will be released until formal identification has been done.

"Enquiries into the incident are at an early stage and anyone who may have seen the vehicle prior to the incident is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101."

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "There was one deceased retrieved from the location."

EDINBURGH

A taxi driver delayed passengers on an Edinburgh tram when she popped to get a snack from McDonald's, leaving her vehicle on the city's tram lines.

She left her car on the tram tracks, blocking it for 10 minutes while she bought breakfast from the fast food store.

When she realised what she'd done the cabbie dashed out to her car, did a U-turn and blocked the tracks on the opposite street to carry on eating her breakfast.

This picture was passed onto the council, who have said they will take it to the transport department for further review.

Council transport convener Lesley Hinds told the Daily Record: "I will pass the pictures to the taxi office for their action."

It was the third time in recent weeks that a vehicle has blocked the city's £776million tram network, which is currently under review.

Paris.

A quick screen grab from Twitter, would suggest UBER are not to popular on that side of the pond.

FLORENCE

"Talk about Smart City means first urban mobility in Florence will bring to 250 the charging stations for electric vehicles and in a few years all taxis will be electric." He said Dario Nardella, deputy mayor of Florence, speaking at the first stage of the Smart City tour in Florence.

http://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2014/04/04/news/palazzo_vecchio_e_enel_costruiscono_la_smart_city-82751855/?
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GRANGEMOUTH

A convicted killer tried to strangle a taxi driver while he was at the wheel of his vehicle in a bid to rob him of his taking bag.

He got into the private hire vehicle at a taxi rank in Bo’ness and asked to be taken to an address in Grangemouth.

During the journey, Davies, who was previously jailed for nine years for culpable homicide, put a belt around 60-year-old William McDonald’s neck and made a bid to throttle him.

However, the driver managed to bring his taxi to a halt in Esslemont Road, Grangemouth and a struggle broke out as Davies tried, but failed, to grab the takings.

Mr McDonald then opened the rear door, seized the accused and ejected him before driving off.

At the High Court in Edinburgh today Davies admitted assaulting and trying to rob Mr McDonald while he was working as a taxi driver by demanding money, attempting to strangle him with a belt in a moving vehicle, biting him and struggling with him on July 31 last year.

The court heard that unemployed Davies, of Clydesdale Street, Bo’ness, had 45 previous convictions, including culpable homicide, assault, fire-raising, public disorder and drugs.

Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence on Davies until next month and ordered a background report be prepared looking at the risk he poses.
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DERBY

TAXI drivers who cannot speak English well enough to pass Derby's "knowledge" test have allegedly been registering in Gedling instead.

To become a driver in Derby, you have to take a tough exam which tests knowledge of places and routes in the city.

But taxi drivers who have already achieved the grade say others unable to do so are registering in Gedling and coming and then taking customers in Derby.

They say some drivers go to Gedling Borough Council because getting a licence there has not involved taking a knowledge test about the local area.

Mark Keenan, manager of Derby-based Western Cars, said some drivers "don't understand the language well enough to pass the knowledge test in Derby so they go elsewhere".

Derby City Council says there is a public safety issue to Hackney carriage drivers getting their licences outside the city.

This is because it has no powers to do safety checks on the vehicles and drivers, the cabbies do not have to comply with the city council's conditions and the authority has no powers to investigate complaints against them.

And the practice has meant Gedling gets the benefit of the licence fees.

Mr Keenan said his private hire firm did not employ drivers not licensed in the city.

Mr Keenan said: "I'm upset for the drivers of Derby. They are paying good money to go through stringent tests here.

"Then these people are disrupting their living – coming through the back door by getting easier licences from other places. I have every sympathy for the council. Their hands are tied."

Mr Keenan said he believed that there could be "80 to 100" drivers with licences from outside Derby operating in the city at any one time.

He said he had heard of people travelling to Gedling for a licence from as far away as Portsmouth – 200 miles away.

