Fares aren't fair, London cabbies say

LONDON (AP):

The metre is running: Taxi fares may
be going up during the Summer Olympics when demand is likely to be at an
all-time high.

Drivers of London's black cabs are
asking city transportation authorities to let them increase fares by about 20
per cent during the Olympics next year.

Transport for London said on Friday
an association that represents the drivers asked for the increase in order to
encourage their members to work during the Games. No decision has been made on
the request, which will be reviewed by the Transport for London board.

The move comes amid building worries
about transportation during the July 27-August 12 Games. London's roads are
strained at the best of times and critics worry that adding tens of thousands
of tourists will lead to traffic gridlock.

Bob Oddy, general secretary of the
Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said that those concerns are prompting black
cab drivers to opt to take their vacations during the Games. A bit of incentive
might lure them back to the streets.

"Our drivers are saying - 'I'm
just going to be stuck in traffic'," he said.

Oddy noted that British transport
authorities have already awarded subway train drivers extra cash for working
erratic hours during the Olympics. The city's 3,500 drivers will receive a
one-time payment of £500 (US$790) for agreeing to have their normal schedules
disrupted during the Games. They will also receive overtime pay for the extra
hours they work.

London transport officials stress
that they've been planning for this for years, that they often handle large
events and that they are skilled at managing London's daily traffic patterns.

Burdened transport system

Without concessions, Oddy said
Londoners may find it hard to hail a cab.

Unwilling to let the London Olympics
go down in history as a transport disaster, city transport officials have been
working to bolster the burdened transport system to withstand the strain of the
Games. Authorities have invested around £6.5 billion (US$10.2 billion) in
upgrading and extending transport links ahead of the Games, including important
additions to rail lines.

But even that investment can do
little to change the streets themselves, which are laid out in a pattern
relatively unchanged since medieval times. London has only a handful of
thoroughfares and even those are nothing like the great boulevards that
traverse cities like New York and Paris.

Mindful of troubles that dogged
previous Games - particularly the Atlanta Olympics - transport officials have earmarked
some lanes of traffic specifically for Olympic use. The lanes are intended to
make certain that athletes, officials and other VIPs make it to the Games on
time.

London's famous cabbies depend on
those roads for a living and have been agitating for greater access to the
lanes.

London's black cab drivers charge
between £5.20 pounds and 8.20 (US$8.20 and US$13) for a single mile journey
during business hours.

London ranks in the top tier of most
expensive cab rides in the world, according to a survey conducted by the price
of travel website, which put Zurich at the top among 72 big cities.

A cab ride from London's Heathrow
Airport to the city center can cost as much as £80 (US$127).

London's Evening Standard was quick
to argue in an editorial Friday that cabbies already made enough money - and
that the demands amounted to "ransom".

"To add to the cost of fares so
heftily during the Games will hardly help London's image as a tourist
destination," the newspaper said.

In addition to black cabs - which
pedestrians can flag down - London also has dial-a-cabs.