Transport and Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis said legislation to increase fares will be gazetted today and come into effect on October 31.

“The industry has made a compelling case that they are struggling to meet running costs and attract drivers, with the problems they’ve faced exacerbated by increased fuel prices experienced in 2022,” Koutsantonis said.

“Taxi drivers have not seen their take-home pay increased for six years. Their wages have languished and the State Government is obliged to give these workers a chance to earn a fair fare.”

The changes mean the cost of a 5 km trip within metropolitan Adelaide for two passengers on a weekday between 6am and 7pm will increase from $15.00 to $15.90. The same trip after 7pm or on a weekend would increase from $15.55 to $16.45.

The maximum country taxi fare remains set at 20 per cent higher than regulated metropolitan fares.

A government spokesperson said the maximum fare caps the flagfall, per kilometre travel and waiting time costs, with fares based on an overall taxi cost index.

“This takes into account all costs on the industry, including vehicle and equipment maintenance costs, government and industry fees, insurance and fuel costs.”

“As part of an ongoing review of the Passenger Transport Act 1994, the Government will further consider whether metropolitan taxi fares should be adjusted annually in line with the government-approved indexation amount, or if a broader review of fare arrangements is required.”

The taxi industry welcomed the move as it competed with rideshare services which can adjust fares without government approval.

The industry had asked the state government for an 8.1 per cent fare rise and a short-term fuel surcharge to offset the rising fuel prices, but Taxi Council president John Trainer said the authorised rise was a good start.

“Six per cent doesn’t go a long way but it’s better than nothing,” he said.

“It goes part of the way to solving the problem of the financial viability of the taxi industry, but there hasn’t been a fair increase for six years.”

South Australian taxis in the Adelaide CBD. Picture Jason Katsaras/InDaily

Trainer said there needed to be a mechanism in place for the taxi industry to respond in a timely manner to cost changes such as fuel price surges

“We were hoping to get that mechanism – at the moment, it’s a very long convoluted process that has to go through cabinet with every department being consulted and so forth,” he said.

“When you have short term sudden increases in cost as a result of a war on the other side of the world there needs to be a mechanism so we can adjust to that in a timely manner.

“We’re grateful that they have finally come up with a figure, even if it’s not the one that we very much would have wanted, and it doesn’t cover the increase in fuel prices.”