Many taxi trips will cost riders less

Charleston City Council approved an increase in the minimum fare charged by metered taxicabs on Tuesday, but the change will actually lower the cost of any trip longer than a mile and a half.

Yellow Cab Co. of Charleston employees left the council meeting upset by the last-minute change, which shaved a dollar off the minimum fare they had been seeking — the rate council had tentatively approved Oct. 7.

Here's what happened:

Under the old rate structure, metered cabs charged $2 for the first fifth of a mile, and 35 cents for each fifth of a mile after that, so going two miles would cost $5.15.

Under the new rate structure, metered cabs will charge a flat rate of $4 for a ride of two miles or less. After two miles, the current rate of 35 cents for each fifth of a mile would kick in.

Cab drivers have said that most of their fares downtown go less than two miles, which is roughly the distance from Broad Street to Huger Street. They were seeking a minimum fare of at least $5 for two miles, which is the minimum charge in a non-metered cab.

As City Council was discussing the ordinance Tuesday, Councilman James Lewis proposed setting the minimum charge at $4 rather than $5. The only councilman who didn't go along with Lewis' proposal was Wendell Gilliard, who had wanted to exempt the elderly and disabled from any fare increase.

Yellow Cab general manager Lee Halley said drivers, who lease their taxis and pay all the expenses, are struggling to make ends meet because of high gas prices. He said the rate change approved by council on Tuesday is the second time taxi drivers came looking for an increase but ended up with a rate decrease for at least some trips.

The last time, in 2005, the city agreed to increase the metered rate for each fifth of a mile from 25 cents to 35 cents, retained the $2 charge for the first fifth of a mile, and eliminated a $1 fuel surcharge the cabbies had been charging. In effect, that rate change dropped the cost of a two-mile trip from $5.25 to $5.15, while making longer trips more expensive.

The rate change Tuesday reduced the cost of a two-mile trip to $4, and also reduced the fare for longer trips.

In other business, City Council agreed to rezone 360 Concord St., the site of Fountain Walk complex at Aquarium Wharf and the shuttered Charleston IMAX theater, for potential hotel development.

John Rivers of Rivers Enterprises, which operated the 415-seat theater for seven years before shutting it down in 2007, told City Council that the board of the South Carolina Aquarium had suggested that he consider developing a hotel there, but Rivers said he just wants to keep his options open for now.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.