TAXI FARES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 235, 4 October 1935, Page 9

TAXI FARES.

PROPOSED CHANGES. MANY ADJUSTMENTS. STANDARD METERS REQUIRED An important amendment to a by-law affecting taxi regulations .which came before the Auckland City Council yesterday will mean considerable changes in the scale of fares charged. Its major provision is that the standard area for which the scale of fares is fixed now covers that area within a radius of live miles from the .Chief Post Office. It also requires taxi-cabs to be fixed with meters wfticli will sTiow tlie exact fare. The by-law is to come before the City Council on October 31, and, if confirmed, will operate from November 1 next. " At the moment the fare is on a basis of 1/ for the first mile, with an ascending scale as follows:—Two miles, 1/0; three, four and five, 2/; six miles, 3/; and seven miles, 4/. These fares rule within the standard area. Outside that it mounts at a rate of 1/ a mile. r J lie by-law will mean that the fares will now be: —For the first mile, 1/; two miles, 1/0; three miles, 2/; four miles, 2/0; live miles, 3/; six miles, 3/0; and seven miles, 4/. Explaining the position this morning, a member of one of the city taxi firms said that up to three miles the fare, as would be seen, was the same, changes being made in the fourth, fifth and sixth miles. Thereafter, providing the journey was within the standard area, the fares would ho cheaper, going up at the rate of Od a mile instead of 1/, as at present. Increase in Area. What is known as the standard area has been substantially increased. For instance, where at present the area does not include Orakei, St. Helier's, etc., but in that direction ends at the second bridge on the waterfront road, now the boundary is five miles from the G.P.O. by airline. That will, in the case mentioned, be approximately Wharf Road.

Other changes include the elimination of the charges of 1/ a mile from overseas boats, to the races and to important football matches. The extra charge of Od from the railway is also eliminated.

"It is not so much an increase in fares as an adjustment," he said. "Where in some cases the public will pay slightly more, in many other instances they will pay substantially less. It will also mean that therb is only one faro for all meter taxis in Auckland. The public will have the big advantage that they will pay what is on the meter as far as trips inside the boundary are concerned." •