The Ministry of Transit and Transportation, following an order from the National Government, asked the mayors to establish new guidelines on the increase in the rates of the taxi service. The decision made is due to the increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline in recent months throughout the country.
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According to the Minister of Transportation, William Camargo, The rulers will have until July 21 to make changes to the current rates of the taxi service in each municipality, as compensation for the high price of fuel.
“This goes hand in hand with the improvements that they have to make in the service, which is of better quality and safer, in addition to the fact that from now on they are migrating to clean energy with the funds that We have created so that gasoline vehicles can pass and we have put an initiative so that the issue of taxis is requalified.e”, explained the senior official.
In the same way, he stressed that only local administrators will be able to decide the execution of this guideline issued by the national government. “We do this taking into account that there is no national equality in the value of the service and each territory manages its own tariff autonomyadded the minister.
The Municipal Transit and Transportation Secretariat ruled on the matter, stating that it has not yet received an official resolution to be able to start the restructuring of fares in the city.
“We have not yet received a document that establishes the implementation of this order from the national transit entity, so we will be waiting for the resolution to be able to start modifying it. Guidelines that should also be implemented in the city’s collective public transport service”indicated Diana Daza, Secretary of Municipal Transit and Transportation.
¿WHAT TAXI DRIVERS SAY?
Taxi drivers also expressed their opinion on the measure presented by the Ministry of Transport, stating that an increase in rates would not be beneficial, since it would affect users and could decrease the demand for taxi services.
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“In reality, it would not be a great benefit to increase the fee for the service, since it would be difficult for users. Demand for taxis is already quite low and if they rise further, taxi rides are likely to decline“said Jhony Vargas, a member of a Valledupar taxi drivers union.
“The price of gasoline affects us, of course, given that we spend 4 to 5 gallons of gasoline daily, However, from my point of view we would be more affected if they increase the current value of the taxi fare”, he added.
It should be noted that in the city of Valledupar the price of gasoline is subsidized, it is subsidized, for this reason the increase in the service fee should not be too high. Other cities like Bogotá, where a gallon has a value of $12,900, or Cali, with a value of $13,400, do not have this advantage.
Until now the value of a gallon of fuel in the city of Valledupar is $11,262but this value could change if the municipal authorities implement the measure presented by the national department.
EDITORIAL/THE PYLON.