Metered taxi fares set to rise in Horsham

The district council was contacted by a driver in November 2024, asking for the fares to be reviewed, citing the rising cost of living, inflation and the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the industry.

During a meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday (March 19), members agreed a number of fare rises.

The changes will see the cost of a two-mile daytime journey jump from £6.96 to £7.94. The same journey at night will cost £11.84, up from £10.44.

A report to the meeting said: “Currently, Horsham is 192nd in the country – out of 337 recorded authorities – which suggests that nationally, our fares are lower than they should be for the area.”

Looking at figures for the rest of West Sussex, the increase will mean only Crawley and Adur will offer cheaper journeys.

As well as changing the fares, the council is keen to make things easier to understand for people wishing to become taxi drivers.

Joanne Knowles, cabinet member for enterprise & property, said: “As we all know, it’s not always possible to find a taxi in Horsham.”

Ms Knowles added that over the next couple of weeks, work would be carried out to redesign the relevant web pages to make sure the application process was ‘clearer and more user friendly’.