Plea to hike airport taxi fare in Cebu up for resolution

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The petition of airport taxi operators in Cebu City to increase taxi fare rates has been submitted for resolution.

Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association President Richard Cabucos, however, said that if regular taxicabs would not ply within the vicinity of Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which rivals the accredited airport taxicabs, a fare hike is no longer needed.

“Hindi na namin kailangan yan [fare hike], basta mawala yang mga [regular] taxi,” Cabucos told officials of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) during a hearing on Tuesday.

Cabucos said that airport taxicabs in Cebu could garner 15 trips daily if regular taxis will not operate within the airport vicinity.

However, given the presence of regular taxis in their usual route, airport taxi trips dropped to only 12 trips per day or sometimes on a slow day an average of 7-8 trips daily.

According to the petition submitted by airport taxi operators, they need an increase of P30 on the base fare.

The current base fare of airport taxis in Cebu City is at P70. If the petition of the group would be approved, the flag down rate would spike to P100.

International and local flight passengers arriving at the Cebu airport will be charged also with an additional P3.00 rate for the succeeding 300 meters, according to the group’s petition.

Meanwhile in the same request, P7.00 every 2-minute ride will also be the new computing rate from the usual P4.00 per 1 minute and 25 seconds.

Since 2008, Cabucos said that no fare increase was given to airport taxi operators.

There were about 120 units of airport taxis plying in terminals 1 and 2 of Cebu airport, Cabucos added. /jpv