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-cabbies-avoiding-stiff-test-city-passing/story-20907815-detail/story.html#ixzz2xrCHUeUM
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NEWCASTLE

A MAN has appeared in court accused of sex attacks on two females who wrongly thought his car was a taxi.

Sail Uddin faces two charges of sexual assault and one of possessing amphetamine.

The 41-year-old, of Churchill Street, Hendon, was not asked to enter pleas during a short hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, where he appeared via videolink to HMP Durham, yesterday.

He will be back in court on May 14 for a plea and case management hearing.

Judge Paul Sloan QC remanded Uddin in custody. No application for bail was made. during the hearing.

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/local/all-news/sunderland-man-in-court-accused-of-sex-attacks-after-taxi-mix-up-1-6475950
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LEICESTER

A bogus taxi driver who terrified passengers by swerving across motorway lanes and appearing to fall asleep at the wheel has been banned from driving and given a suspended jail sentence.

A court heard Hamza Afzal Sacranie was reported by a woman passenger who abandoned a trip back from Gatwick airport.

Sacranie (24) of Broadway Road, Leicester, terrified passengers so much that they ordered him to stop the Ford Galaxy at a motorway services last June.

They rang the police saying he was a danger on the road.

Checks of the registration and other details revealed Sacranie wasn't licensed to be a taxi driver at all, and the vehicle wasn't insured or licensed for private hire use.

Leicester Magistrates were told on April 2 that when the taxi arrived at the airport for the pick up, its seats were not in the correct position and not all the passengers had seatbelts.

The court heard the complainant and her fellow passengers felt very unsafe during the journey as Sacranie appeared to be falling asleep at the wheel and the vehicle swerved across the carriageway of the motorway.

After persuading Sacranie to stop at a hotel, the complainants noticed that he didn’t have any licence plates on his vehicle. When they pointed this out to him he claimed he'd forgotten to put them on.

The passengers refused to pay him and made alternative arrangements to get home.

Sacranie had claimed to be the owner of a company called S7ven Seat.

But checks revealed that neither the vehicle nor the company had a licence allowing them to trade as a private hire provider.

The court heard how he had previously applied to Leicester City Council for a taxi driver licence in October 2011 but had been refused after failing to meet the required standards.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to five offences which included acting as a taxi driver and using a vehicle as a private hire vehicle without a licence, operating as a private hire operator without a licence, fraud and driving without insurance.

He was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He was also disqualified from driving for a year and ordered to pay £759 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

After the hearing Leicester assistant city mayor for culture, heritage, leisure and sport Piara Singh Clair, said: "This case shows the importance of ensuring that journeys are only booked through fully-licensed private hire operators.

"We carry out stringent checks and balances before giving anyone a licence to be a taxi driver, so passengers know they are in safe hands when they book or catch a taxi in the city."
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EIRE

A MAXIMUM extra fee on taxi passengers paying by credit or debit card will be introduced, as part of a new set of regulations to be introduced next month.

At present, taxi drivers can set their own administration fee for customers who choose to pay by card and can refuse to take a fare under a certain distance.

But under new rules, a flat 5pc fee will be introduced for passengers who pay by plastic and drivers will not be able to reject small fares.

The new regulations will also include mandatory area knowledge tests for drivers with a history of poor local knowledge as well as continuous tax compliance monitoring.

"The taxi market relies on consumer confidence in a safe, reliable and high-quality SPSV (small public service vehicles) service," Public Transport Minister Alan Kelly, who announced the new regulations, said.

"I believe the regulations will ensure consumers will have that confidence in the sector and the taxi drivers that do their jobs professionally will be rewarded by the market."

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/maximum-5pc-fee-for-paying-taxi-fare-by-card-30151164.html
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NATIONAL

The use of mobile apps within the Chauffeur and Private Hire industry is being questioned after fears some of them are not legal and any driver downloading one could find themselves uninsured, operating illegally and potentially having their PHV Licence revoked, points on their driving licence and a hefty fine – that’s according to lawyers and major industry trade bodies.

