BUDGET 2012: Taxi firm bids to cut fuel costs (From Oxford Mail)

BUDGET 2012: Taxi firm bids to cut fuel costs

9:10am Thursday 22nd March 2012 in News

TAXI drivers said fuel was becoming so expensive they had been forced to invest in hybrid vehicles.

001 Cars in St Aldate’s, Oxford, is investing in a fleet of environmentally friendly Toyota Prius cars which run on a combination of battery and conventional power. They are economical and cost just £10 a year in vehicle excise duty, compared to up to £260.

Yesterday George Osborne confirmed the price of a litre of unleaded petrol was still set to rise by 3.02p from August 1.

001 marketing manager Ricky Audain said raising the income tax personal allowance would be a bonus for taxi drivers.

But he said he didn’t want to pass the price of fuel increases on to the customer.

Mr Audain said: “It is difficult to increase fares as, if we put prices up, we lose custom.

“That is why we are increasing our fleet of hybrids all the time to keep fares down.”