Transport for London is consulting on this year's black cab fares and tariffs. The Cost Index, which tracks drivers' operating costs and average national earnings, stands at 7.07 per cent. Comments close on Sunday 22 November 2026. London Now report
The four options
Option A would freeze the minimum fare at £4.40 and raise average fares on Tariffs 1, 2 and 3 by 7.07 per cent. Tariff 4 would match the new Tariff 2 rates.
Option B would split the 7.07 per cent between the minimum fare and the tariffs. The minimum fare would rise by 20p, 4.55 per cent, from £4.40 to £4.60, and average fares on Tariffs 1, 2 and 3 would rise by 5.97 per cent. Tariff 4 would match the new Tariff 2 rates.
Option C would raise the minimum fare by 40p, 9.09 per cent, from £4.40 to £4.80, and raise average fares on Tariffs 1, 2 and 3 by 4.87 per cent. Tariff 4 would match the new Tariff 2 rates.
Option D would leave the fares and tariffs as they are. The minimum fare would stay at £4.40, and Tariff 4 would stay in line with Tariff 2.
The review is meant to let drivers cover their costs and be paid fairly, and to keep taxi driving viable so licensed drivers remain and new applicants join. TfL taxi fares review 2026
Booked journeys
Up to £2 can be added when a taxi is booked by phone, app or online. The proposal removes that booked taxi extra. In some cases passengers are charged it twice, once by the booking company and once by the driver.
For a booked journey, the meter would start only once the passenger is safely in the taxi and any mobility aids are safely loaded and secured. A driver could start it later. It would stop once the taxi has arrived and the passenger is ready to pay, before anyone gets out. A driver could stop it sooner. That would apply however the booking was made. A driver could not run the meter while travelling to the pick-up, or charge waiting time for that.
Booking companies sit outside these rules. Transport for London has no power to regulate them, and has asked the Government for that power, to improve safety and security for passengers and drivers. A company could still charge its own fees, including for waiting or a cancellation. Those fees would stay off the meter and would not be passed to the driver. Booked taxi and longer-journey proposals
Longer journeys
The distance and time rates after six miles are known as Tariff 4. Feedback to TfL is that taxis have become uncompetitive on longer journeys. Under the proposal, once a journey reaches 12 miles the rate would switch to Tariff 1, the lowest tariff, so the fare would rise more slowly from that point.
Heathrow and London City
Heathrow Airport Limited plans to raise the drop-off fee it charges London taxis from £6 to £7 in 2027. London City Airport charges drivers £7 to drop off on the terminal forecourt. An extra can be added to the meter only in steps of 40p, so £7 itself cannot be added. £6.80 or £7.20 could be.
The proposal is a drop-off extra of £6.80 at both airports, up from the £6 drivers can add now. No further increase to pick-up or drop-off extras at either airport is intended for at least three years, outside exceptional circumstances, and no new airport extra is proposed, including a pick-up extra at London City. A decrease could still be made. If either airport raised its fee again, the driver would meet the difference. The Heathrow rank pick-up extra would stay as it is. Drivers there pay a £2.20 feeder park fee and can add up to £1.60 when a journey starts from an airport rank. At London City, the £2 rank fee cannot be added to the meter. Heathrow and London City arrangements
After the consultation
Transport for London reviews taxi fares each year and aims to implement any change in April. After 22 November it will consider the responses, publish a consultation report, and set out the next steps.