The Licensed Private Hire Car Association (LPHCA) is currently in the midst of lengthy discussions with Transport for London, the Department for Transport and others as it is certain that some apps are categorically breaching not only Private Hire Regulations that cover Minicab, Chauffeur and Executive Drivers and Operators, but are also potentially breaching Taxi regulations.

In the Chauffeur and Executive world, apps can enable customers to book cars, the same applies to taxis, but whilst this is all hi-tech, questions are being asked whether it is legal for the PHV driver and safe for the customer.

The Taxi industry and the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) recently highlighted in its Taxi newspaper that some app providers could be operating in contravention of the laws that regulate the minicab industry.

The LTDA goes on to explain “Some of these apps are in fact ‘metering journeys’ which is absolutely illegal”. Others in the industry have said some apps are effectively ‘street hailing’, which is the domain of taxis only because PHV drivers have not done the ‘Knowledge’ tests that taxi drivers have to undergo to earn the right to become available on the streets.

The LPHCA goes further and a spokesperson told TheChauffeur.com; “PHV Drivers are being seduced into joining a new breed of operators’ that work ‘in the cloud’. Some of these operators in our view are compromising safety because they are not taking the full booking details at the point of booking, which is illegal and has several safety implications.”

“Drivers who receive such bookings via apps are potentially committing a serious offence and compromising themselves and public safety. Operators sit between the travelling public and drivers for good reasons both regulatory and safety.  If a driver is found receiving bookings in such a way these app Operators are likely to ‘walk away’ and deny any liability as they have done in the USA citing their terms and conditions.”

The Association is advising any PHV drivers to take caution before downloading and using some very high profile apps. “Drivers should be aware that they may be aiding and abetting illegal activity, which could put them in the dock and not the app provider”, it warns.

Drivers are being urged to contact their local licensing office to make sure they are operating within the law if they are using apps to generate work. Traditional Private Hire Operators, in light of the serious risks of being associated with unlicensed activities, are likely to dismiss any driver found to be working with rogue apps and may even take legal action if such services are found to have been provided within a company vehicle, which may very well become uninsured.

http://www.thechauffeur.com/industry-bodies-warn-chauffeurs-on-the-use-of-hire-apps/

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LONDON

Transport for London’s (TfL) Board has agreed a well below inflation taxi fare increase for the coming financial year (2014/15). The 0.7 per cent average increase is the lowest since TfL took over responsibility for licensing taxis in 2000 and will take effect from Saturday 5 April 2014. 

The new fares seek a balance between maintaining income levels for drivers while ensuring passengers still get a fair price for the high quality service provided by the capital’s taxi drivers. The Board approved the changes following consultation by TfL with the taxi trade and others, including London TravelWatch, London Boroughs, London Assembly and London MPs. 
Helen Chapman, TfL’s General Manager of Taxi and Private Hire, said: “This year’s increase in taxi fares is the lowest since TfL took on responsibility for licensing taxis and seeks to cover any changes in the costs of running a black cab while continuing to provide passengers with value for money.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to licensing a world-class taxi service, we will be conducting a number of reviews over the coming year, including whether increases in taxi fares and tariffs should be introduced at the start of each year, in line with London’s Tube, rail and bus network.”

There will continue to be no extra charges for additional passengers or luggage and all taxis will continue to carry assistance dogs at no extra cost. The Board also approved the extension of a special provision linked to diesel prices. Since July 2008 a special provision has been in place to allow taxi fares to be increased if diesel costs increase drastically.  The Board approved an extension of this provision for the coming year and a 40 pence increase to all taxi fares will be implemented if diesel reaches 175.48 pence per litre.

