Running Costs Increase

Taxi fares in Tunbridge Wells are rising sharply, making it the second priciest place in Kent to get a cab.

Cabbies say they face a “huge increase” in maintenance and running costs for their businesses.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) has confirmed a price hike from 3rd December with the cost of a two-mile journey increasing from £8 to £8.60.

Clayton Berry, (pictured below) who runs his own firm Cleggy’s Taxis, sent a request in to the council for the rise in Hackney Carriage fares in October.

At a meeting of TWBC’s licensing committee on November 19, councillors discussed the plans.

An officer explained: “The reason for this request is the general cost of living, and card payments – there’s a transaction fee for use of the machines they now have.”

She added that Mr Berry contacted the council representing other cabbies in the borough.

Last autumn, several Kent councils including Tunbridge Wells moved to make it compulsory for taxis to have card readers – but they charge a small fee on every transaction.

The last time taxi fares were directly increased in Tunbridge Wells was 2022.

Cllr David Hayward (Ind for T Wells) told the committee: “I’m not inclined to accept that card payments are a massive issue in considering this rise in prices.

“As I recall from a previous discussion there were issues that people wouldn’t take taxis because they couldn’t take cards.”

Cllr Matthew Sankey (TWA) added: “I don’t think the card payments are a reasonable reason, the cost of living perhaps is. Cars are getting more expensive, financing cars is getting a lot more expensive.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Berry, who proposed the increase, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The public wanted us to take cards, we listened to you we were told we have to take card machines, and that’s a cost that we have swallowed but we can’t swallow it anymore.”

He has taken card payment in his own vehicle for years, but says that previously only 10%-15% of passengers paid that way, “but now it’s literally near enough everybody pays by card, about 80%-90%”.

“The cost of fuel has come down but we don’t know what’s going to happen with fuel,” the cabbie of 30 years added.

Fearing another fuel price spike like that caused by the war in Ukraine, he said: “One day we could be up another 10p a litre.”

The increase in the fares will make TWBC the second most expensive Kent council area to get a taxi, after Sevenoaks.

In that district, a two-mile journey on ‘tariff one’ will cost £8.70, only 10p more than the price which TWBC is set to adopt.

‘Tariff one’ applies most of the time, and tariff two applies between 11.30pm and 6am, or any time on a public holiday, and after 6pm on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.

Tariff two journeys for the same distance – two miles – are rising from £11.80 to £12.70 in cost.

However, these fees only apply to licensed Hackney Carriage taxis – meaning ones who can ply their trade by being flagged down in the street.

Firms only licensed as private hire, meaning rides have to be specifically booked in advance, can set their own rates and won’t be affected by the change.

The additional fee for journeys of four or more passengers is also set to increase from £2 to £3 under the proposals.