This is how taxi fares and waiting times will increase dramatically in Budapest

In addition to the significant price increase, passengers can expect a 5-6 minutes longer waiting time when they call a taxi in Budapest.

In mid-April, the Municipal Assembly of Budapest amended the taxi regulation. The 33 pc increase was justified by the significant rise in fuel prices as well as the increased inflation and the rise in the minimum wage. Accordingly, from this week, taxi fares in the capital will rise significantly. The basic fare has increased from HUF 700 to 1000 (~ from EUR 1.85 to 2,63), the kilometre fare from HUF 300 to 400 (~ from EUR 0.80 to 1,05) and per-minute fare from HUF 75 to 100 (~ from EUR 0.20 to 0.26) – reported Híradó.

According to the president of the National Taxi Association, the fare increase was long due. Zoltán Metál revealed that the last tariff adjustment was four years ago. The association did not want to shock customers after the pandemic, however, considering the spiked inflation rate, they should have raised the prices considerably higher.

The increase in taxi fares is likely to temporarily decrease passenger traffic.

The expert expects a 15-20 pc drop in traffic in the near future, but this should only last for a few weeks, or 1.5 months at most. After that, the supply and demand will probably recover.

As it is a lengthy and expensive process to become a taxi driver, the increase in fees will likely discourage people to apply for a job at the taxi companies. According to the President of the National Taxi Association, it could take up to a year before the number of the currently 5,000 drivers will start to increase somewhat – reported the Hungarian news portal Blikk.

The question yet remains whether the number of employees will be sufficient in the future. In the past couple of years before the pandemic, there were never enough vehicles in the capital at peak hours, even when the taxi companies operated with 7,000 drivers.

As for now, passengers can expect a 5-6 minutes longer waiting time than usual.

This is a temporary situation that will be hopefully improved in the near future.

Meanwhile, the good news is that the Hungarian market leader Bolt Taxi is expanding its service to another rural town – reported Helló Vidék. Following its operation in Budapest, Debrecen, Pécs and Nyíregyháza, the company has reached the Miskolc market as well and aims to further increase its national coverage with the addition of new rural cities. In spite of the significant tariff increase in the Hungarian capital, prices in rural areas are more favourable. In Miskolc, the basic fare for taxi rides is HUF 450 (~EUR 1.18), the kilometre charge HUF 280 (~EUR 0.74) while the per-minute charge is HUF 70 (~EUR 0.20). In order to raise awareness of their services, Bolt Taxi also announced a promotion. They will give a 500 HUF (~EUR 1.32) discount for the first three trips in Miskolc.

Read alsoMinister expects very high inflation this year

Source: blikk.hu, hirado.hu, hellovidek.hu