High Gasoline Prices and Low Demand For Service Hit Taxi Drivers Where It Hurts Most, The Pocketbook
Not happy about the recent and soon to come gasoline prices increase? Well, the "fuerza roja" or the taxi drivers are one group that feel it "stinks".

High gasoline prices have seen a reduction in taxi rider ship. Some taxi drivers say they miss the long lines at taxi stands, waiting for service. Now, "they" make the lines waiting for customers.

Last week, gasoline prices increased by ¢51 colones and soon, within 30 days, they could go up another ¢27 colones per litre, making the highest prices in Central America even higher.

What has taxi drivers also fuming is the possibility that the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) is considering adding another 2.000 taxi plate licenses to an already oversaturated market.

In the past, there were days that getting a taxi was just plain impossible. With the high gasoline prices many have found alternative sources of transportation, the commuter train, that now carries some 2.000 passengers daily between San Pedro and Pavas.

The bus has come into fashion for many as well, preferring a crowded bus ride from Pavas fro ¢150 colones than a taxi for ¢2.000, each way.

One taxi driver, Rigoberto Hernández, told the Spanish language newspaper Al Día, that in his seven years of driving a taxi, he has never seen it worse. In the past he would clear some ¢15.000 colones in a shift, now he is lucky if he clears ¢3.000 after paying for fuel.

Taxi fares have almost doubled in the past year. The increase in taxi fares, something the taxi drivers had been asking for a long time became a blessing and curse at the same time. A taxi ride from the Sabana that would cost ¢1.200 colones now costs ¢1.900 and that reduced taxi use.

Add increasing gasoline costs, higher insurance premiums and costly repairs to the low demand makes the problem worse. And many taxi drivers feel the situation is not going to get any better any time soon.