The taxi trade in Dumfries and Galloway is set for a shake-up after being hit hard by the pandemic.
Taxi fares will increase from £4.50 to £5.50 for the first mile and a half after Dumfries and Galloway Council agreed to drive up charges from March 1, 2023.
This is the first price hike in 15 years and comes following increased costs in fuel and other charges.
However, the council is revving up for more changes due to many drivers leaving the trade and “very low” numbers of wheelchair accessible vehicles.
All these issues were raised at the council’s communities committee on Tuesday when councillors agreed to set the new maximum starting taxi fare at £5.50.
Abbey Councillor Kim Lowe highlighted concerns about disabled people struggling to find transport due to a shortage of wheelchair accessible vehicles in this region.
Council solicitor Caroline Treanor admitted: “We do accept that it’s a very, very low number. We’re actually now looking to undertake a wholesale review, looking not just at the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles and whether our numbers meet the demand, but also in terms of generally having sufficient numbers of taxis throughout the region.
“It is going to be a huge project. The starting point is going out to ascertain the cost implications to instruct an external provider to look at a whole taxi demand survey, including crucially whether we need to increase wheelchair accessible vehicle numbers – which I think we all know that we do.
“It’s something that we are kickstarting now, but it is going to be a lengthy process.”
The council legal chief also spoke about how the taxi trade in the area has been hit hard during and after the pandemic.
She said: “Certainly there’s no doubt that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the number of taxi drivers perhaps leaving the trade because of the decimation of the night time economy.
“When a driver has a taxi driver licence we cannot oblige him or her to undertake work.”
The council consulted the local taxi trade before increasing fares and the majority of drivers were in favour of the move.
Nineteen out of 27 drivers who took part in the survey called for the maximum fare structure be increased due to the cost of living, rising costs of fuel, and running their vehicles. The other eight respondents wanted no changes.
