Las Vegas, NV -
December 08, 2014The
Nevada Taxicab Authority late last week announced that a temporary fuel
surcharge put into effect in 2011 will be removed from taximeters later this
month.
The
Nevada Taxicab Authority Board, which is charged with evaluating and approving
taxi rates and fees for all cab operators in Clark County, approved the
surcharge on April 26, 2011. The Board also provided parameters for the removal
of the surcharge, stating in the written order,” If the average price of
regular unleaded fuel drops below $3.25 per gallon for thirty [30] consecutive
days, the Taxicab Authority Administrator is authorized to remove the
surcharge.” That price per gallon threshold was reached on November 3, 2014,
and has remained below $3.25 per gallon through December 4, 2014.
On
Friday afternoon, Tom Ely, Interim Administrator for the Taxicab Authority,
said, “I am exercising the authority to remove the fuel surcharge of 20¢ per
metered mile. With the recent drop in fuel costs, the removal of the temporary
fuel surcharge is viewed by this Division as a benefit to the taxi riding
public which will offset the recently approved taxi rate increase.”
In
the April 2011 order, the Taxicab Authority Board noted that a temporary fuel
surcharge will not be contemplated again unless the cost of regular unleaded
fuel rises above $4.45 per gallon, using the EIA PADD-5 pricing criteria.
In
order to avoid duplicating costs associated with meter changes, employee work
hours and taxi company down-time, the Taxicab Authority staff will physically
remove the fuel surcharge from all Clark County taximeters at the same time
they perform the rate adjustments which were approved by the Board in October
2014. According to Ely, “We have ordered the new taximeter seals and
anticipate receiving those shortly. We plan to make the meter changes beginning
on December 17, 2014.”
At
the completion of the meter updates scheduled later this month, the following
rates and fees will be in effect:
Initial
Drop
$3.45
Additional
1/4th mile: $0.67
Wait
time per hour: $32.40
Credit/debit card fee: $3.00
Airport
pick up fee: $2.00
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