2017 Taxi Price Index by Carspring

Carspring is releasing their 2017 Taxi Price Index. It reveals the widely varying costs of taxi rides in 80 cities worldwide.

Included in the study are the prices of a 3km inner city taxi ride, a journey between the airport and the city centre, and the cost of one hour’s waiting time. To help those with real nerves using taxis abroad, the study also provides information on which models of car are most popular in each city, and if an alternative such as Uber is available in each location.

London Taxi

At Carspring, we’d love to have our own cars with us when away on vacation. The reality for most of us is that we need to hire a car, use public mass transport or take a taxi when we’re on holiday. Car hire companies compete to offer attractive prices, and public transport providers always have transparent, fixed fares. Taxis are less predictable, with local rules dictating price in a way that is unsettling to tourists. We wanted to set the story straight with a Taxi Price Index, designed to establish clarity about how much you should really pay for a taxi in 80 of the most visited cities around the world.

New York Taxis

To compile the Taxi Price Index, we researched the cost of hailing a taxi, the cost per kilometre, the cost of waiting time, and the typical fare for a taxi from the airport to the city centre. We also looked at what car model is most popular with taxi drivers in each city, to give you an idea of what you’re likely to ride in and how to spot an unlicensed driver. Each category (excluding model type) was normalized according to the following formula to give a price score, which were then added together to create an overall price score for each city. The city with the lowest overall price appears as #1 on the ranking. 

“Nothing beats the relief of hopping into a comfortable taxi after a long day of sightseeing in a new city,” says Carspring CEO Maximilian Vollenbroich. “But in some cities, this simply isn’t affordable, and in other places, tourists are at risk of being overcharged. We hope our research helps travellers prepare for safe, fun, and budget-friendly travel in whatever ride best suits them.”

Cairo Taxis

You can see the study from the 80 cities here: https://www.carspring.co.uk/taxi-price-index-usd/

Methodology

• Data was gathered from the official website of each city (when available).
  

  Tokyo Taxis

• In some cities, prices vary depending on the time of the day, length of the trip, and number of people being transported. In these cases, we took the average metered price. Note: Some metered prices may vary since different companies charge their own rates depending on the type of car.
• The final rank is based on the price of a 3 km ride. We calculated the price of a 3 km ride within the same area (inner city journey) including a 60 second waiting time (20 sec/km) accounting for red lights, stop signs, etc.
  • $3km Ride = $Initial hire +(3x$Cost per km) + ($Waiting time/60)
    

    Bogota Taxi

• The airport-to-centre fares are the result of averaging the price from the major international airport (e.g. London Heathrow) to the city center in rush hour and off peak time. In some cities, the airport-to-city fare is fixed and can be found on official tourist board sites and the official city webpage.
  

  Barcelona Taxis

• Waiting time prices are calculated per hour. These prices depend on waiting/standing still fares per time slot (minute, 15 seconds, etc.) regulated by the city.
• When needed, we convert local currency based on the exchange rate of June 7th, 2017.
• The most popular model of car was taken by looking at the standard vehicle utilised by several taxi companies in each city.

Maralyn D. Hill