Cabs will be easier to catch next year

Palma cabbies have not been allowed to get away with their huge taxi fare increases for next year which initially was to be as much as 14 per cent.
This week representatives for the Palma taxi sector met the local council for talks over the 2001 fare increases and the two parties managed to reach a satisfactory deal. Coming to the end of a year in which tensions between the city's cabbies and the local authorities have been running high and ugly scenes at the airport over new legislation allowing non-Palma taxis to pick up clients at the airport and the ferry terminal, new municipal legislation will restrict the number of taxis sitting idle at the airport and the ferry terminal. Palma residents have complained constantly this year about the lack of cabs in the city centre and the council has introduced a scheme that on given days only even or odd numbered taxis can operate at either of the two pick up points, the remainder will have to be operational in and around the city centre. The basic fare for catching a taxi will stay at 300 pesetas, but the meter will start to tick as soon as the flag is down. The average fare on week days, during working hours, will increase by two pesetas per kilometre to 82 pesetas. Overnight fares, between the hours of 9pm and 6am, with rise by 11 pesetas to 123 pesetas per kilometre. City cabbies were after higher rises claiming that operating costs have increased sharply this year because of the fuel price hikes and that for the past five years, they have not increased their fares in proportion with running costs which have risen by 51 per cent.