 
Taxi journeys booked by telephone can be subject to a £2.00 maximum surcharge which has been extended to cover taxi journeys booked using mobile phones, smart phones, mobile applications and online services. This is to ensure consistency for passengers and stops any excessive charges for taxi booking services.

 A further change will see the £4.00 Christmas extra charge automatically added to fares over the festive period from December 2016, which is currently added manually by the driver.

The Board also endorsed a review of card acceptance in taxis as TfL research has indicated that an overwhelming majority of passengers feel that they should be able to pay for any a taxi journey by debit or credit card. There is currently no requirement for all licensed taxis to accept card payments. In addition to the review the existing card payment surcharge will be reduced from the current 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent or £1.00, whichever is greater, to reduce costs to passengers

The Board agreed to review the date when taxi fares and tariffs are reviewed with the possibility of aligning changes with those made on London’s bus, rail and Tube network – so from January each year, rather than April.

LONDON

The all-new British-built and engineered Range Extended Electric (REE) Metrocab has been tested for the first time by London's taxi drivers and Mayor Boris Johnson.

Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) General Secretary Steve McNamara, and London Cab Drivers Club (LCDC) Chairman Grant Davis, visited Metrocab's Surrey testing facility with their respective members to evaluate the Metrocab from a passenger and driver perspective. 

Following static observations the Metrocab was experienced first-hand on the test track and the association members were left impressed by the power delivery, ride quality and handling. 

Steve McNamara commented: "It's a smooth, quiet, electric vehicle. I'm a great fan of them and I think they are the future. Not just because of the emissions and environment but the silence. The worst thing about sitting in London traffic is sitting alongside noisy buses and diesel cars."

Grant Davis added: "Our members drove it today and everyone said they were impressed, amazingly impressed. I think the Metrocab gives the cab trade in London a great new future."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "It's superb, an absolutely beautiful machine and a masterpiece of British engineering. I have just driven it and it's totally silent. It's the Rolls Royce of taxis and it will do 100mpg."


The Metrocab's REE technology delivers a range of 560km, typically saving a London taxi driver £20-£40 per day based on the average day and night duty cycle in the capital.

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SAN ANTONIO -- It was nearly a standing room only crowd of cab drivers and Lyft drivers that filled a room at downtown’s Municipal Plaza building to address members of the public safety committee.  

The meeting was also attended by San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, who addressed the committee on the city’s standing “Vehicle for Hire” ordinance. 

At issue was Chief McManus sending a cease and desist letter to the rideshare company, Lyft.

Lyft offers car rides to anyone who downloads the app to their smartphone. The passengers pay via a credit or debit car for their ride. Lyft’s signature trait is a large pink mustache adorned on the front of the car. 

The cars are privately owned usually by the driver. 

McManus said car ridesharing companies such as Lyft and Uber violates a city ordinance because companies are not inspected by the city. The driver’s also do not have to undergo background checks by the city.  

Both companies say they implement their own checks on their employees. 

Most of the cab drivers presented held handmade signs that read, “Support Your Local Cab Drivers.”

The concern is the adoption of Lyft and Uber in San Antonio will heavily cut into taxi cab profits. 

"What would Dr. Martin Luther King have said about that?” asked one cab driver who spoke. “I tell you what he would have said…Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you for embracing a bigoted, outdated business model.”

It was a shot at how the Lyft app rates drivers and drivers can rate passengers. 

"What If I don’t have a smart phone or a social media account or a credit card,” said John Bouloubasis to the committee. “I cannot ride. You're discriminating in a class of people.”

Leandre Johns, a spokesperson for Uber, says the controversy is nothing new to the company. 

"When you have new technology coming in, you have new ideas coming in you’re going to have opposition to it and that's what we've seen in every city that we've been in,” Johns said. 

Supporters of the rideshare companies say this falls right into place for what Mayor Castro has dubbed “City on The Rise” mantra. 

"If we are truly a city on the rise, a great city, a Google Fiber city,…we need as many tools in our tool box as we can when it comes to transportation," said Luke Holland representing LOOP, Leadership Organization of Professionals. 

