Wakefield Council backs £1 taxi fares scheme

Wakefield Hackney Carriage Association plans to introduce a Pound Back into Town scheme, which could help boost trade for drivers.

Under the scheme, hackney carriage drivers could be flagged down on their way back to the ranks in the city centre.

The passengers would then be charged £1 per person for the journey. Journeys to any other destinations would be charged as normal.

The Pound Back into Town scheme has already proved successful in Bradford, Barnsley and Wycombe.

Wakefield Council’s licensing committee gave hackney carriages participating in the scheme permission to display the Pound Back into Town logo in their vehicles at a meeting on Friday.

The Wakefield Hackney Carriage Association is now working on a date when they will introduce the scheme.

They hope it will increase city centre footfall and combat the “dead mileage” of journeys for drivers back to the taxi ranks.

The council controls hackney carriage fares by a tariff and a meter.

It is an offence to charge more than a metered fare journey but there is nothing to prevent any driver charging less.