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As you know, since both having to give up driving and both with impaired vision, we now use taxis quite a lot for local trips, supermarket, restaurants etc.
Our preferred company, with whom we have been a loyal customer for about three years, uses very comfortable Toyota Prius cars. Until about 4 months ago the short (under a mile) trip to Sainsburys was £5. About a month ago they increased their fares and this trip was £6. That was OK with me.
This morning the driver said £8 which I challenged. He phoned base and they said that was correct, so I paid muttering something like "I will use Longleys in future"
While waiting for my wife I phoned the current company for confirmation of the fare. Yes sir, we have revised our charges and it is £8 for regular customers and £10 for new customers. For that journey it is more expensive than London taxis so I shall go elsewhere in future.
For the return journey I called Longleys. It will be £5.50 sir, which it was plus a couple of quid for the driver who carried the bags to our door. Just checked my email and found a message from Longleys thanking me for using their service and confirming the fare of £5.50 and a breakdown of the carbon emission for that short journey.
SO, Longleys is my new taxi service provider. ......'On Time Cars' are now a rip off.
What sort of fares do you other taxi users pay???
Here "IF IF IF" you can actually get a taxi (they are notorious for now showing up so you can never depend on them to get to something important)
It costs $3.50 (2.05 pounds sterling) on average to open the door to get in and then you pay $2.18 per kilometer (1.27 sterling) thereafter.
Depending if you want to hire a taxi for 1 hour it is $40.00 or 23.39 sterling for it to wait for you.
Not too sure how this compares to your area. Here taxis are super expensive cause the distances are long so it costs a fortune to go anywhere in a taxi.
On another note - the CARBON TAX is SUPER HIGH and it has apparently gone UP come this January. I don't have exact numbers but I use about $7 worth of actual GAS per month. By the time all the taxes are added I pay something around $55/month. I actually pay MORE in CARBON TAX than I do for the actual amount of gas I use.
@LovelyLadyLux The fares you quote there LLL sound very reasonable to me. This firm that we have been using are now charging London rates or even higher. I will stick with the new company (new to me but long established) and possibly open an account with them for convenience. They do have 'non contact' payment machines onboard which can also be very convenient.
I have two preferred methods of payment, non contact (up to the limit of course) and online I prefer Paypal. No messing about putting in all your card details......
I don't think I've ever used a taxi here so I Googled the rates online. They strike me as expensive but I have nothing to base my thinking on.
I really feel here we are being totally gouged re: Carbon Tax though. Would probably feel better about it if I had a sense of what they're spending the money they collect on.
Grandad, do you have Uber cars down your way? I personally have never tried them but my elderly lady friend has and she thinks they are the bees knees! Funnily enough, we have a rather large estate car sitting at the front of my house, which is lucky if it moves once a fortnight, but I don't drive! DH does all the shopping but he walks or uses his bus pass.
Wow! Grandad that is expensive, haven't you applied for the taxi cards yet ? I told you about them a while back, if you do you should get your taxis at least half price.
Up here for a mile or so I would be anything between £2 60 - £3.00 depending what driver I get, I know them all.
If I was in the city of Aberdeen it would be more expensive.
@Kiya
Kiya, we don't seem to have any concessions for taxis for elderly, blue badge, or limited mobility residents. There are some things where in Scotland you score better than in England.
@Ruby Slippers
RS, I did check and it is rather confusing online. There doesn't seem to be a local Uber but all I get is a website that will find the best local rate. Might follow that up. Thanks.
Grandad, have you thought of phoning the CAB for advice? I'm sure, with yours and 'Mrs G's disabilities, there must be some sort of volunteer organisation that would and could help out. I know that hospitals can arrange patient transport where needed so maybe Age UK or some other scheme could help with shopping etc.
I checked the local council website following Kiyas mention of a Taxicard. We don't have one and the only benefits I can claim are a bus pass and blue badge. Both of which I have.
It is not that we can't afford to use taxis, we can and we like the door to door convenience. It is just that in a few months this company have hiked their prices by 60% which is quite unacceptable. They have lost a regular customer (I paid £50 for a 6 mile journey home on Christmas day). I shall use the other firm in future, as a registered user I get a confirmation email invoice for each journey so everything is 'up front'
Grandad, I don't know how your taxi firms work but up here during the Christmas/New Year period the taxi firms charge much more near to double then go back to normal price after.
Even at half price of your journey at £25 for 6 miles is a hefty price
The Blue Badge here allows you to be picked up and dropped off at the door of supermarket etc etc even on double yellow lines.
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The app is not just for Cairo, it can be used in 26 countries and 86 cities :)
......'On Time Cars' are now a rip off. 
