A brand new fixed fare taxi service in the West End has been given the go-ahead for a further three weekends in January and February, following a successful trial which took more than 500 trips over two nights.
The Golden Fares Scheme was designed to increase the number of black cabs in the West End and aims to help revellers get home safely. The scheme is accessible, easy to use and most importantly, a safe way to get home late at night or in the early hours.
The scheme operates from Leicester Square 10pm - 4am on Friday and Saturday nights, with passengers paying an up front fare. Passengers can travel between four London zones, which stretch from Redbridge to Richmond and Croydon to Copthall.
Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association General Secretary Bob Oddy said: “The first weekend trial was a huge success, and surpassed all expectations. It is clear from the huge demand on both nights there is an appetite for the Golden Fares service, but just managing this is going to require substantially more manpower and costs than we envisaged.
"Given this we plan to delay resuming the final three weekends of the trial until the end of January, when hopefully we will have resolved those issues. It will also make more sense to offer it at around the time of next pay day at the end of January as most of us are tend to cut down their outings after the new year. We feel there will be demand for the service from the end of that month heading into Valentine’s Day, and we look forward to getting more people home safely through the scheme then."
The next three weekends of the scheme will run on the following dates in January and February:
A decision on whether to extend the Golden Fares scheme further will be made at the end of the fourth weekend in mid February.