"April is historically on the road in our area. The Launch of both Lyft and Uber marked a new triumph for the city and its fight against drunk and impaired driving - a costly act that saw more than 25,000 alcohol related accidents last year,” said Thea Setterbo. 

At the end of the discussion, Councilman Mike Gallagher was most vocal in saying he did not support any amendment what would make the current ordinance “weaker.”

The ordinance has been in place for more than 30 years. 

“We will look to see what is going on with other cities and what they are trying to rectify the issue and we'll come back to you in 60 days or if you want, we can do 30 days,” McManus said. 


Until any changes happen, McManus says police will still arrest Lyft drivers.

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Dudley.

THE first of a number of changes to taxi regulations in Dudley borough have come into force.

Hackney carriages now have to display door stickers showing the council’s logo.

Under measures agreed earlier this year by the council’s taxis committee door stickers have from April 1 become compulsory for hackney carriages and from June 1 private hire vehicles and hackney carriage vehicles will be allowed to be any colour.


People should report hackney carriages in Dudley which are failing to show the correct door stickers by calling the council's licensing team on 01384 815377.

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Edinburgh

CONTROVERSIAL plans to install CCTV cameras in taxis across the Capital are set to become reality.

The city council is expected to agree “in principle” to the idea when a report goes before the regulatory committee tomorrow.

Objections have been made that the cameras would constitute an “invasion of privacy”, with some couples arguing for the right to “canoodle” in the back seat without having to worry they are being watched.

But this has been dismissed by Tony Kenmuir, director of Central Taxis, who said: “People should not be behaving like that anyway in a privately owned vehicle.”

The Edinburgh and Lothian Taxi Partnership has been campaigning for the cameras for several years in a bid to cut down incidents ranging from disputes over fares to verbal or physical abuse against drivers.

Mr Kenmuir said the cameras would also help protect passengers, including women and vulnerable children.

He said: “Most people think of us picking up shoppers, running business people about and picking up revellers at night but we do a lot of others things.

“Our major contract is with the council and we are regularly driving unaccompanied and vulnerable children from foster homes to care homes. We also do things for the NHS, often driving around with sensitive materials and urgent prescriptions.

“There are a lot of sensitive situations involving taxis.

“Occasionally people do make spurious accusations that the driver did this or did that and to some extent we want to protect the driver.

“We have people trying to burst out without paying and people being highly abusive. If anything, my view is that CCTV is as much – if not more so – for the benefit of the passenger.”

Kevin Wood, chairman of Central Taxis, said he supported the idea because it provided protection for both customers and drivers.

But he insisted that footage had to be the property of the council or the police, and that drivers should not have access to any of the recordings.

Under the plans, sound recordings could also be made but it is understood that drivers would have to inform passengers before the system was activated.

Guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office states that CCTV “must not be used to record conversations between members of the public, as this is highly intrusive and unlikely to be a justified infringement of their right to privacy”. However, the report also said that audio recording would be justified in “certain circumstances”, including instances when a taxi’s panic button is flipped.

Councillor Gavin Barrie, convener of the regulatory committee, said: “There is a report going to committee tomorrow recommending that the council agrees in principle to consult on whether licence holders should be allowed to fit such cameras to their vehicles, subject to certain conditions.”

SAFEGUARDS would be put in place to make sure recorded images were not misused.

The council would pay for administrative and operational costs for inspecting the vehicles which would be recovered by a one-off £50 inspection fee.

If approved, black cab drivers and private hire cars across the Capital would be given the choice of having them installed but stickers would inform passengers they were being filmed.


The proposals will be subject to a six-month consultation period.

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Wolverhampton

A passenger stole a taxi in the Midlands and drove it to London before leading police on a high-speed chase around the streets of the capital, a court has heard.

