Green light to the new draft economic model for the taxi sector, which foresees the possibility for the first time of establishing a single fare and encourages agreements between different municipalities for the joint provision of taxi services. The Balearic Council of Land Transport, which met on Monday, gave a favourable report on the draft decree proposed by the Directorate General of Mobility of the Government of the Balearic Islands in collaboration with local councils and the taxi sector.

In mid-January, the Government began the period of public information on the text and invited the local councils to make their contributions during this process, in the phase of allegations before the approval and entry into force of the decree, scheduled for before next summer. The possibility of a single rate, a measure that will have to be decided by the island councils and town councils, is one of the main new features of the future decree.

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Green light from the Balearic Transport Council for the draft decree that provides for a single taxi fare to encourage joint services in different municipalities

This draft decree regulates the determination and updating of fares and the conditions for the application of fares for occasional public passenger transport services in private vehicles. The Government has worked on and shared the text with the main taxi employers’ associations, based on a desire for consensus with the sector and to simplify the procedures for revising fares and improving the taxi service for the public.

The draft decree incorporates, in response to a demand from the sector, the possibility of establishing a single fare: a reference fare on each island that may be determined by the island councils in the case of Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera, while in Mallorca it is the responsibility of the Government, or at the municipal level, as the local councils may adhere to the fare of another municipality.

The government includes the single fare to simplify and encourage agreements between several municipalities for the joint provision of taxi services. The aim of the Conselleria and the sector’s representatives is to facilitate the creation of territorial areas for joint service provision. Until now, Palma and Calvià provided a joint taxi service last summer by means of an agreement between the town councils of both municipalities.

In this sense, the law agreed and approved by the Parliament last year provides for the regulation of the creation of territorial areas of joint provision between municipalities, to improve the service to citizens and thus contribute to a more sustainable use of taxis. In this way, criteria and fares will be unified for all taxis in the municipalities of the joint service area, empty journeys will be avoided and the offer for users will be increased.

In general terms, the draft decree has been drawn up to move towards a simplification of the procedures for updating both urban and interurban fares by the competent administrations on each island, under defined parameters and clear criteria for their application and to reflect the real costs of the service.