FAQ
FAQ
Do you take airport and train station surcharges into account?
In one word: yes! Where there a specific surcharge for being picked up from the airport or train station - or being dropped off there - we take it into account, without any extra input from you. It's all done behind-the-scenes, as you would expect.
How does this service work?
In Great Britain, the local district council set the maximum fares that taxis in that area can charge - not the taxi companies themselves. We've collected the tariff information for nearly all districts. Our website then takes into account the time, date, passengers, airport and train surcharges and obviously where you're going. We can then tell you how much your taxi is going to cost, with incredible accuracy.
It's taking a while to calculate?
You should see that the main bulk of the loading time is waiting for the map to load initially as well as displaying the district map. We're working on a version of the app that should bring even faster loading times. If you're on a slow connection we recommend visiting our low-data version of the site: yourtaximeter.com/mobile. This version does not display a map and just works out your fare.
How updated are your prices?
If you go on the district page, you can view the tariffs that we've added. The majority of prices were added between September - October 2011. Once a new set of tariffs is released, we will add these for the district. The latest tariffs, as well as historical tariffs, are shown on the district page for reference. If you see any incorrect tariffs or if you think we have outdated tariffs, please contact us straight away.
Are bank holidays considered?
Yes. Depending on what district you're in, you may be charged more on bank/public holidays. When you check for a price, we check the date you sent using Government data to see whether or not it's a public holiday in your country (England/Scotland/Wales) and then if you're district has a more expensive tariff on public holidays; if it does, we use that tariff. This means our public holiday data is 100% accurate and includes one-off events, such as the Royal Wedding, meaning our prices stay incredibly accurate. We are the only site to do this.
Why isn't my district supported?
- A small number of districts are unregulated
- we have had difficulty in obtaining tariff charts from some districts. If you can photograph a chart on display in a taxi, we can put the data on our site for you to use
Why isn't my district supported for licence plate lookup?
For us to provide the licence plate lookup service, we have to have access to real-time information of all the licensed taxi drivers in that district. Many councils are happy to give us static information under the Freedom of Information Act, however many are reluctant to give us real-time information. We aren't willing to use static information as that just gives a "snapshot" of the current drivers. That would lead to false information to users, say one of the taxi drivers were struck off the record - we wouldn't know. Help us to provide this service by campaigning to your council to release the information to us. It's in the public's interest. We're happy to provide this service for free and would love for everyone to benefit. Click here for more information on how you can help.
Why was the actual fare greater than yourtaximeter predicted?
- because of any waiting time, for example at traffic lights
- because the taxi took a longer route, possibly to avoid delays at lights
- because of other 'extras' eg luggage, call out charge (these are, however, listed on the district's information page if you click the name of the district when your price is generated)
- or there may be an error in our tariffs. Please let us know if you think we have them wrong by clicking 'Report error' after we've calculated your fare.
Why was the actual fare less than yourtaximeter predicted?
- YourTaximeter calculates the maximum fare for the distance, taxi operators may charge less. the taxi operator may not have charged for extra passengers for which he may be entitled
- Because Google maps chooses the quickest route, and your driver may have chosen the shortest route. The quickest route can be significantly longer when a motorway is used.
- or there may be an error in our tariffs. Please let us know if you think we have them wrong by clicking 'Report error' after we've calculated your fare.
How accurate is your tariff information?
Our tariff information was obtained from the district councils directly. They gave us a copy of their tariff sheet. We then input this information into our database in a way that our calculator can understand it. Our tariff sheet should generally be exactly the same as the ones given by the council. We even keep a copy of every tariff sheet given to us for our records, so we always have proof to back up our data.
We carry routine checks using statistical analysis of our data, calculating various permutations of journeys, then looking out for any anomolies. If we find any anomolies we thoroughly review that district - we check to see how our tariff sheet compares to the actual tariff sheet. For every district we have a copy of the tariff sheet stored for our reference.
We ensure that we display every possible aspect of the tariff sheet and take everything we possibly can into calculation: we use surcharges, multiplication factors, passenger surcharges and more into account. The only real thing we don't take into account is waiting times, as this is very difficult to estimate.
If for any reason we think our calculation is going to be wrong we display a warning message, for example City of Edinburgh where you will see the warning message 'Prices on 25 and 26 dec and new years day will be 25% less than shown when these are weekdays'. This is due to the fact it's very difficult to consider when calculating this aspect. Please note that in this situation our calculator will be at most 25% inaccurate - but we will overestimate, rather than underestimate. This will result in a pleasant surprise for the customer, rather than a nasty shock!
We have a robust 'report' system as well. We display the tariff information, plus why we've chosen that particularly tariff. If anyone thinks it's wrong, in particular taxi drivers, they can report the fare at the touch of the button. We'll investigate it- we'll compare our tariff sheet to the one given by the district. When the report is sent, an estimate of our current report review response time will be given. Generally, it's 2 days, but at peak times it can be up to 2 weeks. We're committed to thorough checks.
How can I be sure of your licence plate information?
The data we use is provided by Government websites managed by the councils. It is updated periodically and we display the last time we checked for new data. It should be 100% accurate as it is provided by the council but if you feel uncomfortable before getting in a taxi, don't get in. You can read more about our licence plate information in our disclaimer.
How can I specify a stopover point?
You can specify up to 8 stopover points. This works on desktop, mobile and our iPhone app. You can separate places with semi-colons.
e.g Cambridge; Stevenage; Welwyn
It assumes that the taxi driver does not reset the meter (which he/she should not) and that the taxi driver is taking the optimum route.
How can I get my taxi company listed?
Known Issues
- iPhone app v2.0: There's currently an error which means you can't adjust the time of a journey. This is fixed in v2.0.1 which is available as a free update in the app store
Do you support Northern Ireland?
Unfortunately we don't currently support Northern Ireland. This is because the district boundary data required for Northern Ireland isn't offered for free, at present. This means we cannot work out the district you're in and therefore can't offer an accurate estimate. In the future we hope to bring our wonderful service to Northern Ireland, but for the time being it isn't commercially feasible.
Do you have an Android/Windows Phone/Blackberry app?
Currently we do not. But if you visit yourtaximeter.com/mobile on your phone you will see a mobile-optimised version of the site. It gives the exact same information as the app. We do have plans for native apps on other operating systems in the near future.
What happens if my journey crosses districts?
Generally speaking, even if you cross district borders you pay the fares set by the council that the taxi company is registered with - which is where you get your taxi from. This is why we always base your fares on the starting district. There are a few exceptions, but you will receive a warning if this is the case for your district.
Can I put your calculator on my taxi website?
Yes! We can give you a cut-and-paste code that allows you to embed our taxi fare calculator on your site, free of charge - simply register - when you login, you'll be given a cut-and-paste code. Simply as that. If you're a bit more techy, we also have an API available which allows you to do some more advanced things. Read about that here.