BA City: Taxi fares, street parking to rise

Prices for taxi rides and street parking in Buenos Aires City are set to rise in the coming months in line with rising public transport costs and a hike in fuel prices.

The base rate for a taxi ride in the City will jump from $32.60 pesos to $39.10 pesos (US$ 2.12). From there, users will see the meter rise in intervals of $3.91 (US$ 0.22c), up from the current $3.26, according to the City government’s pricing proposal.

Drivers will also see price increases, with the obligatory VTV technical verification procedure rising to $931 pesos (US$ 50) for vehicles and $348 (US$ 18.80) for motorbikes. The base rate for tow-aways will also increase, this time to $950 pesos (US$ 51.50).

STREET PARKING

Street parking in the City will jump from $8 pesos to $10 (US$ 0.55c), and 2,200 electronic payment terminals are to be installed to replace current coin-based ticket machines, the City announced.

The new terminals will accept credit and debt cards and SUBE public transport cards, with paper receipt replaced with a digital copy sent to users’ email addresses.

While the ratio of free-parking to paid-parking in Buenos Aires’ streets will remain the same, authorities plan to implement a three-tier fee model that reflects demand for parking in different parts of the City.

The City also hopes to role out an application so users can extend their parking remotely and search for nearby available spaces.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The national Transport Ministry announced on Wednesday that public transport fares across Buenos Aires will gradually rise during the first half of 2018.

Bus services will remain cheaper than the "subte" underground system but will see the greatest increase in fares from $6 pesos to $8 pesos in February, $9 pesos by April and $10 pesos (US$ 0.55c) by June, for a 66-percent overall increase.

"Subte" fares will rise in April from $7.50 to $11 and to $12.50 (US$ 0.68c) in June, while train services into Buenos Aires City will jump from $5.50 to $6.75 pesos (US$ 0.37c) in June, excluding the Roca line whose fares rise from $2 pesos to $3.25 pesos (US$ 0.18c).

Fares for pensioners, students and people with disabilities will rise from $4 pesos to $6.75 pesos (US$ 0.37c) by June, the Transport Ministry announced.

-TIMES