Taxi fare + toll charge

Philo Beddoe

The other morning I had to travel from Blanchardstown to Citywest, and took a taxi. When I arrived the fare on the meter said €31.00, but the taxi driver said "it's €34 with the toll" (we took the M50). I didn't want to argue with a taxi driver outside a client's business, so I just paid him. I've taken the same journey a couple of other times over the last few months and the fare has varied around €30, depending on the traffic, but I haven't experienced a driver adding on the cost of the toll after finalising the fare on the meter. Is this kind of thing common, does anybody know?

I know taxi fares carry various extra charges depending on number of passengers, luggage, time of day etc. but those are done by the meter. Can a driver legally add an extra few Euro for costs like tolls after the fare has been calculated? I honestly don't care about the few quid, more curious about whether the guy was chancing his arm or not.

Kimbot

According to this they can:

http://www.transportforireland.ie/fares/taxi/

JimsAlterEgo

shouldnt they add it on the meter so it goes on the receipt

Spook_ie

No but you are entitled to a printed receipt to which things like tips and tolls can be written and added on

EDIT

A taxi receipt has a legal requirement to be in a specified format with specified information, details under section 3.3 of this pdf
http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Technical-Guidelines-21st-January-2013.pdf

the groutch

assuming he has an electronic tag it'd be only €2.10 for him, so think he's chancing his arm with the €3

Del2005

I thought you only got charged if you ask to use the toll, if they took the route themselves the toll was on them.

Losty Dublin

Del2005 wrote: »

I thought you only got charged if you ask to use the toll, if they took the route themselves the toll was on them.

Tolls may be added as part of the fare if and when they are incurred. It's up to the driver to go the most expeditious route though a passenger can request their own route. Blanch to Citywest via the M50 isn't essentially going to be the shortest as the crow flies but it is generally the quickest way; the alternative of diverting via Lucan, Clonsilla or the Phoenix Park isn't exactly fast, especially at peak times.

vektarman

Any time I've got a taxi and there's a choice of taking the M50 toll route or through the city without tolls the taxi driver has always given me the option when I state the destination, if I say the M50 he/she has always mentioned the extra toll charge involved. I would find it unprofessional of the driver to simply use the toll road without informing the customer. Just my opinion.

e.r

vektarman wrote: »

Any time I've got a taxi and there's a choice of taking the M50 toll route or through the city without tolls the taxi driver has always given me the option when I state the destination, if I say the M50 he/she has always mentioned the extra toll charge involved. I would find it unprofessional of the driver to simply use the toll road without informing the customer. Just my opinion.

I would imagine price including toll would be cheaper than going long way round.

vektarman

e.r wrote: »

I would imagine price including toll would be cheaper than going long way round.

I agree, but the customer should be made aware of that.

Losty Dublin

vektarman wrote: »

Any time I've got a taxi and there's a choice of taking the M50 toll route or through the city without tolls the taxi driver has always given me the option when I state the destination, if I say the M50 he/she has always mentioned the extra toll charge involved. I would find it unprofessional of the driver to simply use the toll road without informing the customer. Just my opinion.

The vast majority of drivers will do it; partially because of the toll and partially because a lot of trips via the M 50 cost more. If time is of the essence and it's pay for a toll or a missed flight or business meeting then it's the lesser of two evils.

lsdmem

Assuming this was a business trip (based on your reference to it being a: a clients premises and b: not the first time you made this trip) you made sure to take the receipt and hence you know the answer to your own question. Tolls are added where incurred (why would the driver pay your toll)

As for electronic tags on the M50, not all get the€1 discount.

As a driver I tend to add most tolls as an extra on the meter, while this is not technically correct (ie: its not added as an extra as the extras only go up in €1s and so its hand written onto the receipt) I find the customers are happier to see the fare (with all extras) on the meter and pay accordingly, with a tip of course

lsdmem

Assuming this was a business trip (based on your reference to it being a: a clients premises and b: not the first time you made this trip) you made sure to take the receipt and hence you know the answer to your own question. Tolls are added where incurred (why would the driver pay your toll)

As for electronic tags on the M50, not all get the€1 discount.

As a driver I tend to and most tolls as an extra on the meter, while this is not technically correct (ie: its not added as an extra as the extras only go up in €1s and so its hand written onto the receipt) I find the customers are happier to see the fare (with all extras) on the meter and pay accordingly, with a tip of course

ProudDUB

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Tolls may be added as part of the fare if and when they are incurred. It's up to the driver to go the most expeditious route though a passenger can request their own route. Blanch to Citywest via the M50 isn't essentially going to be the shortest as the crow flies but it is generally the quickest way; the alternative of diverting via Lucan, Clonsilla or the Phoenix Park isn't exactly fast, especially at peak times.

I agree with this. Going from Blanch to City West via the M50 may not be the shortest way to go, based on how the crow flies. But it is definitely the quickest way to go, as you can drive from A to B at fast speeds. If you go the back way to avoid tolls, you are driving on winding county roads at much slower speeds. There are a lot of sharp bends and curves on the back roads, so you'd be doing well to get above 50 mph on the trip.

The difference in driving times would be substantial & so would your fare. From a professional courtesy point of view, the driver should have asked you your opinion on the way that you would prefer to go, especially if tolls were involved. But perhaps given the difference in fares, he may have just presumed that you would want to go the quicker (and cheaper) route and not the longer (and more expensive) one?

circular flexing

e.r wrote: »

I would imagine price including toll would be cheaper than going long way round.

Not always true. Depends on time of day especially.

I went from Churchtown to the Airport (via M50) at 5am before and I reckon that it cost 1.5x what it would have cost through the city centre (Based on previous trips from Churchtown -> City Centre and City Centre -> Airport).

coylemj

Going via the M50 is usually a better option for the taxi driver because the nonstop nature of the drive means the fuel economy is way better and the distance is usually longer - win/win for him. I flew into Dublin one evening, got a taxi to the southside and in fairness, the taxi driver suggested the M50 but I clearly had the option to overrule him. As I was tired after a long day I just said 'ok' but quickly realised the motive behind it, it would have been much cheaper and probably faster to go via the city centre.

Chris_5339762

From my place in Rathfarnham (about 2-3km from J12), when there is no traffic it is 10 minutes longer to go through town and 14km less than going via the M50. The distance is surprising.

Gumbo

coylemj wrote: »

Going via the M50 is usually a better option for the taxi driver because the nonstop nature of the drive means the fuel economy is way better and the distance is usually longer - win/win for him. I flew into Dublin one evening, got a taxi to the southside and in fairness, the taxi driver suggested the M50 but I clearly had the option to overrule him. As I was tired after a long day I just said 'ok' but quickly realised the motive behind it, it would have been much cheaper and probably faster to go via the city centre.

From the airport to where on the south side?
Are you saying it would of been much quicker to go through th city? If so, why didn't you tell him to go through the city?

Tigger

between 8pm and 6am or on sunday its faster through town

coylemj

kceire wrote: »

From the airport to where on the south side?

Somewhere down the N11. I've done the run to the airport in under 30 minutes before 6 a.m. and that did not involve the port tunnel.

kceire wrote: »

Are you saying it would of been much quicker to go through th city?

Yes, I would have been home sooner and the journey would have been shorter. I arrived back in Dublin midweek after 8 p.m. so the traffic in the city wouldn't have been an issue.

kceire wrote: »

If so, why didn't you tell him to go through the city?

If you read my post you would have seen that I was tired when I arrived back in Dublin and didn't give it enough thought until it was too late.