Hackney carriage drivers across Somerset could soon be charging more per journey, after Somerset Council published proposals to increase the maximum fares taxis are allowed to charge.
Under the plans, the charges for distance travelled and waiting time would both rise by 10%, taking the standard starting fare up to £5.06 for the first mile, with each additional tenth of a mile charged at 33p. Waiting time would be set at £1.10 for every two minutes. The council says the increase is needed to reflect inflation and rising fuel costs, and comes after fares were last reviewed back in May 2024.
A new discretionary booking fee of up to £10 has also been proposed for pre-arranged trips. The idea behind this one is slightly different to the general fare rise — the council hopes it will encourage more drivers to offer a service in rural parts of Somerset that currently struggle to attract taxis, because those journeys often aren’t viable under the standard fare structure alone.
The existing rules already allow drivers to add a 50% surcharge on certain fares, including all journeys between 10pm and 7am on weekdays and any time at weekends, with a 100% surcharge applying on bank holidays, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve evenings and Christmas Day itself. Additional charges for soiling (£100) and for tolls or Clean Air Zone costs are also part of the existing tariff and would continue under the new proposals.
Anyone wanting to object to the changes has a window to do so, with the council accepting objections between 29 June and 19 July 2026 before any final decision is made.
For Somerset drivers working out how a fare change like this might affect a typical shift, DriverMatty’s Taxi Shift Planner is worth a look — it’s built to help you map out earnings across different fare structures and surcharge periods.
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