Louis Anglin, of Willenhall, grabbed the driver from behind before taking off in the £13,500 car and driving it more than 120 miles.

Anglin, aged 20, of Littleton Road, was jailed for two years.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told that he had been picked up by the taxi just after 6am on January 25 from the Grosvenor Casino in Walsall.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, told the court that the taxi driver had turned the car around when Anglin began acting suspiciously.

He said: "They were heading towards Willenhall when Anglin asked the driver if he could stop to pick up a friend.

"He also asked if there were any weapons in the car, so he decided to turn around and go back to the casino."

He said Anglin grabbed the driver who had got out of the car to run away and tried to take the car keys with him.

Mr Edwards said: "He couldn't grab the keys and and Anglin got into the drivers seat and drove the car away."

He was later spotted by an automatic number plate recognition camera in Tower Hamlets in London which alerted the Metropolitan Police, Mr Edwards said.

"The police had their blue lights and sirens on and he immediately stopped," he said.

"The vehicle then completed a u-turn and drove off. The vehicle was seen to undertake cars and drive at speeds of 60 miles per hour in built up areas."

Miss Sarah Allen, for Anglin, said: "He is a 20 years old, and still a young man who has managed to rack up quite a number of previous convictions.

"He has some difficulty with authority. The way he acts is impulsively and poorly.

"It is difficult for him to see a way forward. He will be moved from a youth offenders to an adult prison and that may be something that changes him."

Anglin admitted robbery, dangerous driving and driving with no insurance or license.

Judge Michael Challinor sentenced him to 18 months for the robbery and six months for the dangerous driving. He was given no separate penalty for the other two offences, but was banned from driving for two years.

Judge Challinor said: "You have an unexplained difficulty with authority figures. You are a dangerous young man but you have your whole life ahead of you.


"Stop losing your temper and being impulsive and begin to live a proper and industrious life which you are clearly capable of."
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Lochaber drivers fail to stop taxi fare hike

A CONTROVERSIAL taxi fare hike in the Highlands has been imposed by licensing chiefs – despite dozens of Lochaber drivers demanding the brakes be put on the move.

Passengers will have to fork out an extra 30p, regardless of the distance travelled, when they are first picked up by taxis in the “flag fall” – the initial amount on the meter.

It is currently £2.50, £3 and £3.60 for weekdays, nights and weekends and festive holidays, respectively.

The new rate, which was agreed by the Highland Licensing Board on Tuesday, will come into effect from May 26.

An increase in the cost of outward journeys for hires starting three miles or more away from the taxi or its home base, whichever is the nearest, was also ratified. It will go up from £6.50 to a maximum of £7.50.

More than 40 taxi drivers in Lochaber had objected to the price increase and called for drivers in rural locations to be licensed separately from Inverness.

They said they were struggling to attract passengers and warned the fare hike was not in their interest.

But board convener Maxine Smith said the Lochaber drivers had the flexibility to offer a cheaper rate to passengers if they wanted to. Taxi operators can charge any fare, provided it does not exceed the maximum provided for in the tariff.

The Inverness Taxi Alliance had suggested a revised tariff in line with that charged by Perth and Kinross Council, but Councillor Smith said it wanted to limit price increases because the economic climate was still challenging.

“There has been a lot of press coverage and a representation from Lochaber taxis who feel they don’t want an increase at all,” said Councillor Smith. “I think it is reasonable given that there are still some austerity measures and this is not as expensive for the public as suggested by the Inverness Taxi Alliance. Lochaber can do what they want to make it more palatable to their customers.”

Committee member and Lochaber councillor Allan Henderson said he had “no problem” with the fare change because there was scope for drivers in his area to charge less.

The fare increases are the first in 18 months.

The committee had insisted it had considered the costs of operating taxis like fuel and vehicle maintenance.

There are 786 licensed taxi drivers in the region.

A small working group, comprising senior board members, was set up to hold regular meetings with taxi groups to debate issues like pricing in future.