P.G. Cab Companies Apply to Increase Fares
Prince George, B.C. – Taxi fare rates in Prince George may be going up.
Both Prince George Taxi and Emerald Taxi have applied to the Passenger Transportation Branch to boost their fares.
The companies would like to see their flag rate ( as soon as the meter starts) boosted ten cents to $3.40, the per kilometer rate increased 34 cents to $2.00 per km, and the wait-time rate per hour increased to $39.00 up from the current $35.59.
The current Prince George rates are below the average of many peer communities, which Prince George Taxi lists as Ft. St. John, Courtney, North Cowichan, West Kelowna, Campbell River, Penticton, Vernon, Nanaimo, Kamloops, and Kelowna. Communities P.G. Taxi says are cities closer in size to Prince George.
The average rates of those named communities are :
- flag $3.37
- Per Km $2.17, and
- wait time $41.73
Among the named communities, Prince George has the lowest Per kilometer and wait time rates. Only Kamloops and Penticton have lower flag rates, at $2.80 and $2.75 respectively.
The two cab companies in Prince George have sent copies of their Passenger Transportation Branch requests to Prince George City Council in the event the City would like to submit comments on the application to the Passenger Transportation Branch.
Comments
Doesn’t this seem a little over the top? They regulate taxi cab rates…but not gasoline and diesel prices?? Unreal.
What ever happened to free enterprise…those regulations should be scrapped PDQ.
Whats it matter what other places charge ? We dont follow that for house prices, food prices etc.. Come on Uber ;)
The cab drivers are using the our city councils mentality for the raise.. Other cities pay more so we should get more, the only difference is the council vote thier own raise in… how pathetic is that…
All they have to do is implement other charges like the airlines do….baggage fees and fuel surcharges perhaps. It’s absurd that they cannot set their own rates based upon consumer demand like almost every other business.
There isn’t open competition. There are only so many licenses issued – so in exchange there is regulation of rates.
Maybe if they raise rates, the should get some cabbies that aren’t complete morons!
What has the price of gas gone up? No it’s gone down, so it can’t be that, price of insurance maybe? I say keep the rates similar to Kamloops.
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