A major change to the price of a taxi in Dublin city centre will be happening this week.
Taxi fares are set to rise by an average of 12% from this Thursday. Alongside the fare bump, it will now also be mandatory for taxis to accept card payment for journeys, as well as cash.
The increase is the first since 2018 when taxi fares rose by an average of 4.5%. The National Transport Authority Board approved the increase in June, saying it "reflects the increase in operating costs faced by taxi drivers".
Read more: Major changes happening to Dublin taxis as fares set to hike next week
Taxi fares are examined by the NTA every two years and drivers were due to get a 5% increase in 2020. However, NTA Director of Public Transport Regulation Wendy Thompson said drivers decided not to take that "given the situation the country was in".
But what effect will this have on a taxi home from the city centre? We took it upon ourselves to investigate.
The NTA website contains a handy taxi fare estimate calculator. You can find it by clicking here if you want to work out how much it should cost you to get home yourself, once it updates on Thursday.
"It must reflect the law at the date of calculation," an NTA spokeswoman told Dublin Live. The fare calculator allows you to choose your pick up point, your destination, the taxi rate, the number of passengers, and whether or not your taxi is pre-booked or hailed.
To keep everything the same, we chose a journey home from Harcourt Street in the city centre to 23 different roads in all corners of Dublin. If we didn't get to your area, there's bound to be one listed that's not too far away.
We clicked premium for the rate, as we're assuming we've had a good time in Coppers, Dtwo, or Diceys and we're getting home a bit later than we originally planned. We also selected just the one passenger, and that we hailed the taxi on the roadside for each journey.
Finally, once the machine spit out our price range, we took the average price, and then applied the 12% increase to each total, to see how much more expensive it is going to be to get home from Thursday night onwards - and here are our results:
Rathmines Avenue, Rathmines - from €8.70 to €9.70
We'll start with the shorter journeys first, and move our way down to the longer ones. The quick trip up the road from Harcourt Street to Dublin 6 will set you back an extra euro from Thursday onwards.
Carrow Road, Drimnagh - from €13 to €14.60
The journey back to Dublin 12 is just long enough of a walk to consider the taxi, but just short enough of a taxi to make you think you could have walked. As such, only a minor, but still significant jump, of €1.60 in the journey.
Nephin Road, Cabra - from €13.40 to €15
The trip back to Dublin 7 also falls into the same category - especially if you're out on the northside of the city as opposed to Harcourt Street. A similar €1.60 jump in price is expected in a taxi home to Cabra.
Richmond Road, Drumcondra - from €13.40 to €15
Cabra and the top of Drumcondra are roughly the same drive time from the city, so it's no surprise that, when rounded down, they have identical prices. A closer address to Talbot Street or the train station may have brought the fare down a peg.
Woodbine Road, Booterstown - from €14.40 to €16.10
Students living in and around UCD can expect a bump of €1.70 to their taxi fares home - not as big as you might have expected, but an empty Stillorgan Road at night should help you fly home quicker.
Carrickmount Drive, Churchtown - from €17 to €19
It's an even increase of €2 for a trip back to Dublin 14 - or a trip into the city if you're coming in after 8pm from a day shopping in Dundrum.
Marewood Crescent, Ballymun - from €19.10 to €21.40
The increases become a little more noticeable in the wallet from here. A taxi back to Ballymun will set you back an extra €2.30 from Thursday.
Manor Road, Palmerstown - from €19.50 to €21.80
It'll also be an extra €2.30 for the relatively short but traffic-heavy trip home to the likes of Palmerstown and Chapelizod, while Ballyfermot may be a little bit cheaper still.
Barry Avenue, Finglas - from €19.60 to €22
Anyone making their way back to the west side of Finglas will have to pony up an extra €2.40 to get home.
St Gabriel's Road, Clontarf - from €20.70 to €23.20
It'll be an extra €2.50 home on average for the seasiders of Dublins 3 and 5.
Ballycullen Drive, Firhouse - from €21.70 to €24.30
As the original fares get bigger, so do the increases. An extra €2.60 on the meter can be expected if you're headed Firhouse way, while most of Dublin 16 works out about the same.
Millbrook Road, Donaghmede - from €23.30 to €26.10
It'll be an extra €2.80 on average back to Donaghmede and the surrounding top corner of north Dublin.
Windsor Park, Blackrock - from €23.30 to €26.10
The exact same increase can be found for those headed south towards the N11.
Bawnogue Road, Clondalkin - from €23.80 to €26.70
Clondalkin dwellers escape a flat €3 increase - but only just, by 10 cent. An extra €2.90 home if you live in Bawnogue and the surrounding area on average.
Jobstown Road, Tallaght - from €27.30 to €30.60
The outer edges of Tallaght give us our first jump over €3 - an extra €3.30 out of your pocket and a fare over €30 if you're in a taxi headed for Jobstown.
Esker Lane, Lucan - from €27.30 to €30.60
Lucan has an identical jump, with some parts west of Esker seeing even bigger increases as Dublin turns to Kildare and Lucan to Leixlip.
Forest Road, Swords - from €30.10 to €33.70
Our friends from north of the Airport will have to fork over an extra €3.60 on a taxi home.
Craysfort Road, Dalkey - from €32.20 to €36.10
Heading the opposite way, a taxi towards Dalkey sees a jump in price of nearly €4.
Rathsallagh Drive, Shankill - from €33.90 to €38
And a little bit further south, we break the €4 mark - a €4.10 increase to get home to Shankill.
Sheepmoor Avenue, Blakestown, Blanchardstown - from €34.80 to €39
The wider Dublin 15 area can expect some steep increases, with this example showing a €4.20 bump in the fare back to Blakestown.
Forest Hills, Rathcoole - from €35.10 to €39.30
It's a similar rise on average to Blanch if you live in Rathcoole.
Grace O'Malley Road, Howth - from €36.50 to €40.90
€4.40 is the increase in fare if you live up the hill in Howth.
Chapel Street, Balbriggan - from €69.80 to €78.20
A taxi home to Balbriggan was the most expensive we could find still within Dublin's borders in a built-up area, and the increase in fare will be a whopping €9.40. Maybe Google the train times instead.
An NTA spokeswoman also gave a brief breakdown of the details of the increases to Dublin Live. "There is no increase in extras, the booking fee is still capped at €2 and extra passengers at €1 each to keep it simple and transparent for users," she said.
"It remains, of course, better value for the user to have more than one passenger in a taxi .However, the weighted increase in the fare for the actual distance and time travelled, for one passenger only, ranges from:
- 60c on a short weekday trip to
- More for a trip at 2am - €1.80 for 5km, €3.20 for 10km, €4.20 for 15km.
"The details of the trip, including the fare and driver details, are printed on the trip the taxi driver must legally offer passengers."
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