Running and Riding Cabs: The UK’s Most Expensive Cities

From insurance costs to fuel prices, the expenses associated with operating a taxi can vary dramatically from one location to another. Recent studies have shed light on the financial landscape for the taxi industry across the UK, revealing the most and least expensive cities for taxi operations. 

The Price of Taxi Driving in the UK

A recent study by Zego, a taxi insurance expert, has revealed that London is the most expensive city in the UK for taxi drivers. The study considered various administrative costs associated with setting up as a taxi driver in each UK city.  

These costs include the average cost of taxi insurance, the price of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate, the average cost of a taxi licensing fee for three years, and the average price of petrol per litre. They did not include the costs of purchasing a vehicle. 

The average annual cost of taxi insurance in London is £1,542 – which is the cheapest found by Zego. A licensing fee for a taxi driver for three years in London is around £261.55. The total cost was estimated at £1856.79. 

Below you can check out the full top-ten list: 
 
Here are the top ten most expensive cities for taxi drivers in the UK: 

1. London 

2. Wakefield 

3. Bradford 

4. Coventry 

5. Edinburgh 

6. Nottingham 

7. Luton 

8. Southampton 

9. Manchester 

10. Wigan 

The cheapest place to set up as a cabbie was found to be Inverness, at just £853.87. You can check out the ten cheapest areas to set up below: 

1. Inverness  

2. Hereford  

3. Aberdeen  

4. Ipswich  

5. Kingston upon Hull  

6. Cambridge  

7. York  

8. Lincoln  

9. Gloucester  

10. Birkenhead. 

Fare Prices 

You might expect that cab fares would align directly with the cost of running a cab those areas, but that’s not quite the case.  

Although London tops the table with the highest running costs, it only ranks 5th, in top ten list of taxi fares per mile at £2.99 per mile. Cambridge, one of the cheapest cities to run a taxi, actually comes in higher than London at £3.03 per mile. 

The full top ten list is below: 

• Coventry - £3.11 per mile 

• Leeds - £3.06 per mile 

• Oxford - £3.04 per mile 

• Cambridge - £3.03 per mile 

• London - £2.99 per mile 

• Bristol - £2.90 per mile 

• Southampton - £2.89 per mile 

• Manchester - £2.82 per mile 

• Birmingham - £2.81 per mile 

• Stoke-on-Trent - £2.72 per mile 

The top ten cheapest areas for fares are below: 

• Liverpool - £2.15 per mile 

• Edinburgh - £2.18 per mile 

• Brighton - £2.28 per mile 

• Kingston-upon-Hull - £2.45 per mile 

• Swansea - £2.45 per mile 

• Belfast - £2.45 per mile 

• Sunderland - £2.53 per mile 

• Bradford - £2.53 per mile 

• Leicester - £2.60 per mile 

• Nottingham - £2.61 per mile 

This discrepancy between the cost for customers and the cost for drivers can be attributed to a variety of factors, including local regulations, competition, and the cost of living in each city.