In Paris, taxis, like all motorists, will have to ease off and respect the new speed limit of 30 km / h in most of the streets of the capital.
This measure, which applies from this week, will not be without impact on the activity of drivers: slowing down means making fewer trips per hour.
Something to worry about Mouhssine Berrata, president of the National Union of Parisian taxis.
“
The drivers will waste time on each trip, which also means losing potential customers,
” he laments.
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In fact, each Parisian taxi is equipped with a parking meter which limits the daily working time to 11 hours for the self-employed, and to 10 hours for employees.
A limitation specific to the capital, which is accompanied by a specific pricing method.
If the car travels at more than 30km / h, the customer pays according to the number of kilometers traveled.
On the other hand, if the vehicle surveys the city at less than 30km / h, we switch to hourly pricing.
This generally makes it possible to compensate the driver for time lost in heavy traffic lanes or in traffic jams.
No price increase expected
From now on, this hourly pricing should almost become the rule. Does this mean customers will have to pay more? The taxi craftsmen took out the calculator. Jean Barreira, president of the Les Nouveaux Taxis Parisiens association, explains: “
a 16.7 km race took 20 minutes at 50 km / h, for an amount of € 20.80
”. With the new regulations, "
the same distance traveled at 30km / h will take 33 minutes, for an amount of € 21
", he figures. In short, lowering the authorized speed will increase the duration of journeys more than the prices, he says, at least as a general rule. It is especially the taxis which circulate at night or on weekends, that is to say when the traffic is fluid, which will see their activity evolve.
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If taxi drivers fear "
a drop in turnover
" of around 15% according to Jean Barreira, this shortfall will not immediately result in an increase in hourly rates.
Indeed, these prices are governed by a decree published each year by the government.
For the president of the Les Nouveaux Taxis Parisiens association, lowering speed in Paris could be an opportunity to globally overhaul the price list in order to offer a model "
which combines journey time and speed
", at the same time. image of the system that governs the pricing of VTC platforms like Uber.
A modification which, if it were to occur, would still take "
several months
»Warns Jean Barreira. The government, for its part, has not yet taken a position on this issue.
