Taxi Fares Going Up Tuesday
For those who take taxis on a regular basis, fill your pockets with a lot more cash as Tuesday approaches, the day when the second round of taxi fares takes effect, hiking fares by 32%.

No November 15, the rate taxis operating in the Metropolitan Area of San José and rural areas, will jump from ¢310 colones to ¢330 for the first kilometre and the additional kilometres will go fron ¢230 colones to ¢300.

Consumers who use taxis that operate 4x-4's will have see the fares jump from ¢250 to ¢330 for the additional kilometres, while taxis equipped for the handicap will have their fares increased to ¢290 from ¢225 colones for the additional kilometres.

The cost for waiting time will also jump from the current ¢1.495 per hour to ¢1.790.

In addition, consumers are reminded that taxis meters or "marias" as they called in Costa Rica, also meter will start charging for time is the taxi is not moving more than 10Kmh. In past, taxi drivers had to absorb the high cost of sitting in traffic, since the "marias" only metered movement.

What the increase means is an additional cost of ¢650 colones for a 10 kilometre ride, that is the distance between downtown San José and Escazú south of Multiplaza. The trip costs now ¢2.380 colones, but will jump to ¢3.030 on Tuesday.

The increase is based on the new taxi rates that came into effect in August which saw the first increase hike rates by 58%.

Originally, taxi drivers were happy at the increase but then back tracked some when business dropped significantly as consumers found alternative transportation - like using the train (which is still free) during rush hours - for most or all of the trip.

At firs the taxi association for independent drivers were quoted as saying that they would not accept the second increase coming this Tuesday, that if would significantly affect taxi ridership, however, as time went on, consumers got used to the higher rates, as they will get used to new increases as well.