Revealed: something cheaper in Jersey than the UK!

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Jersey has been ranked as having cheaper taxi fares than at least thirty other places in the UK – "proof", the Jersey Taxi Drivers Association says, that the Island’s public rank taxis fares are not too high.

Figures published by the trade newspaper 'Private Hire Taxi Monthly' showed that the cost of a two-mile taxi journey on Tariff One is £6.60 in Jersey – a figure in line with 10 other UK councils with lower costs of living, including Bournemouth, Crawley and Exeter.

The monthly rankings showed that the Jersey figure had stayed consistent since 2014, and topped Guernsey (£6.40) by 20 pence.

Most expensive overall out of the 365 councils reviewed was London Luton Airport at £9.20, while South Kesteven in Lincolnshire came in at just £3.50. You can see the full list here. 

The news comes following a fraught public battle between rank taxis and ‘Jersey Lifts’ - a Facebook page in which islanders advertise lifts in exchange for cash, predominantly used by 18-25 year olds - which has seen a few drivers exhibit “predatory behaviour” towards some of the forum’s younger female users, as Express reported earlier this month.

But despite her negative experience with the page, one islander maintained that she would still not, “…use a taxi as the prices are ridiculous.”

Mick Tostevin, Head of the JTDA, which represents over 90 public rank taxis, told Express that he hoped the rank taxi leaderboard would help to change the “misconception” about their fares.

“That’s the trouble – no matter how many times we explain it, next week people will still come back and say the same thing. The point is, you can see [in the leaderboard] that our prices are the norm through most of Britain and Scotland.

“If you go down to 40, you’ll see it’s the same - £6.60 – and even below that, it’s down to £6.55, which isn’t a big difference.”

Many passengers are already “surprised” by rank taxi’s “reasonable” fares, Mr Tostevin added, with one passenger delighted to learn that she would only have to pay £16.70 for a long, westward trip home from town.

Pictured: Mr Tostevin said that many passengers are often pleasantly surprised by the fares charged by public rank taxis, such as those departing from the Weighbridge (above).

The price chart has now been published on the JTDA Facebook page, which Mr Tostevin hopes will help continue to build a reputation for affordability amongst rank taxis.

 “[The post] has been viewed by well over 2,000 people now… I hope that people will look at that and go, ‘The ranks aren’t too bad.’”