Taxi drivers demand fuel surcharges

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Posted by: Economist.com | TORONTO
Categories: Fares Taxis
CITING the increased cost to fill their tanks, the association that represents London's taxi drivers is lobbying to add a fuel surcharge to all fares. If the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association is successful in its appeal to Transport for London, the city's transport overseer, London will join a worthy international group. Singapore has just added a S$0.3 ($0.2) surcharge, and at least 34 American cities have raised rates in the last two years, with 11 implementing specific new fuel surcharges, according to CN*.  

In Philadelphia, for example, transfers to or from the airport in July are costing travellers an extra $2.85, based on an average gas price of $4.12 per gallon. The surcharge in June was $2.45, when a gallon cost nearly 40 cents less. Taxis in Miami-Dade County add a surcharge of $1-1.50 per ride, depending on fuel costs, while Chicago charges a flat rate of $1. New York is one of the last holdouts: taxi drivers there have been unsuccessful so far in their attempts to convince the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission to allow them to add a $1 surcharge.