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Cabs should announce future rate hikes

Students who regularly use Ann Arbor's taxi cab services could be in for a surprise come May 1, depending on how the Ann Arbor City Council votes tonight. Inflation, higher gas prices and a high employee turnover, among other factors, have caused local taxi companies to request a rate increase from the City Council - and approval of the increase is likely.

Currently, it costs $1.50 to get into a cab and an additional $1.50 per mile driven. Under the rate hike proposal it would cost $1.75 to get into a cab and $1.75 for each mile driven. The increase would raise the price of a typical three-mile ride from $6.00 to $7.00.

On Jan. 27, Ann Arbor's Taxicab Board recommended the rate hike and although the meeting was public, no one showed up. Are Ann Arbor's regular taxi passengers just apathetic about the prices they pay? Maybe, but more likely, they just didn't know a rate hike was being discussed. The reason is that taxi services are not required to publicly announce any fare increases before they go into effect, whereas the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority which runs the city's busses, is legally bound to do so.

The $1 increase in the cost of a typical cab ride may not seem like much, especially if it will allow the city's cab services to continue operating. But the people who rely on taxis should still have been informed of the potential rate hike so that they could have a real voice in the matter. Regular taxi passengers who have opinions about the increase should attend the City Council meeting tonight. In the future, the same laws that require the AATA to post fare increases before they go into effect should be applied to taxis.